Study of inertia weight parameter for boundary element inverse analysis to detect RC corrosion

Abstract

This research studies the effect of an inconstant inertia weight (W) parameter on boundary element inverse analysis (BEIA) to detect the corrosion of reinforcing steel/rebar in concrete. The boundary element method (BEM) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) were used in developing the BEIA. Several measured electrical potential data from halfcell potential measurements were taken as a reference when performing the BEIA. Numerical simulation of reinforced concrete with single corrosion showed that the use of inconstant W with Wup = 0.5 and Wlow ≤ 0.5 did not affect the performance of the BEIA in corrosion detection. It was similar to the performance of the BEIA using a constant W in a previous study (0.25 ≤ W ≤ 0.5). However, the corrosion can still be detected with acceptable accuracy; that is, with an error of less than 5%. Hence, further research is needed to extend the study with Wup > 0.5 for an inconstant W.