• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.7
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• pp.851-866
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• 2010

This paper presents a new concept of using PZT (lead zircornate titanate) transducers as a non-destructive testing (NDT) tool for evaluating quality of concrete. Detection of defects in concrete is very important in order to check the integrity of concrete structures. The electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) response of PZT transducers bonded onto a concrete specimen can be used for evaluating local condition of the specimen. Measurements are carried out by electrically exciting the bonded PZT transducers at high frequency range and taking response measurements of the transducers. In this study, the compression test results showed that concrete specimens without sufficient compaction are likely to fall below the desired strength. In addition, the strength of concrete was greatly reduced as the voids in concrete were increased. It was found that the root mean square deviation (RMSD) values yielded between the EMI signatures for concrete specimens in dry and saturated states showed good agreement with the specimens' compressive strength and permeable voids. A quality metric was introduced for predicting the quality of concrete based on the dry-saturated state of concrete specimens. The simplicity of the method and the current development towards low cost and portable impedance measuring system, offer an advantage over other NDE methods for evaluating concrete quality.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.271-283
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• 2010

Testing of ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) is one of the most popular and actual non-destructive techniques used in the estimation of the concrete properties in structures. In this paper, artificial neural network (ANN) approach has been proposed for the evaluation of relationship between concrete compressive strength, UPV, and density values by using the experimental data obtained from many cores taken from different reinforced concrete structures with different ages and unknown ratios of concrete mixtures. The presented approach enables to find practically concrete strengths in the reinforced concrete structures, whose records of concrete mixture ratios are not yet available. Thus, researchers can easily evaluate the compressive strength of concrete specimens by using UPV values. The method can be used in conditions including too many numbers of the structures and examinations to be done in restricted time duration. This method also contributes to a remarkable reduction of the computational time without any significant loss of accuracy. Statistic measures are used to evaluate the performance of the models. The comparison of the results clearly shows that the ANN approach can be used effectively to predict the compressive strength of concrete by using UPV and density data. In addition, the model architecture can be used as a non-destructive procedure for health monitoring of structural elements.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.2 no.6
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• pp.266-271
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• 2003

Safety diagnosis of various structural components and facilities is indispensable for preventing catastrophic failure of material by time-dependent and environment accelerating degradation. Also, this diagnosis of operating components should be done periodically for safe maintenance and economical repair. However, conventional standard methods for mechanical properties have the problems of bulky specimen, destructive procedure and complex procedure of specimen sampling. So, a non-destructive and simple mechanical testing method using small specimen is needed. Therefore, an advanced indentation technique was developed as a potential method for non-destructive testing of in-field structures. This technique measures indentation load-depth curve during indentation and analyzes the mechanical properties related to deformation such as yield strength, tensile strength and work-hardening index. In this paper, we characterized the tensile properties including yield and tensile strengths of the V-modified Cr-Mo steels in petro-chemical and thermo-electrical plants. And also, the effects of hydrogen-assisted degradation of the V-modified Cr-Mo steels were analyzed in terms of work-hardening index and yield ratio.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.1753-1761
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• 2014

Due to the inherent inhomogeneous and anisotropy nature of the composite materials, the detection of internal defects in these materials with non-destructive techniques is an important requirement both for quality checks during the production phase and in service inspection during maintenance operations. The estimation of the time-of-arrival (TOA) and/or time-of-flight (TOF) of the ultrasonic echoes is essential in ultrasonic non-destructive testing (NDT). In this paper, we used split-spectrum processing (SSP) combined with matching pursuit signal decomposition (MPSD) to develop a dedicated ultrasonic detection system. SSP algorithm is used for Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) enhancement, and the MPSD algorithm is used to decompose backscattered signals into a linear expansion of chirplet echoes and estimate the chirplet parameters. Therefore, the combination of SSP and MPSD (SSP-MPSD) presents a powerful technique for ultrasonic NDT. The SSP algorithm is achieved by using Gaussian band pass filters. Then, MPSD algorithm uses the Maximum Likelihood Estimation. The good performance of the proposed method is experimentally verified using ultrasonic traces acquired from three specimens of carbon fibre reinforced polymer multi-layered composite materials (CFRP).

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.20 no.44
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• pp.393-399
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• 1997

This study is concerned with reliability technology. In order to achieve the quality level of items for consumer's satisfaction, tests for the item's reliability are essential. This article deals with a method and real field application to plan reliability testing. Especially the environmental conditions and methods such as screening test for electronic components will be shown. As well, we will explore methods and field applications with respect to mechanic destructive tests and non destructive tests.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1998.04a
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• pp.385-390
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• 1998

Non-destructive field tests of the concrete has achieved increasing acceptance for the evaluation of existing concrete structures. As two major testing methods, this paper recommends the proper empirical relationship between the rebound number together with the ultrasonic pulse velocity and the core strength to fit the old concrete bridges in Korea.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1998.10b
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• pp.737-742
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• 1998

Non-destructive field tests of the concrete has achieved increasing acceptance for the evaluation of existing concrete structures. But the application of this test has not still accomplished to guarantee perfectly the durability of the concrete bridges in Korea. As two major testing methods, this paper recommends the proper empirical relationship between the rebound number together with the ultrasonic pulse velocity and the core strength. Also, this paper recommend the relationships as the aging and as the element.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.65-68
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• 2006

This study is aimed to investigate the strength variation of fire-damaged reinforced concrete column with polypropylene by non-destructive test. It is studied to infer the recovery degree of residual strength of fire-damaged concrete. For measuring the surface hardness of RC columns, Schmidt hammer test is used. Testing is performed four-times: before fire test, directly after fire test, after 30 days and after 4 months.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.34 no.E
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• pp.60-69
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• 1992

The research significance of the paper is to identify the major properties of synthetic lightweight concrete that are affected by ASR expansion and to determine the extent and magnitude of the loss in these properties. Emphasis is also given to the use of non-destructive testing techniques ; Such as dynamic modulus of elasticity and ultrasonic pulse velocity, to examine whether these methods could be used to identify the initiation of expansion and the internal structural damage caused by ASR.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.283-285
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• 2006

Non Destructive Examination for welds is one of the most important processes to ensure the integrity of facilities of Nuclear power plants. An automated ultrasonic testing program is developed for welding inspection. A test block with side EDM notch is inspected with this program. This paper shows that the developed automated ultrasonic testing program is quite effective.