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Title |
Identification of Damage Characteristics Due to Cracking of Concrete Structures Using Acoustic Emission
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Keywords |
cracking damage; acoustic emission; nondestructive test; tensile cracks; flexural cracks; bond cracks between steel and concrete; damage mechanism |
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Abstract |
The damage in concrete structures generally starts with microcracking and thus it is important to find and explore these microcracks in concrete in order to ensure appropriate safety and serviceability. The purpose of the present study is to identify the damage characteristics of concrete structures due to cracking by employing the acoustic emission techniques. A comprehensive experimental study has been done. The cracking damage under tensile and flexural loadings have been identified and the bond damage between steel and concrete have been also characterized. It is seen that the amplitudes and energy level of Acoustic Emission(AE) events are found to be relatively small for bond cracking damages and large for tensile cracking damages. The characteristic equations of the AE events for various cracking damages have been proposed based on the present test data. The internal microcracks are progressively developed ahead of a visible actual crack and the present study clearly exhibits these damage mechanism for various types of cracking in concrete. The present study provides useful data which can be used to identify the various types of cracking damages in concrete structures. This will allow efficient maintenance of concrete structures through monitoring of internal cracking based on acoustic emission.
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