Evaluation of severely damaged reinforced concrete beam repaired with epoxy injection using acoustic emission technique

Abstract

This paper explores and analyses how reinforced concrete beams, can be restored and repaired after sustaining damage from monotonic loading. Epoxy resin was used to repair the beams. By employing a technique known as the “acoustic emission (AE)” technique, the damage sustained by the beams under monotonic loading can be evaluated. The reference beam (S1C), and the repaired beam (S4B), were both prepared. The load, the acoustic emission parameters, and the crack modes were investigated and analysed. The signal strength, rise angle value, and average frequency were analysed and discussed. The S4B was found to produce a maximum load that measured higher than the S1C. However, the AE analyses indicated a different result where the S4B produced a lower value than S1C. The average frequency and rise angle value with the patterns of cracks on the beams are directly correlated. Hence, two cracks were identified i.e. tensile and shear cracks. It is safe to deduce that to assess the soundness of the epoxy injected concrete beams, the AE technique can be applied.