Non-destructive testing of slab-like structures including pavements using Lamb and Rayleigh waves-based dispersion analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT Lamb and Rayleigh waves-based dispersion analysis has been carried out for non-destructive surface wave testing of different slab-like structures involving a concrete roof slab, a concrete floor, a concrete pavement, and an asphaltic pavement. An impact was generated by gently striking the slab’s free surface with a hammer. A method has also been given to generate the governing (predominant) dispersion mode in the case of Rayleigh wave propagation considering the complex nature of the dispersion function | D ( c , κ ) | ; c and κ refer to phase velocity and wavenumber, respectively. The theoretical dispersion plots generated from the inversion analysis by varying the values of different input parameters were subsequently closely matched with the corresponding obtained field dispersion images for different cases in order to back compute the elastic profile of the slab/pavement. For developing the dispersion images, the Park’s wavefield transformation method was employed. For checking the thicknesses of the different layers, cylindrical cores were also extracted. The study is expected to be useful for evaluating different slab-like structures, including pavements, by using surface wave-based non-destructive tests.