Non-Destructive Evaluation of Concrete with Ultrasonic C-Scan and Digital Image Enhancement Techniques

Abstract

This paper presents the results of Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) of concrete slabs using Ultrasonic C-Scan and image-enhancement algorithms for the detection and extraction of damage information from raw data. Two fabricated concrete slabs, one undamaged and the other with three rectangular voids were used for the test. Damage was evaluated by using ultrasonic through transmission C-Scan method. A 500 kHz transducer with pulse rates of 100 Hz to 5000 Hz was investigated to determine the best pulse rate for scanning concrete. The amplitude scan shows accurately the position of the voids present in the damaged concrete with respect to the reference edge. The results also show the inherent in-homogeneity of the concrete slab due to the presence of air pockets that invariably arise during the fabrication. Three statistical filtering techniques (Median, Mean and Gaussian) and one wavelet filtering technique were comparatively evaluated to enhance the quality of the digital image. The results show clearly the presence of the rectangular voids. Median filtering technique was the best in enhancing the image obtained from the C-Scan in terms of removing noise and preserving the details of the defects. Wavelet filtering technique was good in terms of overall noise reduction, but it resulted in loss of details of the defects producing a comparatively blurred image. This technique can be used to determine the quality of concrete at any stage in its working lifecycle thus making it a useful tool in the field of health monitoring of concrete.

Meeting Name

40th Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation: Incorporating the 10th International Conference on Barkhausen Noise and Micromagnetic Testing (2013: Jul. 21-26, Baltimore, MD)

Department(s)

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Research Center/Lab(s)

Intelligent Systems Center

Keywords and Phrases

Nondestructive Testing; Ultrasonography; Image Enhancement; Medical Image Noise; Wavelets

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2013 American Institute of Physics (AIP), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

26 Jul 2013

Link to Full Text

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