Application of Ultrasonic Testing in Concrete Filled Steel Tubular Arch Bridge

Abstract

Concrete Filled Steel Tube(CFST) is widely used in civil engineering structures because of its superior mechanical performance. Yet the mechanical behavior of CFST is highly depended on the construction quality of the filled concrete. Hence it is very important for the inspection of the construction quality of the filled concrete in CFST structures. In this paper, the ultrasonic testing technique was used to detect the defect of the filled concrete of a CFST arch bridge. During the inspection, the ultrasonic transducer was moved along the circumference of the cross-section of the arch, and the defect of the concrete was comprehensively judged by detecting the change of sonic time, sonic amplitude and sonic frequency. Based on the analysis of the ultrasonic transmission path, the influences of different defects on the sonic time, sonic amplitude and sonic frequency were discussed. The detecting results were verified by core-drilling method. The verification showed that different kinds of defects defected by ultrasonic testing was in good accordance with the drilling samples, which demonstrates the adaptability of the ultrasonic detection technique in the construction quality inspection of CFST structures.

Recent progress and future trends on damage identification methods for bridge structures

“…Many nondestructive evaluation methods exist ranging from acoustics to optical, with most of them operating through measuring sound, light, intensity of electromagnetic field, temperature, or displacements . Many researchers have conducted damage identification studies based on nondestructive evaluation methods: the guided ultrasonic wave‐based method, the ground penetrating radar‐based method, the ultrasonic testing‐based method, the acoustic emission‐based method, thermography method, impact echo method, etc. The coupling of real‐time monitoring techniques (i.e., vibration‐based damage identification methods) and nondestructive evaluation methods may form a powerful tool for model updating and damage identification of large and complicated structures. It is recommended that vibration‐based damage identification methods are used to detect the approximate location of damage within a bridge, with nondestructive evaluation methods then used to localize the exact flaw location and evaluate the severity of the damage.…”