Elastic Wave Propagation for Condition Assessment of Steel Bar Embedded in Mortar

Abstract

This study deals with experimental and numerical investigations of elastic wave propagation in steel bars partially embedded in mortar. The bars with different bonding lengths were tested. Two types of damage were considered: damage of the steel bar and damage of the mortar. Longitudinal waves were excited by a piezoelectric actuator and a vibrometer was used to non-contact measurements of velocity signals. Numerical calculations were performed using the finite elements method. As a result, this paper discusses the possibility of condition assessment in bars embedded in mortar by means of elastic waves.

Keywords

• elastic wave propagation
• embedded bar
• non-destructive testing
• condition assessment