Proposal of Laser-Induced Ultrasonic Guided Wave for Corrosion Detection of Reinforced Concrete Structures in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning Site

Abstract

Remote-controlled, non-destructive testing is necessary to detect corrosion of the reinforced concrete structures at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) de-commissioning site. This work aims to demonstrate that laser-induced ultrasonic guided wave technology can be applied to achieve this task. Hence, accelerated electrolytic corrosion is performed on a reinforced concrete specimen fabricated by embedding a steel rod into mortar. Waveforms of the laser-induced ultrasonic guided wave on the rod are measured with a previously employed piezoelectric transducer (PZT) probe, for each fixed corrosion time. Based on the results of Fourier and wavelet transforms of the waveforms, issues concerning the detection and extent of rebar corrosion are discussed. It is exhibited that the changes in bonding strength due to corrosion are distinguishable in the frequency domain of the ultrasonic signal.

Keywords

• elastic wave
• corrosion
• structural health monitoring
• decommissioning
• dispersion curve
• pulsed-laser
• wavelet analysis