Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) Methods Used for Condition Assessment of Concrete Structures

Non-destructive Evaluation (NDE) Methods Used for Condition Assessment of Concrete Structures
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Non-destructive Evaluation (NDE) Methods Used for Condition Assessment of Concrete Structures
Introduction
Today, there are thousands of publicly controlled concrete structures in China, many of which have existed for several decades. Equally, the number of concrete structures, including bridges and buildings, is increasing each year significantly due to rapid real estate development and urbanization. The movement from rural to urban areas has resulted in a sharp increase in urban residents. Urbanization and the need for bigger residential space have increased the need to construct new structures, such as bridges and buildings (Duan et al., 2021). Likewise, concrete structures have been replacing structures made up of clay bricks, wood, and other primitive materials all over China. Testing the quality of concrete at different stages of the lifecycles of a structure is crucial in ensuring the safety of the people using such structures. Thus, to properly rehabilitate, maintain, and repair public infrastructures, engineers must use effective structure assessment methods (Saremi et al., 2023). Better inspection methods are required for deteriorating as well as newly constructed infrastructures. There are several new and emerging techniques for evaluating the quality of concrete in the civil infrastructure. Some of these methods include ultrasonic wave, acoustic emission, microwave, and rebound methods, among other techniques. All of these methods are non-destructive, meaning that a building or any other structure being tested for the quality of its concrete remains intact, and its integrity is maintained (Saremi et al., 2023). The conventional methods of assessing the quality of concrete in public structures focus mainly on testing specimens cast concurrently for flexural, tensile strength, and compressive. The traditional methods have several limitations, making it difficult for engineers to predict results immediately after the test. Specimen concrete, in some instances, differs from the actual structure and the strength properties of specimen concrete are usually affected by shape and size, which can result in inaccurate conclusions (Saremi et al., 2023). Thus, various non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques have been devised to overcome these limitations. NDE techniques are premised on the fact that it is possible to relate some chemical and physical properties of concrete to the durability and strength of structures. Such techniques have existed for the last three decades, and engineers in different countries have used them to evaluate the infrastructure condition (Saremi et al., 2023). Today, NDE methods have become more advanced as non-destructive testing technology has transitioned from a hammer to impact impulse response and echo to the application of waves such as microwave, ultrasonic, and acoustic emission. The current paper evaluates different NDE methods, such as ultrasonic, acoustic emission, and microwave techniques, among other methods.
NDE Overview
NDE is a technology that uses techniques to evaluate materials, objects, and systems without impairing their usef...