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When reassessing existing concrete bridges, the challenge is often to obtain missing or incomplete information on the internal structure. In particular, the number and position of the existing reinforcement as well as the geometric dimensions of the components are of interest. Non-destructive testing methods, like radar or ultrasound, which work on the basis of the pulse-echo method, have been established for this purpose, as they only require access to the component from one side. The measurement data recorded on the structure require pre-processing to be able to reproduce the internal structure geometrically accurately. Besides different steps of data processing, the geometrical reconstruction of the measured data based on the Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT) is state of the art today. In this paper, the technical possibilities of the ultrasonic echo method are presented based on measurements in the laboratory and on a real bridge structure. The precision of the reconstruction and its limitations are shown. In addition to the state of the art SAFT technique, open questions and the latest research approaches, such as imaging by reverse time migration (RTM) including initial results are discussed.
Multi-sensory monitoring and ultrasound for quality assurance at underground sealing structures
(2023)
Within the safety concepts of underground disposal sites of nuclear waste, engineered barriers play an important role. As these sealing structures have high demands concerning integrity, we aim at advancing the available construction materials, monitoring, and inspection techniques within the project SealWasteSafe. A specifically developed alkali-activated material is compared to classical salt concrete. A comprehensive multi-sensory monitoring scheme is used at 150-340 l specimens to monitor setting and hardening of both materials. All sensors are demonstrated to resist the highly alkaline environments. Besides cabled and wireless temperature and humidity of the materials, strain variations using fibre optic sensors and acoustic emissions are recorded over periods of at least 28 days, partly for more than eight months. After hardening of the specimens, further nondestructive evaluations using ultrasonic echo and thermographic measurements are conducted.
Preliminary results proof the suitability of the tested sensors and clearly highlight differences between the tested materials. Particularly, the newly developed alkali-activated material shows lower acoustic emission activity indicating less cracking activity. Additionally, unique ultrasonic methods will enable better images of potential internal objects and cracks at in-situ sealing structures. A largescale ultrasonic system is optimised to reliably detect objects at a depth exceeding 9 m while still obtaining a good resolution. Modelling studies show the potential of further increasing the distance between individual transducer arrays. Additionally, a new ultrasonic borehole probe using phased arrays allowing for beam focussing is constructed and tested. Laboratory measurements at a halfcylindrical concrete specimen coincide well with the previous modelling. In total, the presented safe materials, detailed monitoring approaches and ultrasonic quality assurance methods will help to obtain safe sealing structures within salt as a host rock. The concepts can partly be transferred to sealing structures in alternative host rocks and will also be valuable for non-nuclear waste repositories.
A new type of ultrasonic borehole probe is currently under development for the quality assurance of sealing structures in radioactive waste repositories using existing research boreholes. The goal is to examine the sealing structures made of salt concrete for possible cracks, delamination, and embedded objects. Earlier prototype probes use 12 or 16 individual dry point contact (DPC) horizontal shear wave transducers grouped into a transmitter and a receiver array, each made up of six or eight individual transducers. They are operated with a commercially available portable ultrasonic flaw detector used in the civil engineering industry. To increase the generated sound pressure of the borehole probe, the number of transducers in the novel probe is increased to 32. In addition, timed excitation of each probe is used to direct a focused sound beam to a specific angle and distance based on calculated time delays. Hence, the sensitive test volume is limited, and the signal-to-noise ratio of the received signals is improved. This paper presents the validation of the newly developed phased array borehole probe by beam computation in CIVA software and experimental investigations on a semi-cylindrical test specimen to investigate the directional characteristics. In combination with geophysical reconstruction techniques, an optimised radiation pattern of the probe is expected to improve the signal quality and thus increase the reliability of the imaging results.
This is of great importance for the construction of safe sealing structures needed for the disposal of radioactive or toxic waste.
Ultrasonic Coda Wave interferometry has the potential to detect minute changes in scattering materials like concrete. By permanently installing ultrasonic transducers in concrete, DFG Research unit CoDA aims to develop methods for concrete damage assessment in Germany's aging infrastructure. To test the methods developed in simulations and laboratory experiments on a large scale, we have implemented several ultrasonic transducers at the Gänstorbrücke Ulm, one of Germany's most monitored road bridges. Since fall 2020 we are monitoring parts of the center of the Bridge, as well as an abutment, and compare the results to the commercial monitoring system. All data is recorded with a self-made data collection device, the so-called W-Box, and analyzed with different coda wave-based algorithms to detect signal and volumetric velocity changes. The long-term measurements show that the influence of temperature changes on strains and therefore ultrasound velocity changes calculated with coda waves can be monitored. The capabilities and limitations of the coda wave-based monitoring system are tested in a controlled experiment. Static loading using a truck with varying loads at several positions allows the calibration of the system to improve the detectability of possibly damaging loads and changes induced by this loading. A map of velocity change analyzing data from this load experiment shows that the influence of load on the material and strain distribution can be detected with array measurements.
Attenuation of ultrasonic signals in concrete has the potential to carry much information about the microstructure of the material. In this work a series of concrete specimens of varying porosities and pore size distributions were internally imaged with x-ray computed tomography (CT), and then subsequently examined with throughtransmission ultrasound. The CT images were used to quantify both capillary porosity of cement paste as well as internal interfaces that are likely to produce elastic wave scattering. Ultrasound signals were represented as a diffusion process such that absorption and scattering attenuation could be isolated. As implemented, the diffusion model was a poor predictor of capillary porosity, while diffusivity was a reasonable predictor of scattering interfaces. Diffusivity was found to scale extremely well with small scale porosity, which made it a good predictor of compressive strength.
The retroreflective corner echo is used, for example, in ultrasonic non-destructive testing of metals to find fatigue cracks in tubes or shafts. If the much weaker crack tip signal is additionally detected, the crack length can also be determined. A corner reflection occurs in cases of surface breaking cracks with predominantly perpendicular orientation to the surface. The intensity of the corner reflection depends on the angle of incidence and on the ultrasonic wave mode used. For the reliable detection of vertical surface breaking cracks in metals, transversal waves are commonly used, which propagate at an angle of 37° to 53° to the inspection surface. As shown in this contribution, the wide spread low frequency ultrasonic arrays with dry point contact sources available for ultrasonic testing of concrete also allow to receive corner echoes. These devices generate transversal waves in concrete structures with a large divergence of the sound field. A series of experiments was carried out with such dry point contact arrays on concrete specimens with artificial test defects and controlled induced cracks of different depths. The ultrasonic time-of-flight signals were recorded, exported and reconstructed utilising the SAFT (Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique) algorithm. The SAFT reconstruction parameters were adjusted to visualize the corner echo indication. As will be shown, with this targeted processing, the reproducible detection of surface breaking cracks in concrete is possible. The retroreflective corner echo can thus be exploited in civil engineering for non-destructive inspection of concrete.
This contribution summarizes actual developments and draft fundamental teaching topics in the field of nondestructive testing in civil engineering (NDT-CE). It is based on the first memorandum on teaching and research in the field of NDT-CE at German speaking universities and provides an overview of the academic education and highlights possible focuses, especially in teaching but also takes into account noteworthy developments and topics in research in the field of NDT-CE.
Suggestions are given for the development and advancement of the teaching curricula in regards to a comprehensive and sound professional education of students in civil engineering and adjacent disciplines.
The Infrastar training school provides lectures and hands-on training to Master and PhD students, early-stage researchers and (young) professionals on all aspects of asset management of civil infrastructures with respect to fatigue of materials. It is organized yearly since 2019 and up to 20 profiles are selected to attend the 3.5-day training.
A team of 7 teachers provides insight in multi-disciplinary and intersectoral basic concepts in three core fields, ranging from the design to the dismantling of the structures (bridges and wind turbines):
1. Monitoring and auscultation,
2. Structural and action models,
3. Reliability, risk and decision analyses.
Each year, a recognized expert is invited to deliver a keynote lecture to raise interest in a specific aspect of one of the fields covered. The presentation is recorded and published on the training school website.
Concrete structures are invaluable assets to a society and managing them efficiently and effectively can be supported by information gathered through structural health monitoring (SHM). In this paper, a combined approach based on passive, i.e., acoustic emission (AE), and active, i.e., ultrasonic stress wave (USW) monitoring techniques for application to concrete structures is proposed and evaluated. While AE and USW are based on the same underlying physics, i.e., wave motion in solids, they differ fundamentally with respect to the nature of the source. For the former, external stimuli such as mechanical loads or temperature cause the rapid release of energy from initially unknown locations. As a result, AE events are unique and cannot be repeated. For the latter, a known source at a known location is employed at a specified time. This approach is thus controlled and repeatable. It is
argued that a combination of these two techniques has the potential to provide a more comprehensive picture of ongoing fracture processes, damage progression, as well as slowly occurring aging and degradation mechanisms.
This combined approach does thus promise new opportunities to support condition assessment of concrete structures. After providing an overview and comparison of the two techniques, results, and observations from a full-scale laboratory experiment and an in-service bridge monitoring study are discussed to demonstrate the promise of the proposed combined monitoring approach. Finally, suggestions for further work are presented.
Muon tomography applied to assessment of concrete structures: First experiments and simulations.
(2022)
Non-destructive techniques for reinforced or prestressed concrete inspection such as ultrasound or radar have found regular, successful practical application but sometimes suffer from limited resolution and
accuracy, imaging artefacts or restrictions in detecting certain features. Until the 1980s X-ray transmission was used in case of special demands and showed a much better resolution than other NDT techniques.
However, due to safety concerns and cost issues, this method is almost never used anymore. Muon tomography has received much attention recently. Novel detectors for cosmic muons and tomographic imaging algorithms have opened new fields of application. As a first step towards practical application in civil engineering and as a proof of concept we used an existing system to image the interior of a reference reinforced 600 kg concrete block. Even with a yet not optimized setup for this kind of investigation, the muon imaging results are at least of similar quality compared to ultrasonic and radar imaging, potentially even better. In a second step, we have performed simulations to assess the potential for a set of important testing problems such as grouting defects in tendon ducts. The next steps include the development of mobile detectors and optimizing acquisition and imaging parameters.