Abstract
Ultrasonic guided waves provide a highly efficient method for non-destructive evaluation and the structural health monitoring (SHM) of solids with finite-cross-sectional dimensions (waveguides). Guided waves are widely used for the inspection of structures such as pipelines, annular tank plates, aircraft wing assemblies, composite radius fillers and wind turbines. They are also attractive for long-term structural health monitoring due to their ability to provide long-range and feature-rich through-structure information from a single transducer location. The use of guided waves in reinforced concrete structures is limited to the monitoring of setting and curing of concrete due to the heterogeneous nature of concrete and its high acoustic impedance which is comparable to the steel reinforcement bars. This leads to a significantly high energy leakage into the embedding concrete making it impossible to use guided waves for the inspection of reinforced concrete structures. Corrosion resistant epoxy coatings on reinforcement coatings are widely used for structure exposed to harsh environmental conditions such as high temperatures, humidity, water, acids, solvents, salts and other chemicals. In this work, the attenuation of the L (0,1) guided waves modes propagating along a 20 mm diameter mild steel is monitored using finite element simulation for a fusion bonded epoxy (FBE)rebar and for plain rebar both embedded in an infinite concrete medium. The attenuation in the epoxy coated rebar is shown to be substantially reduced compared to the plain rebar embedded in concrete. This reduction in guided wave attenuation can make it possible to use guided waves to conduct structural health monitoring of concrete structures.
How to Cite:
Kairu, W. M., Gatari, M. M., Muia, M. L., Mumenya, S. W., Rajagopal, P. ., Kairu, W. M., Gatari, M. M., Muia, M. L., Mumenya, S. W. & Rajagopal, P. ., (2019) “Structural health monitoring of reinforced concrete structures using guided waves”, Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation .
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