3.8.

Evaluation of mechanical
characteristics of concrete by nondestructive methods

 The tests available for testing concrete in structures with

hardened concrete from a long time range from the completely
non-destructive, where there is no damage to the concrete,
through those where the concrete surface is slightly damaged,
to partially destructive tests, such as core tests and pullout and
pull off tests, where the surface has to be repaired after the test.
The range of properties which can be assessed using nondestructive tests and partially destructive tests includes
parameters as density, elastic modulus and strength, also
surface hardness and surface absorption, reinforcement
position, diameter and distance from the surface. In some cases
it is possible to verify the quality of workmanship and structural
integrity by detecting voids, cracking and delamination. Nondestructive testing can be applied to both old and new
structures. For new buildings, the principal applications are for
quality control or the resolution of doubts about the quality of
materials or construction (Knaze and Beno, 1985). If only
destructive testing is used, for instance, by removing cores for
compression testing, the cost of coring and testing may only
allow a small number of tests to be carried out that is not
enough for big structures..

Some situations where non-destructive testing can be use are, as

follows [185], [190], [191]:
quality control of pre-cast units or construction in situ for confirm
the acceptability of the material supplied;
confirming or not doubt concerning the workmanship implicated in
batching, mixing, placing, compacting or curing of concrete;
monitoring of strength development during hardening in relation to
formwork removal, cessation of curing, pre-stressing, load
application or similar purpose;
location and determination in real time of the extent of cracks,
voids, honeycombing and any other defects within a concrete
structure;
observing the concrete uniformity, possibly preliminary to core
cutting, load testing or other more expensive or disruptive tests;
determining data referring to the position, quantity or condition of
reinforcement;
increasing the confidence in a smaller number of destructive tests;

 determining the extent of concrete variability for

helping the selection of sample locations which
are representative;
confirming or finding suspected deterioration of
concrete resulting from such factors as
overloading, fatigue, external or internal chemical
attack, fire, explosion, environmental effects;
assessing the potential durability of the concrete;
monitoring long term changes in concrete
characteristics;
providing data for any proposed change of using
a structure for insurance or for chaning of
ownership.

3.8.1. Basic methods for ndt of

concrete structures
The following methods, with some typical
applications, have been used for the NDT of
polymer concrete [189], [190], [193], [194]:
Visual inspection, which is an essential precursor
to any intended non-destructive test. An
experienced civil or structural engineer may be
able to establish the possible cause(s) of damage
to a concrete structure and hence identify which
of the various NDT methods available could be
most useful for any further investigation of the
problem.

 Half-cell electrical potential method, used to detect the

corrosion potential of reinforcing bars in concrete.
Schmidt/rebound hammer test, used to evaluate the
surface hardness of concrete.
Permeability test, used to measure the flow of water
through the concrete.
Penetration resistance or Windsor probe test, used to
measure the surface hardness and hence the strength of
the surface and near surface layers of the polymer
concrete.
Covermeter testing, used to measure the distance of steel
reinforcing bars beneath the surface of the concrete and
also possibly to measure the diameter of the reinforcing
bars.

 Radiographic testing, used to detect voids in the concrete

and the position of stressing ducts.
Ultrasonic pulse velocity testing, mainly used to measure
the sound velocity of the concrete and hence the
compressive strength of the concrete.
Sonic methods using an instrumented hammer providing
both sonic echo and transmission methods.
Tomographic modelling, which uses the data from
ultrasonic transmission tests in two or more directions to
detect voids in concrete.
Impact echo testing, used to detect voids, delamination and
other anomalies in concrete.
Ground penetrating radar or impulse radar testing, used to
detect the position of reinforcing bars or stressing ducts.
Infrared thermography, used to detect voids, delamination
and other anomalies in concrete and also detect water
entry points in buildings.

3.8.2 Nondestructive test methods

Nondestructive test (NDT) methods are commonly used for
quality control of various construction elements. Contrary to
destructive methods, NDT techniques give information about
material properties without deteriorating material
microstructure and serviceability. The main advantages of
NDT methods are: the possibility of on-site evaluation,
repeatability at the same place during structural service, and
quick test results.
By comparison to other construction materials like steel, the
development of NDT methods for concrete-like composites
has progressed at a slower pace because these kinds of
composites are difficult to test. Concrete is heterogeneous,
intrinsically conductive (because the pore solution is an ionic
electrolyte), and also usually contains steel reinforcement. For
these reasons, NDT techniques used with metals are not easy
to implement for concrete and similar composites. Since it is
difficult to apply to concrete some of the techniques used
with metals, alternative NDT methods have been considered.

 The evaluation of structures prior to repair, a

proper selection of repair materials, and
quality control of the repairs should be done
to assure the effectiveness of the repair
process. NDT methods are applied for four
main reasons:
quality control of new materials,
unexpected problems with new construction,
evaluation of existing material, including
evaluation prior to repair,
quality control of concrete repair.

In general, considering the measured parameters, NDT

methods can be divided into the following categories:
rebound hammer,
acoustic methods stress wave propagation (ultrasound,
acoustic emission, impact-echo, etc.),
radiation methods (X-ray, gamma ray, neutron emission,
etc.),
electromagnetic methods,
others e.g. infrared thermography.
Another classification takes into account the aim of
nondestructive evaluation. Two main categories can be
recognized:
evaluation of concrete strength and its homogeneity
(e.g. rebound hammer, ultrasonic pulse velocity),

 evaluation of structural integrity detection of

various types of defect in polymer concrete,
detection and evaluation of steel reinforcement
(e.g. visual inspection, stress wave propagation,
impact-echo, infrared thermography, radiation
methods, electromagnetic methods) [170], [171],
[180].
Among various NDT techniques, ultrasonic
methods, especially the ultrasonic pulse velocity
method, are still used for the evaluation of
concrete.

 evaluation of structural integrity detection of

various types of defect in polymer concrete,
detection and evaluation of steel reinforcement
(e.g. visual inspection, stress wave propagation,
impact-echo, infrared thermography, radiation
methods, electromagnetic methods) [170], [171],
[180].
Among various NDT techniques, ultrasonic
methods, especially the ultrasonic pulse velocity
method, are still used for the evaluation of
concrete [172], [187], [193].

Rebound hammer test

This is one of the oldest non-destructive tests and
it is still widely used. It was devised in 1948 by
Ernst Schmidt and is therefore known also as
Schmidt hammer or sclerometer test.
The hardness measured by rebound hammer is
quite different from the hardness determined in
tests on metals.
The rebound hammer test is based on the
principle that the rebound of an elastic mass
depends on the hardness of the surface against
which the mass impinges.

 However, despite its apparent simplicity, the

rebound hammer test involves complex
problems of impact and associated stresswave propagation. In the test a spring-loaded
mass has a fixed amount of energy imparted
to it by extending the spring to a fixed
position; this is achieved by pressing the
plunger against the surface of the concrete
under test. Upon release, the mass rebounds
from the plunger, still in contact with the
concrete surface, and the distance travelled by
the mass, expressed as a percentage of the
initial extension of the spring, is called the
rebound number.

The rebound number is an arbitrary measure

because it depends on the energy stored in the
given spring and on the size of the mass.
The hammer has to be used against a smooth
surface.
The plunger must always be normal to the surface
of the concrete under test.
The rebound hammer test measures the properties
of only the surface zone of concrete of about 30
mm.
A particular application of the rebound hammer
test is in assesing the abrasion resistance of
concrete floors, which largely depends on surface
hardness.

Sclerometru: 1- piston; 2-beton; 3-carcasa tubulara; 4-cursor indicator;

5-scala; 6- ciocan; 7- buton de declanare; 8,9-resort; 10-tift de oprire

REBOUND HAMMER

Limitations:
- evaluation of near-surface properties only,
- results depend on surface roughness,
- reference curve needed for strength estimation,
apparatus,

Ultrasonic pulse velocity test

This is a non-destructive test method which
determines the velocity of longitudinal waves. This
determination consists of measurement of the time
taken by a pulse to travel a measured distance.
The apparatus includes transducers which are
placed in contact with the concrete, a pulse
generator with a frequency of between 10 and 150
Hz, an amplifier, a time measuring circuit, and a
digital display of teh time taken by the pulse of
longitudinal waves to travel between transducers.

 The velocity of the ultrasonic pulse through

the concrete is the the outcome of the time
taken by the pulse to travel through the
hardened cement paste and through the
aggregate. The modulus of elasticity of
aggregates varies considerably, so that the
pulse velocity of the concrete depends on the
modulus of elasticity of the actual aggregate
and on the aggregate content of the mix.
With some limitations the ultrasonic pulse
velocity test can be used to assess the
strength of concrete.

a)
b)
c)
Ultrasonic pulse velocity method: a) direct method,
b) semi-direct method, c) indirect (surface) method
For determining the compressive strength of
concrete some reference curve can be used.

 The ultrasonic pulse velocity test has the

considerable merit of giving information about
the interior of a concrete element.
The test is used to detect cracking (but not
parallel to the direction of the pulse), voids,
deterioration due to frost or fire and the
uniformity of concrete in similar elements.
The test can be used for the purpose of
following changes in a given concrete
elements, for instance, due to repeated cycles
of freezing and thawing.

The test can also be used to asses the strength of

concrete at very early ages, from about 3 hours
onwords. This is of interest in precasting or as an aid in
deciding on removal of formwork, including steamcured concrete.
An echo type of ultrasonic pulse technique makes it
possible to measure the thickness of concrete roads
and similar slabs.
The method consists in generation of a short impulse
of the ultrasonic wave by the transmitting transducer
(Figure 3.20). After reflection by the materials
structural heterogeneity or by the limiting surface, the
impulses are recorded by the receiving transducer
(dual transmitting-receiving transducers are also
available).

Testing the concrete by ultrasonic echo method: a)

transmitting-receiving transducer, b) double transducer
Part of the ultrasonic wave is reflected by the material
defect, returns to the receiving transducers and is
recorded as the defects echo. Another part of the wave
passes by the defect and reaches the opposite wall of the
tested material, where it is reflected and returns to the
receiver with some delay as the bottom echo.

 The depth of the defect or the reflecting

surface is determined on the basis of the
travel time of the impulse and the ultrasonic
wave velocity. A small grain size of the tested
material is necessary for the echo method to
be efficient. The grain size should be
significantly smaller than the searched-for
defects; if not, then any defect echo will be
overlapped by the echoes formed by the grain
boundaries.

Test cores
The fundamental purpose of measuring the
strength of concrete test specimens is to
estimate the strength of concrete in the actual
structure.
The selection of the location of cores depends
on the purpose of testing.

 This may be: to estimate the strength of a critical

part of a structure, or of a part suspected of
having been damaged, for example by frost; or
alternatively, to estimate a representative value
for the entire structure, in which case a random
selection of locations is appropriate.
Cores can also be used to detect segregation of
honeycombing or to check the bond at
construction joints or to verify the thickness of
pavement.
Cores are cut by means of a rotary cutting tool
with diamond bits. In this manner, a cylindrical
specimen is obtained, sometimes containing
embedded fragments of reinforcement.