Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Condition assessment of concrete by hybrid non-destructive tests

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper presents interim findings of a research project that was aimed to develop reliable methods to assess the condition of bridges and port-structures. The use of different types of non-destructive testing (NDT) equipment in assessing in situ concrete such as that for concrete cover measurement and locating the arrangement of the reinforcements, air permeability, electrical resistivity and the half-cell potential is reported in this paper. Six electrically inter-connected reinforced concrete (RC) specimens were made under laboratory conditions to validate NDT equipment output and to correlate them. Field testing was then conducted on the exterior of an RC wall of Doug McDonell Building at the University of Melbourne, Parkville campus. The results show that the use of multiple NDT equipment can enhance the understanding of the in situ condition by minimising the limitation inherent in each of the equipment. Combination of output from different testing methods allows a more precise condition assessment of the RC structure. In addition, measurements can be used to estimate the service life of the RC element.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Chalhoub MS (2015) Effect of reinforced concrete deterioration and damage on the seismic performance of structures. In: Belhaq M (ed) Structural nonlinear dynamics and diagnosis: selected papers from CSNDD 2012 and CSNDD 2014. Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp 77–95

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  2. Dolen TP (2005) M Report DSO-05-05 Materials properties model of aging concrete. Bureau of Reclamation, Denver

    Google Scholar 

  3. Commonwealth of Australia (2014) Trends: infrastructure and transport to 2030. Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, Canberra. ISBN 978-1-922205-65-0

    Google Scholar 

  4. ALGA (2015) National State of the Assets 2015. Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), Deakin

    Google Scholar 

  5. Cartz L (1995) Nondestructive testing. The Materials Information Society, Materials Park. ISBN 9780871705174

  6. Hellier CJ (2013) Handbook of nondestructive evaluation, 2nd edn. McGraw-Hill Education, New York

    Google Scholar 

  7. ASTM C876 (2015) Standard test method for corrosion potentials of uncoated reinforcing steel in concrete. ASTM International, West Conshohocken

    Google Scholar 

  8. ASTM C805/C805M (2013) Standard test method for rebound number of hardened concrete. ASTM International, West Conshohocken

    Google Scholar 

  9. IAEA-TCS-9 (1999) Non-destructive testing: a guidebook for industrial management and quality control personnel. International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

  10. AASHTO TP 95 (2011) Standard method of test for surface resistivity indication of concrete’s ability to resist chloride ion penetration. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), USA

  11. Andrade C, Alonso C (2004) Test methods for on-site corrosion rate measurement of steel reinforcement in concrete by means of the polarization resistance method. Mater Struct 37(9):623–643

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Andrade C, D’Andrea R, Castillo A, Castellote M (2009) The use of electrical resistivity as NDT method for the specification of the durability of reinforced concrete. In: 7th international symposium on non destructive testing in civil engineering (LCPC 2009), Nantes 2009 June, vol 30

  13. Gu P, Beaudoin JJ (1998) Obtaining effective half-cell potential measurements in reinforced concrete structures. Institute for Research in Construction, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  14. Nakamura E, Watanabe H, Koga H, Nakamura M, Ikawa K (2008) Half-cell potential measurements to assess corrosion risk of reinforcement steels in a PC bridge. In: RILEM symposium on site assessment of concrete, masonry and timber structures-SACoMaTiS, pp 109–117

  15. Salbei VJ, Sitters CMW, Vantomme J (2014) Nondestructive testing techniques for corrosion assessment in reinforced concrete structures in Kenya. Civil Environ Res 6(7):60–75

    Google Scholar 

  16. Song H-W, Saraswathy V (2007) Corrosion monitoring of reinforced concrete structures—a review. Int J Electrochem Sci 2:1–28

    Google Scholar 

  17. Kucharczyková B, Misák P, Vymazal T (2010) The air permeability measurement by Torrent Permeability Tester. In: The 10th international conference on modern building materials, structures and techniques. Vilnius, Lithuania

  18. Proceq SA (1995) Permeability tester TORRENT: operating instructions. Proceq SA, Schwerzenbach

    Google Scholar 

  19. Polder RB (2001) Test methods for on site measurement of resistivity of concrete—a RILEM TC-154 technical recommendation. Constr Build Mater 15(2):125–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0950-0618(00)00061-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. RILEM TC 154-EMC (2003) Recommendations of RILEM TC 154-EMC: electrochemical techniques for measuring metallic corrosion Half-cell potential measurements—potential mapping on reinforced concrete structures. Mater Struct 36(261):461–471

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Proceq SA (2012) Canin+ corrosion analyzing instrument operating instructions. Proceq SA, Schwerzenbach

    Google Scholar 

  22. Proceq SA (2014) Profometer PM-6 operating instructions. Proceq SA, Schwerzenbach

    Google Scholar 

  23. Proceq SA (2016) Resipod operating instructions. Proceq SA, Schwerzenbach

    Google Scholar 

  24. Torrent RJ (1992) A two-chamber vacuum cell for measuring the coefficient of permeability to air of the concrete cover on site. Mater Struct 25(6):358–365. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02472595

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Reddy BM, Rao HS, Ghorpade VG (2014) Effect of sodium chloride on fly ash based blended cement concrete. Int J Adv Eng Technol 6(6):2758

    Google Scholar 

  26. Naik TR, Singh SS, Hossain MM (1994) Permeability of concrete containing large amounts of fly ash. Cem Concr Res 24(5):913–922

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Thomas MDA, Matthews JD (1992) The permeability of fly ash concrete. Mater Struct 25(7):388–396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Nagataki S, Ujike I (1986) Air permeability of concretes mixed with fly ash and condensed silica fume. Spec Publ 91:1049–1068

    Google Scholar 

  29. Nath P, Sarker P (2011) Effect of fly ash on the durability properties of high strength concrete. Procedia Eng 14:1149–1156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Chi JM, Huang R, Yang CC (2002) Effects of carbonation on mechanical properties and durability of concrete using accelerated testing method. J Mar Sci Technol 10(1):14–20

    Google Scholar 

  31. Boğa AR, Topçu IB (2012) Influence of fly ash on corrosion resistance and chloride ion permeability of concrete. Constr Build Mater 31:258–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2011.12.106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Gurdián H, García-Alcocel E, Baeza-Brotons F, Garcés P, Zornoza E (2014) Corrosion behavior of steel reinforcement in concrete with recycled aggregates, fly ash and spent cracking catalyst. Materials 7(4):3176–3197. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma7043176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Sinsiri T, Chindaprasirt P, Jaturapitakkul C (2010) Influence of fly ash fineness and shape on the porosity and permeability of blended cement pastes. Int J Miner Metall Mater 17(6):683–690

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Kropp J, Hilsdorf HK (1995) Performance criteria for concrete durability—RILEM Report 12. CRC Press, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  35. Maeda M, Nakano Y, Lee KS (2004) Post-earthquake damage evaluation for R/C buildings based on residual seismic capacity. In: 13th world conference on earthquake engineering, Vancouver, no 1179

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Australia Indonesia Centre (AIC) for the financial support towards Strategic Research Project 2. The contribution from the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Early Career Researcher Grant (DE170100165, DE 2017 R1) is acknowledged. The equipment was purchased through an ARC LIEF Grant (LE140100053). The authors would like to thank the postgraduates Boyuan Zhang, Changda Zhang, Fanxi Meng, and Jialiang Duan for their contribution with Laboratory tests.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Infrastructure Engineering Department, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Massoud Sofi, Yusak Oktavianus, Elisa Lumantarna, Abbas Rajabifard, Colin Duffield & Priyan Mendis

Authors
  1. Massoud Sofi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yusak Oktavianus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Elisa Lumantarna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Abbas Rajabifard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Colin Duffield
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Priyan Mendis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Massoud Sofi.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sofi, M., Oktavianus, Y., Lumantarna, E. et al. Condition assessment of concrete by hybrid non-destructive tests. J Civil Struct Health Monit 9, 339–351 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13349-019-00336-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13349-019-00336-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation