Non-destructive ultrasonic evaluation of CFRP–concrete specimens subjected to accelerated aging conditions

Abstract

The objective of this work is to utilize surface acoustic waves (SAWs) for non-destructive structural health monitoring of concrete specimens externally bonded with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites and subjected to accelerated aging conditions. Both experimental testing and signal processing schemes of ultrasonic wave propagation through the CFRP substrate are described. The surface waves are generated and received at the external face of the CFRP using narrow-band transducers with a 110-kHz center frequency. The received signals are filtered and amplified then digitized and processed to extract various parameters in both time and frequency domains including average power (PAvg), maximum amplitude (Vmax), and maximum power–frequency ratio ((P/F)max). Changes in these parameters due to water-immersion aging at different temperatures were monitored over 12 weeks. Results indicated a marked decrease in measured ultrasonic parameters over time, particularly after the first 2 weeks, indicating a possible debonding or deterioration in the samples. Ultrasonic results showed good agreement with the findings of a parallel destructive study on mode-II fracture loading of CFRP–concrete samples, tested to obtain fracture energy (Gf) and define traction–separation response under temperature and water-immersion aging effects. It was observed that all ultrasonic parameters exhibit good correlations (|r|>0.5, P<0.05) with the fracture energy at all temperatures. Moreover, when the measurements at all temperatures were incorporated and linear relationships between destructive and non-destructive parameters were assumed, correlations of r=0.84, 0.80, and 0.80 were found between Gf and PAvg, Vmax, and (P/F)max, respectively. This study paves the way for developing a non-destructive testing protocol for structural health monitoring of bridges and concrete structures undergoing repair and rehabilitation with CFRP composites.