Steel corrosion damage monitoring in reinforced concrete structures with the acoustic emission technique: A review

Abstract

• An in‐depth literature review and discussion on AE‐based corrosion monitoring in RC is presented. • Consistency of parameter‐ and signal‐based AE methods for corrosion monitoring is analyzed. • AE‐based condition assessment of corroded RC elements during load testing is discussed. • An overview on availability of AE data sets for corrosion tests in lab and in‐situ is presented. • Research challenges for in‐situ monitoring of corrosion damage in RC structures are discussed. Corrosion is a major issue in construction and infrastructure management, giving rise to high repair costs, safety concerns and structural failures. Especially reinforcement corrosion in concrete structures is a complex issue. As degradation starts internally, visual inspection lacks efficiency in early stages of the corrosion process. Acoustic Emission (AE) monitoring provides major advantages as this technique enables to detect internal damage in an early stage. However, the use of AE monitoring also comes with certain challenges. The aim of this paper is to review appropriate protocols for AE-based reinforced concrete (RC) corrosion monitoring based on an overview of reported lab experiments, highlighting challenges and pitfalls, and to provide a solid basis for extension of the research focus towards on-site AE-based corrosion monitoring in RC structures. Therefore, this paper firstly discusses AE monitoring during (accelerated) corrosion tests, including methods for data analysis and best-practice protocols. Secondly, application of the AE technique for condition assessment of corroded RC elements during load testing is discussed. Thirdly, an overview is presented of reported on-site AE monitoring studies on corroding RC structures. The paper concludes with a discussion and future research challenges, especially towards on-site monitoring of existing RC structures.