Title:
Assessment of Concrete Slab Quality and Layering by Guided and Surface Wave Testing
Author(s):
Riad Al Wardany, Gerard Ballivy, Jean-Louis Gallias, Kaveh Saleh, and Jamal Rhazi
Publication:
Materials Journal
Volume:
104
Issue:
3
Appears on pages(s):
268-275
Keywords:
Lamb wave; nondestructive testing; Rayleigh wave; slab
DOI:
10.14359/18672
Date:
5/1/2007
Abstract:
This paper presents an experimental study on the investigation of concrete properties by guided and surface wave nondestructive testing. Applications were made on two large slabs simulating homogeneity and layering in concrete, respectively. An efficient nonintrusive method was used to evaluate the concrete quality by solving the modal propagation problem of Lamb guided waves and Rayleigh surface waves. Lamb waves were used to determine the Poisson’s ratio and the Young’s modulus of the concrete slabs. Rayleigh waves were identified using Lamb wave fundamentalmodes; thereafter, the inverse problem of Rayleigh waves was solved to evaluate the variation of shear wave velocity with depth and thus characterize the layered slab. The obtained results demonstrate the high potential of this tool that can easily be used for in-place assessment of concrete structures.