Integrity analysis of single and multi-layer thin cement mortar slab structures using the spectral analysis of surface wave NDT method

Abstract

The non-destructive testing method using spectral analysis of surface waves (SASW) has mainly been developed and used for many years in the fields of geotechnical engineering and highway engineering, such as examining the material properties of pavement systems, soil media, etc., under an infinite half-space condition. In the recent decades, extensive research in this area has been focused on understanding the applicability and limitations of the SASW method. The method consists of the generation, measurement and processing of dispersive surface waves. In an SASW test, the surface of the media under consideration is subject to an impact, using, for example, a 12-mm steel ball to generate surface wave energy at various frequencies. Two vertical accelerometer receivers detect the energy transmitted through the testing media. By recording signals in digitized form using a data acquisition system and processing them, surface wave velocity can be obtained using a dispersion curve. Based on the dispersion curve, the shear wave velocity can also be plotted using forward modeling, which can be related to various material properties. This paper presents a modified experimental technique for the non-destructive evaluation of compressive strength of in-place single-layer concrete slabs through a correlation with the surface wave velocity. The paper also presents the relationship between the theoretical and experimental compact dispersion curves when the SASW test is applied to multi-layer thin cement mortar slab systems with a finite thickness. The test results show that the surface wave velocity profile obtained from the theoretical dispersion curve has lower values than the profile obtained from the experimental compact dispersion curve under the condition of a finite thickness due to different boundary conditions and reflections from the boundaries. Based on the measured response, an experimental study was conducted to examine if the dispersive characteristics of Rayleigh waves exist in the multi-layer cement mortar slab systems. This study can be utilized in examining structural elements of general concrete structures, and can also be applied to the integrity analysis of concrete structures with a finite thickness.