Abstract
Delamanintions and reinforcement corrosion are two common problems in concrete bridge decks. No single nondestructive testing method (NDT) is able to provide comprehensive characterization of these defects. In this work, two NDT methods, acoustic scanning and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), were used to image a straight concrete bridge deck and a curved intersection ramp bridge. An acoustic scanning system has been developed for rapid delamination mapping. The system consists of metal-ball excitation sources, air-coupled sensors, and a GPS positioning system. The acoustic scanning results are presented as a two-dimensional image that is based on the energy map in the frequency range of 0.5–5 kHz. The GPR scanning results are expressed as the GPR signal attenuation map to characterize concrete deterioration and reinforcement corrosion. Signal processing algorithms for both methods are discussed. Delamination maps from the acoustic scanning are compared with deterioration maps from the GPR scanning on both bridges. The results demonstrate that combining the acoustic and GPR scanning results will provide a complementary and comprehensive evaluation of concrete bridge decks.
Highlights
Concrete bridge deck deterioration is a major concern to highway agencies
The results demonstrate that combining the acoustic and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) scanning results will provide a complementary and comprehensive evaluation of concrete bridge decks
This study presents an application of two complementary nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques: the acoustic scanning method and the GPR method for a condition assessment of bridge decks
Summary
Concrete bridge deck deterioration is a major concern to highway agencies. Delamination and reinforcement corrosion are two of the most common problems for reinforced concrete (RC) bridge decks. These defects will seriously affect the service life and safety of bridges. Accurate and efficient evaluation of bridge decks will help highway agencies make proper maintenance decisions and reduce repair cost. Since the Impact-Echo (IE) method was developed in the 1990’s [1,2], it has become a commonly used nondestructive testing (NDT) method to characterize concrete delaminations. The conventional IE test requires the contact between the sensors and concrete surface, which is time-consuming in terms of testing large concrete structures. Zhu and Popovics [3,4]
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