The Measurement of P-, S-, and R-Wave Velocities to Evaluate the Condition of Reinforced and Prestressed Concrete Slabs

Abstract

The traditional P-wave ultrasonic measurement has been used for the condition assessment of general reinforced concrete structures for a long time, but the effects of prestressing applied to concrete structures such as long-span buildings and bridges on ultrasonic pulse velocity have not been studied clearly. Therefore, this study analyzed the statistical distribution of P-wave ultrasonic pulse velocities in reinforced and prestressed concrete slabs of 3000 × 3000 mm with a thickness of 250 mm. In addition, we measured S- and R-waves to identify experimental consistency by statistical analysis using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness-of-fit test. The experimental results show that the P-, S-, and R-wave velocities increased slightly (2-3%) when prestressing was applied. As expected, the S- and R-wave measurements show better statistical reliability and potential for in situ evaluation than the P-wave because they are less sensitive to confinement and boundary conditions. The experimental results in this study can be used when assessing the condition of prestressed concrete structures through the velocities of elastic waves.