Experimental Studies and Theoretical Analysis on Concrete Structures to Evaluate Structural Integrity of Highway Bridge Concrete Columns

2016PDFTech ReportNCITEC Project No. 2016-13Acoustic emission testsColumnsConcrete bridgesCorrosionFatigue crackingFrequency spectraHighway bridgesNondestructive testsAcoustic emission testsColumnsConcrete bridgesCorrosionFatigue crackingFrequency spectraHighway bridgesNondestructive testsVirginiaUnited StatesNational Center for Intermodal Transportation for Economic CompetitivenessJagasivamani, VadivelHampton University. Department of EngineeringNational Center for Intermodal Transportation for Economic CompetitivenessUnited States. Department of Transportation. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and TechnologyNTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-Bridges and StructuresUS Transportation CollectionInspection of bridge structures are conducted periodically, to ensure the integrity of the bridges. Presence and propagation of corrosion and fatigue cracks in reinforced concrete structures were investigated using Acoustic Emission (AE) technique and resistivity studies. When more than one type of defects is involved in damaging the structure, it becomes more difficult to identify the damaging activities and apply the most appropriate corrective measures.Experimental studies were conducted on concrete structures, to evaluate the integrity of concrete columns using eddy current methods. In these efforts experiments, were carried out both on bridge structures and on laboratory test samples to arrive at a reliable methodology in recognizing the type of active defects. Acoustic emission method is very useful in monitoring active crack propagations and active corrosion processes. Acoustic emission is a transient signal, in that the emission of signal occurs during the event of either crack growth or during the corrosion process. Also, ambient disturbances, such as road noise, movement of heavy vehicles generate similar acoustic signals and it is essential that the technique employed in nondestructive testing method excludes the disturbing noises, wisely