Subsurface Damage Assessment In Mortar Using Electrical Impedance Tomography

T. Ruan*, Poursaee**
* Research Scientist, Zhejiang Institute of Transportation, Hangzhou, China.
** Assistant Professor, Glenn Department of Civil Engineering, Clemson University, South Carolina, USA.
Periodicity:February - April'2017
DOI : https://doi.org/10.26634/jfet.12.3.13429

Abstract

The objective of this study was to explore the feasibility of implementing Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) in assessing invisible subsurface damages in mortar specimens. Damages with different geometries and sizes were artificially created using a rotary saw with diamond blade, polypropylene plastic sheet and Poly-Vinyl Chloride (PVC) pipe on one side (bottom surface) of mortar specimens and the EIT tests were performed on the other side (top surface) of the specimens. Although, employing conductive materials in the mixture, using conductive paint on the surface, and saturating specimens can improve the precision and quality of the images they do not represent the actual field condition. Thus, in this study, no specific treatment was employed to collect the data for constructing the images. With the aid of numerical simulation and inverse calculation, two-dimensional images were reconstructed and recognized the artificial damages. The reconstructed images accurately identified the location of the damages and the sizes were qualitatively estimated. This study successfully shows the potentials of utilizing EIT technique in Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) of mortar structures.

Keywords

Electrical Impedance Tomography, EIT, Subsurface Damage, Inverse Analysis, Concrete

How to Cite this Article?

Ruan, T., and Poursaee (2017). Subsurface Damage Assessment In Mortar Using Electrical Impedance Tomography. i-manager’s Journal on Future Engineering and Technology, 12(3), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.26634/jfet.12.3.13429

References

[1]. Barber, D. (1989). “A review of image reconstruction techniques for electrical impedance tomography”. Medical Physics, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 162-169.
[2]. Borsic, A., Comina, C., Foti, S., Lancellotta, R., and Musso, G. (2005). “Imaging heterogeneities with electrical impedance tomography: Laboratory results”. Géotechnique, Vol. 55, No. 7, pp. 539-547.
[3]. Borsic, A., Graham, B.M., Adler, A., and Lionheart, W.R. (2007). “Total variation regularization in electrical impedance tomography”. Technical Report 92 School of Mathematics, University of Manchester.
[4]. Borsic, A., Graham, B.M., Adler, A., and Lionheart, W.R.B. (2010). “In vivo Impedance Imaging With Total Variation Regularization”. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 44-54.
[5]. Chan, T.F., and Wong, C.K. (1998). “Total variation blind deconvolution”. IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 370-375.
[6]. Cheng, K.S., Isaacson, D., Newell, J.C., and Gisser, D.G. (1989). “Electrode Models for Electric-Current Computed-Tomography ”. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 9, pp. 918-924.
[7]. Comina, C., Cosentini, R.M., Della Vecchia, G., Foti, S., and Musso, G. (2011). “3D-electrical resistivity tomography monitoring of salt transport in homogeneous and layered soil samples”. Acta Geotechnica, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 195-203.
[8]. Daily, W., Ramirez, A., Labrecque, D., and Nitao, J. (1992). “Electrical resistivity tomography of vadose water movement”. Water Resources Research, Vol. 28, No. 5, pp. 1429-1442.
[9]. Dines, K., and Lytle, R.J. (1981). “Analysis of electrical conductivity imaging”. Geophysics, Vol. 46, No. 7, pp. 1025-1036.
[10]. Du Plooy, R., Villain, G., Lopes, S.P., Ihamouten, A., Derobert, X., and Thauvin, B. (2013). “Electromagnetic non-destructive evaluation techniques for the monitoring of water and chloride ingress into concrete: A comparative study”. Materials and Structures, Vol. 48, No. 1-2, pp. 369-386.
[11]. Elaqra, H., Godin, N., Peix, G., R'Mili, M., and Fantozzi, G. (2007). “Damage evolution analysis in mortar, during compressive loading using acoustic emission and X-ray tomography: Effects of the sand/cement ratio”. Cement and Concrete Research, Vol. 37, No. 5, pp. 703- 713.
[12]. Ervin, B.L., Kuchma, D.A., Bernhard, J.T., and Reis, H. (2009). “Monitoring corrosion of rebar embedded in mortar using high-frequency guided ultrasonic waves”. Journal of Engineering Mechanics, Vol. 135, No. 1, pp. 9- 19.
[13]. Hallaji, M., Seppanen, A., and Pour-Ghaz, M. (2014). “Electrical impedance tomography-based sensing skin for quantitative imaging of damage in concrete”. Smart Materials and Structures, Vol. 23, No. 8.
[14]. Hallaji, M., Seppanen, A., and Pour-Ghaz, M. (2015). “Electrical resistance tomography to monitor unsaturated moisture flow in cementitious materials”. Cement and Concrete Research, Vol. 69, pp. 10-18.
[15]. Henderson, R.P., and Webster, J.G. (1978). “An impedance camera for spatially specific measurements of the thorax”. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 3, pp. 250-254.
[16]. Hou, T.C., and Lynch, J.P. (2008). “Electrical Impedance Tomographic Methods for Sensing Strain Fields and Crack Damage in Cementitious Structures”. Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, Vol. 20, No. 11, pp. 1363-1379.
[17]. Karaiskos, G., Deraemaeker, A., Aggelis, D., and Van Hemelrijck, D. (2015). “Monitoring of concrete structures using the ultrasonic pulse velocity method”. Smart Materials and Structures, Vol. 24, No. 11, 113001.
[18]. Karhunen, K., Seppanen, A., Lehikoinen, A., Monteiro, P.J.M., and Kaipio, J.P. (2010). “Electrical Resistance Tomography imaging of concrete”. Cement and Concrete Research, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 137-145.
[19]. Kee, S.H., and Zhu, J. (2013). “Using piezoelectric sensors for ultrasonic pulse velocity measurements in concrete”. Smart Materials and Structures, Vol. 22, No. 11, 115016.
[20]. Komlos, K., Popovics, S., Nürnbergerova, T., Babal, B., and Popovics, J. (1996). “Ultrasonic pulse velocity test of concrete properties as specified in various standards”. Cement and Concrete Composites, Vol. 18, No. 5, pp. 357-364.
[21]. Li, D.S., Ruan, T., and Yuan, J.H. (2012). “Inspection of reinforced concrete interface delamination using ultrasonic guided wave non-destructive test technique”. Science China-Technological Sciences, Vol. 55, No. 10, pp. 2893-2901.
[22]. Lytle, R., and Dines, K. (1978). “An impedance camera: A system for determining the spatial variation of electrical conductivity: Lawrence Livermore Laboratory paper UCRL-52413”. USGRAI (78), Vol. 25.
[23]. Maierhofer, C. (2003). “Nondestructive evaluation of concrete infrastructure with ground penetrating radar”. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 287-297.
[24]. Murai, T., and Kagawa, Y. (1985). “Electrical impedance computed tomography based on a finite element model”. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 3, pp. 177-184.
[25]. Na, S., and Lee, H. (2012). “A technique for improving the damage detection ability of the electro-mechanical impedance method on concrete structures”. Smart Materials and Structures, Vol. 21, No. 8, 085024.
[26]. Na, W., Kundu, T., and Ehsani, M.R. (2002). “Ultrasonic guided waves for steel bar concrete interface testing”. ARIEL, Vol. 129, pp. 31-248.
[27]. Polydorides, N., and Lionheart, W.R.B. (2002). “A Matlab toolkit for three-dimensional electrical impedance tomography: A contribution to the Electrical Impedance and Diffuse Optical Reconstruction Software project”. Measurement Science & Technology, Vol. 13, No. 12, pp. 1871-1883.
[28]. Pour-Ghaz, M., Kim, J., Nadukuru, S.S., O'connor, S. M., Michalowski, R.L., Bradshaw, A.S., Green, R.A., Lynch, J.P., Poursaee, A., and Weiss, W.J. (2011). “Using electrical, magnetic and acoustic sensors to detect damage in segmental concrete pipes subjected to permanent ground displacement ”. Cement and Concrete Composites, Vol. 33, No. 7, pp. 749-762.
[29]. Rhim, H.C., and Buyukozturk, O. (1998). “Electromagnetic properties of concrete at microwave frequency range”. ACI Materials Journal, Vol. 95, No. 3, pp. 262-271.
[30]. Ruan, T., and Poursaee, A. (2015). “Development of LabVIEW-based Automated Measurement System for Electrical Impedance Tomography”. (Under preparation).
[31]. Somersalo, E., Cheney, M., and Isaacson, D. (1992). “Existence and Uniqueness for Electrode Models for Electric-Current Computed-Tomography”. SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 1023-1040.
[32]. Song, G., Gu, H., Mo, Y., Hsu, T., and Dhonde, H. (2007). “Concrete structural health monitoring using embedded piezoceramic transducers”. Smart Materials and Structures, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 959.
[33]. Stacey, R.W. (2006). “Electrical impedance tomography”. Department of Energy and by the Department of Petroleum Engineering, Stanford University.
[34]. Tikhonov, A.N., Goncharsky, A., Stepanov, V., and Yagola, A.G. (2013). Numerical Methods for the Solution of ill-posed Problems. Springer Science & Business Media, Vol. 328.
[35]. Verstrynge, E., Pfeiffer, H., and Wevers, M. (2014). “A novel technique for acoustic emission monitoring in civil structures with global fiber optic sensors”. Smart Materials and Structures, Vol. 23, No. 6, 065022.
[36]. Xie, X., Li, P., Qin, H., Liu, L., and Nobes, D.C. (2013). “GPR identification of voids inside concrete based on the support vector machine algorithm”. Journal of Geophysics and Engineering, Vol. 10, No. 3, 034002.
[37]. Zhu, J., Tsai, Y.T., and Kee, S.H. (2011). “Monitoring early age property of cement and concrete using piezoceramic bender elements”. Smart Materials and Structures, Vol. 20, No. 11, 115014
If you have access to this article please login to view the article or kindly login to purchase the article

Purchase Instant Access

Single Article

North Americas,UK,
Middle East,Europe
India Rest of world
USD EUR INR USD-ROW
Online 15 15

Options for accessing this content:
  • If you would like institutional access to this content, please recommend the title to your librarian.
    Library Recommendation Form
  • If you already have i-manager's user account: Login above and proceed to purchase the article.
  • New Users: Please register, then proceed to purchase the article.