Frequency Wave Number–Domain Analysis of Air-Coupled Impact-Echo Tests in Concrete Slab
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 24, Issue 3
Abstract
An air-coupled (also known as noncontact or contactless) sensing technique in the impact-echo method has been developed and its practical application to the field has been significantly improved. However, unlike the flexural mode frequency, the thickness mode frequency is difficult to measure using the air-coupled sensing technique mainly due to direct acoustic noise from the impact source. The direct acoustic noise is transmitted through the air, while the thickness mode is a portion of leaky Lamb waves from a platelike concrete slab, known as the zero-group velocity (ZGV) or standing wave motion. The noise components and leaky Lamb waves can be separated in the frequency-wave number (f-k) domain because of their different characteristics in phase velocity. In this paper, the f-k domain analysis is validated through both numerical simulations and experiments on two different thicknesses including full depth of concrete slab and shallow delamination. For shallow delamination, a dry-coupled ultrasonic transducer is applied to generate high-frequency ultrasonic waves corresponding to the ZGV frequency of the thickness while a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) is used as an air-coupled sensor. The results demonstrate that the proposed f-k domain analysis scheme and the applied hybrid hardware are capable of clearly detecting the thickness mode frequency and minimize the direct acoustic noise, while the conventional impact-echo method has limits.
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Acknowledgments
The work reported here was made possible by support from the National Research Council Research Associateship Programs. The authors are grateful for important contributions to the experimental hardware provided by Proceq and constructive discussion by Dr. John S. Popovics and Mr. Homin Song.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 24 • Issue 3 • September 2018
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 17, 2017
Accepted: Feb 14, 2018
Published online: Jul 4, 2018
Published in print: Sep 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Dec 4, 2018
Notes
Presented at the 2017 MAIREINFRA (International Conference on Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Constructed Infrastructure Facilities) in Seoul. Choi, H., Shams, S., and Azari, H. (2017). “The Improvement of Impact-Echo Method Using Hybrid System and Guided Wave Analysis,” International Conference on Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Constructed Infrastructure Facilities, Seoul, Korea. C.6.1.
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