Recent Advancements in Non-Destructive Testing Techniques for Structural Health Monitoring

Patryk Kot,David Yeboah,George S Kamaris,Michaela Gkantou,Magomed Muradov,Khalid Hashim

doi:10.3390/app11062750

Abstract

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is an important aspect of the assessment of various structures and infrastructure, which involves inspection, monitoring, and maintenance to support economics, quality of life and sustainability in civil engineering. Currently, research has been conducted in order to develop non-destructive techniques for SHM to extend the lifespan of monitored structures. This paper will review and summarize the recent advancements in non-destructive testing techniques, namely, sweep frequency approach, ground penetrating radar, infrared technique, fiber optics sensors, camera-based methods, laser scanner techniques, acoustic emission and ultrasonic techniques. Although some of the techniques are widely and successfully utilized in civil engineering, there are still challenges that researchers are addressing. One of the common challenges within the techniques is interpretation, analysis and automation of obtained data, which requires highly skilled and specialized experts. Therefore, researchers are investigating and applying artificial intelligence, namely machine learning algorithms to address the challenges. In addition, researchers have combined multiple techniques in order to improve accuracy and acquire additional parameters to enhance the measurement processes. This study mainly focuses on the scope and recent advancements of the Non-destructive Testing (NDT) application for SHM of concrete, masonry, timber and steel structures.

Highlights

Structures and infrastructure systems, namely buildings, dams, bridges, and pipelines require proper inspection, monitoring, and maintenance to support economics, quality of life and sustainability in civil engineering
Namely debonding render and mosaic or delaminating concrete, emits infra-red radiation, which can be seen by the infra-red cameras as the concrete surface will heat up faster under solar irradiation, and the generated hot spots will be visible in the thermal record
Scalbi et al [76] used a Laser Spot Thermography (LST) for detecting cracks in the surfaces of concrete slabs, the results showed that laser scanners detect the location of the surface cracks, but the thermal gaps across the depth of the cracks distinguish between shallow and deep cracks

Summary

Introduction

Structures and infrastructure systems, namely buildings, dams, bridges, and pipelines require proper inspection, monitoring, and maintenance to support economics, quality of life and sustainability in civil engineering. The conventional practice is based on human visual inspection, which is not able to locate any hidden damages [1,2]. There is a need for better inspection techniques for monitoring the deterioration of infrastructure as assessing the condition of a structure is necessary for its safety and reliability. Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) provides methods for the detection of hidden damages, which provides valuable information that can be utilized to extend the lifespan of monitored structures. Many researchers have investigated different techniques for structural health monitoring using different methods, namely electromagnetic, acoustic and others. A number of commonly monitored parameters used for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) applications include the detection or measurement of strain, load, displacement, impact, pH-level, moisture, vibration signatures, and presence of cracks [3]

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion