Damage grading system for severity assessment on concrete structure

Acoustic Emission (AE) is a high frequency stress wave generated by rapid release of energy in solid material due to changes such as crack initiation and growth. High sensitivity to crack growth, the ability to locate the source, its passive nature and the possibility to perform real-time monitoring are some of the attractive features of the AE technique. In spite of these advantages, challenges still exist in using the AE technique for monitoring applications, especially in the analysis of recorded AE data as large volume of data are usually generated during the monitoring process. The need for effective data analysis in a grading system can be linked to the main objective of this research; to develop a new standard grading system for severity assessment. In this research, the cyclic load test (CLT) method is the first method used for this evaluation system. This is a relatively new method that may provide better insights into structural integrity and also collaborates with the AE evaluation system. This study proposed and tested the absolute energy parameter in the evaluation for determining the damage level in Reinforced concrete RC structure. The Intensity Absolute Energy Analysis (IAEA) methods that involved the absolute energy parameter were investigated to determine the damage level in RC structure. This was found to provide encouraging results for the analysis of AE data parameters in determining the damage grading system. By addressing this primary issue, it is believed that this study can help improve the effectiveness of the AE technique for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) in civil engineering