The changes in the sonic surface wave velocity of concrete under stress were investigated in this paper. Surface wave velocities at
sonic frequency range were measured on a prismatic concrete specimen undergoing several cycles of uniaxial compression. The
loading was applied (or removed) gradually in predefined small steps (stress-controlled). The surface wave velocity was measured
at every load step during both loading and unloading phases. Acoustic Emission (AE) test was conducted simultaneously to
monitor the microcracking activities at different levels of loading. It was found that the sonic surface wave velocity is highly stress
dependent and the velocity-stress relationship follows a particular trend. The observed trend could be explained by a combination
of acoustoelasticity and microcracking theories, each valid over a certain range of applied stresses. Having measured the velocities
while unloading, when the material suffers no further damage, the effect of stress and damage could be differentiated. The slope
of the velocity-stress curves over the elastic region was calculated for different load cycles. This quantity was normalized to yield a
dimensionless nonlinear parameter. This parameter generally increases with the level of induced damage in concrete.
Surface wave velocities over the sonic frequency range (<20 KHz) were measured on concrete specimens undergoing various cycles of loading and unloading. Acoustic Emission test (AE) was conducted simultaneously to monitor the microcracking activities. The sonic surface wave velocity was found to be highly stress-dependent. The observed changes in surface wavespeed are repeatable and follow a particular trend. By measuring the wave velocities in both loading and unloading phases, the effects of stress and stress-induced damages could be distinguished. The observed trend could be explained by a combination of acoustoelasticity and microcracking theories.