Development of a portable measuring system using ultrasound guided and surface waves to characterize concrete structures

Jean-Marie Henault (1) , Rafik Moulouel (1) , Thilakson Raveendran (1) , Yves Denos (2) , Alexandre Boule (3) , Philippe Bisarah (3) , Jean-Paul Balayssac (4) , Jean-François Chaix (5) , Vincent Garnier (5) , Jean Mailhé (6) , Arnaud Recoquillay (7)

1 EDF R&D - EDF R&D
2 EDF - EDF
3 EDF Ceidre TEGG
4 INSA Toulouse - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Toulouse
5 AMU - Aix Marseille Université
6 University of Toulouse
7 LMC (CEA, LIST) - Laboratoire Méthodes CND (CEA, LIST)

Multi-channel Analysis of Surface Waves is a well-known acoustic Non-Destructive Technique used in geophysics to characterize layered structures. The measuring system consists of an active source and several receivers equally spaced. The data is processed and inversed to get a shear wave profile along depth. Two French academic laboratories adapted this technique to characterize concrete structures in the ultrasound domain. We decided to develop a new measuring system, aiming to be portable, easy-to-use, fast and with a reduced cost, by combining the advantages of the two academic systems to bring the technique to an industrial stage. The system is composed by 61 dry point contact sensors and an acquisition unit, commercially available, and a specific electronic card to multiplex the receivers. The data are processed with open-source tools. The system was used in lab and on site for different applications. Examples of results are given related to concrete leaching, concrete carbonation and steel corrosion.

Domaines: Acoustique [physics.class-ph]

Jean-Marie Henault, Rafik Moulouel, Thilakson Raveendran, Yves Denos, Alexandre Boule, et al.. Development of a portable measuring system using ultrasound guided and surface waves to characterize concrete structures. NDT-CE 2022 - International Symposium on Non-Destructive Testing in Civil Engineering, Aug 2022, Zürich, Switzerland. ⟨10.58286/27189⟩. ⟨cea-04418161⟩