Development of non-destructive testing method to evaluate bond condition of reinforced concrete beam

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022334083-A1
Application number	US-202117235463-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 20, 2021
Priority date	Apr 20, 2021
Publication date	Oct 20, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system for non-destructive testing of a bond condition of concrete beams reinforced by steel rods is described. The system includes a transducing transmitter, a transducing receiver, and an ultrasonic pulse generator configured to generate drive signals for the transducing transmitter and receive a plurality vibrational waves at the transducing receiver. The system further includes a computing device including a measurement circuit configured to record a transit time for each vibrational wave and divide a distance between the transducing transmitter and the transducing receiver by the transit time to determine a pulse velocity of each vibrational wave, a comparison circuit configured to identify a highest pulse velocity of the vibrational waves and compare each highest pulse velocity to a first reference pulse velocity, and a decision circuit including an artificial neural network configured to identify a compromised bond condition around a steel rod.

First claim

1 . A method for non-destructive testing of a bond condition of concrete beams reinforced by steel rods, comprising:
applying, by a transmitting transducer of an ultrasonic tester, ultrasonic pulses to a concrete beam; receiving, by a receiving transducer, vibrational waves reflected from the steel rods at a plurality of reading locations along the concrete beam; measuring a transit time of the vibrational waves received at each reading location; determining a pulse velocity of each vibrational wave received at each reading location; determining a highest pulse velocity of the vibrational waves at each reading location; comparing the highest pulse velocity of the vibrational waves received at a reading location to a first reference pulse velocity; and identifying a bond condition of cracking around a steel rod at a testing location when the highest pulse velocity at the testing location is less than the first reference pulse velocity.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining the pulse velocity of a vibrational wave at each reading location by dividing a distance of the receiving transducer from the reading location by the transit time.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a peak load carrying capacity (P peak ) of the concrete beam by
applying a force perpendicular to a center of a length of the concrete beam;
applying ultrasonic pulses to the concrete beam;
determining the highest pulse velocity at each reading location;
increasing a magnitude of the force by increments;
determining the highest pulse velocity at each reading location for each incremental increase in the magnitude of the force; and
determining the peak load carrying capacity (P peak ) of the concrete beam when the highest pulse velocity at one of the reading locations is less than a second reference pulse velocity.

4 . The method of claim 1 , comprising predicting, by an artificial neural network, a width of each crack formed around the bonds in the concrete.

5 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
marking the concrete beam with a grid having two rows and a plurality of columns; wherein an intersection of a row with a column defines a reading location.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein:
a first row is parallel to and separated from a second row by a distance in the range of 140 mm to 160 mm; and each column is parallel to an adjacent column and separated from the adjacent column by a distance in the range of 90 mm to 110 mm.

7 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining the first reference pulse velocity at each reading location by measuring the highest pulse velocity when the force applied to the concrete beam is zero.

8 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining the second reference pulse velocity at each reading location by measuring the highest pulse velocity when the force applied to the concrete beam is 75% of the peak load carrying capacity.

9 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
marking the reading locations on a first row parallel to a length of a first steel rod within the concrete beam; and marking the reading locations on a second row parallel to a length of a second steel rod within the concrete beam.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
attaching the ultrasonic receiver to the concrete beam at a location perpendicular to a length of the steel rods; and contacting the transmitting transducer to the concrete beam at each of the plurality of reading locations.

11 . A non-destructive ultrasonic testing method of a bond condition of a concrete beam reinforced by steel rods, comprising:
applying, by a transmitting transducer of an ultrasonic tester, ultrasonic pulses to a concrete beam; receiving, by a receiving transducer, vibrational waves reflected from the steel rods at a plurality of reading locations along the concrete beam; measuring a transit time of the vibrational waves received at each reading location; determining a pulse velocity of each vibrational wave received at each reading location; determining a highest pulse velocity of the vibrational waves at each reading location, the highest pulse velocity at each reading location defining a first reference pulse velocity at the reading location; determining a peak load carrying capacity (P peak ) of the concrete beam by
applying a force perpendicular to a center of a length of the concrete beam;
applying a second set of ultrasonic pulses to the concrete beam;
measuring the highest pulse velocity at each reading location received from the second set of ultrasonic pulses;
increasing a magnitude of the force by increments;
measuring the highest pulse velocity at each reading location for each incremental increase in the magnitude of the force; and
determining the peak load carrying capacity (P peak ) of the concrete beam when the highest pulse velocity at one of the reading locations is less than a second reference pulse velocity, wherein the second reference pulse velocity is less than the first reference pulse velocity.

12 . The non-destructive ultrasonic testing method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining the pulse velocity of a vibrational wave at each reading location by dividing a distance of the receiving transducer from the reading location by the transit time.

13 . The non-destructive ultrasonic testing method of claim 12 , further comprising:
determining the second reference pulse velocity at each reading location by measuring the highest pulse velocity when the force applied to the concrete beam is 75% of the peak load carrying capacity.

14 . The non-destructive ultrasonic testing method of claim 12 , further comprising:
comparing the highest pulse velocity of the vibrational waves received at a reading location to the second reference pulse velocity; and identifying a bond condition of cracking around a steel rod at a testing location when the highest pulse velocity at the testing location is less than the second reference pulse velocity.

15 . The non-destructive ultrasonic testing method of claim 14 , further comprising:
marking the concrete beam with a grid having two rows and a plurality of columns, wherein an intersection of a row with a column defines a reading location.

16 . The non-destructive ultrasonic testing method of claim 13 , further comprising:
marking the concrete beam with a grid having two rows and a plurality of columns; wherein an intersection of a row with a column defines a reading location.

17 . The non-destructive ultrasonic testing method of claim 16 , further comprising:
performing an ultrasonic velocity test of the concrete beam by:
attaching the ultrasonic receiver to the concrete beam at a location perpendicular to a length of the steel rods; and
contacting the transmitting transducer to the concrete beam at each of the plurality of reading locations.

18 . A system for non-destructive testing of a bond condition of concrete beams reinforced by steel rods, comprising:
a transducing transmitter; a transducing receiver; an ultrasonic pulse generator configured to generate drive signals for the transducing transmitter and receive a plurality vibrational waves at the transducing receiver; a computing device including:
a measurement circuit configured to record a transit time for each vibrational wave and divide a distance between the transducing transmitter and the transducing receiver by the transit time to determine a pulse velocity of each vibrational wave;
a comparison

Assignees

• Univ Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal

Inventors

• Saleem Muhammad

Classifications

• G01N2291/011

  Velocity or travel time · CPC title

• G01N2291/0258

  Structural degradation, e.g. fatigue of composites, ageing of oils · CPC title

• G01N29/4436

  with a reference signal (amplitude comparison G01N29/48) · CPC title

• G01N29/07 Primary

  by measuring propagation velocity or propagation time of acoustic waves · CPC title

• G01N2291/2626

  Wires, bars, rods · CPC title