• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.230-237
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• 1997

As concrete structure is getting old and decrepit, its inspection and diagnosis is getting important. Therefore, it is necessary to estimate the soundness of structure using non-destructive tests for effective repairs and maintenances. But, applications of non-destructive tests in tunnel have been used restrictively, due to accessibility only from one side in tunnel lining and presence of tunnel installations. Recently, the various non-destructive techniques have been studied. Especially, ground penetrating radar(GPR) and impact echo (IE) methods have been researched for tunnel inspection. In this study, the applicability of impact echo test in tunnel lining inspection has been investigated. This paper described the tunnel inspection for lining thickness and internal flaw using impact echo tests. Model tests were carried out using impact echo test systems on two concrete models, Model I is measuring for lining thickness, Model II is detecting for internal flaw. Also, the test were applied for lining inspections in a tunnel constructed by NATM. From the results of impact echo tests, we have concluded that impact echo test is a very useful and effective technique for inspecting the concrete tunnel linings.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.427-439
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• 2006

Accurate estimates of in place thickness of early age (3 to 28 days after casting) concrete pavements are needed, where a thickness accuracy of ${\pm}6mm$ is desired. The impact-echo method is a standardized non-destructive technique that has been applied for this task. However, the ability of impact-echo to achieve this precision goal is affected by Vp (measured) and ${\beta}$ (assumed) values that are applied in the computation. A deeper understanding of the effects of these parameters on the accuracy of impact-echo should allow the technique to be improved to meet the desired accuracy goal. In this paper, the results of experimental tests carried out on a range of concrete slabs are reported. Impact-echo thickness estimation errors caused by material property gradients and sensor type are identified. Correction factors to the standard analysis method are proposed to correct the identified errors and to increase the accuracy of the standard method. Results show that improved accuracy can be obtained in the field by applying these recommendations with the standard impact-echo method.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.266-274
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• 2002

The impact-echo test, which is to evaluate the integrity of concrete and masonry structures nondestructively, is an excellent method in the practical application. However, there are cases that the Impact-Echo testing nay result in the low reliability. In this study, the reliability of the Impact-Echo testing was investigated through the numerical simulation of the Impact-Echo testing. The finite element analysis and the analysis based on the dynamic stiffness matrix method was incorporated for the numerical simulation, in which the cases of a sandwiched shear stiffness, an incr＋easing or decreasing stiffness, and a homogeneous stiffness. Based on the results of the analysis were considered, this study proposed the approaches to Improve the reliability of the Impact-Echo testing.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.171-177
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• 2011

The feasibility of using low cost, unpowered, unshielded dynamic microphones is investigated for cost effective contactless sensing of impact-echo signals in concrete structures. Impact-echo tests on a delaminated concrete slab specimen were conducted and the results were used to assess the damage detection capability of the low cost system. Results showed that the dynamic microphone successfully captured impact-echo signals with a contactless manner and the delaminations in concrete structures were clearly detected as good as expensive high-end air pressure sensor based non-contact impact-echo testing.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1998.10b
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• pp.743-748
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• 1998

As nation's infrastructure is getting old, nondestructive evaluation of existing structures and construction quality control are getting important. In this thesis, flaw detection techniques of concrete members with asphalt using impact echo test were introduced. This techniques are based on stress wave propagation. In this field impact echo test, As load is gradually increased, frequency is increased. From this change of frequency through impact echo test, we can detect that the crack of bridge ascends and what the depth of crack is.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.924-929
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• 2003

A majority of infrastructures has been deteriorated over time. Therefore, it is very important to verify the quality of construction, and the level of structural deterioration in existing structures, to ensure their safety and functionality. Many researchers have studied non-destructive testing (NDT) methods to identify structural problems in existing structures. The impact echo technique is one of the widely used NDT techniques. The impact echo technique has several inherent problems, including the difficulties in P-wave velocity evaluation due to inhomogeneous concrete properties, deterioration of evaluation accuracy where multiple reflection boundaries exist, and the influence of the receiver location in evaluating the thickness of the tested structures. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to propose an enhanced impact echo technique that can reduce the aforementioned problems and develop a Virtual Instrument for the application via a thickness evaluation technique which has same technical background to find deterioration in concrete structures. In the proposed impact echo technique, transfer function from dual channel system analysis is used, and coherence is improved to achieve reliable data. Also an averaged signal -ensemble- is used to achieve more reliable results. From the analysis of transfer function, the thickness is effectively identified.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.94-100
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• 2000

Many nondestructive test methods used for metallic materials have some limit in application to concrete materials due to their heterogeneity. Impact echo method utilizes the resonance frequency of reflected seismic waves from defects or the boundary between two materials and can be applied to investigate the interior of concrete structures. In this study, a field data acquisition system for the impact echo method was assembled and field tests under various conditions were performed. The impact echo method was applied for investigating thickness/defects/backfilling of concrete structures/tunnel lining/airport pavement. The applicability of the impact echo method to the civil engineering field was substantiated by providing results within $10\%$ errors.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.105-112
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• 2013

In this study, the applicability of impact-echo method for assessment of residual strength of fire-damaged concrete is investigated. A series of standard fire test is performed to obtain fire-damaged concrete specimens. Impact-echo tests are executed on the specimens and the responses are analyzed. Compressive strengths of the fire-damaged concrete are evaluated and correlated with the ultrasonic wave velocities determined from the impact-echo responses. The effectiveness of impact-echo based ultrasonic wave velocity measurement for assessment of residual strength of fire-damaged concrete is discussed.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.17-21
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• 2017

This paper is to grasp the use of impact-echo response signal induced from impacting an object for the assessment of compressive strength of construction materials nondestructively and to propose the test results. For this study, an impact device was devised and used for impacting an object by an initial rotating free falling impact and following repetitive impacts from the rebound action which eventually disappears. Concrete test specimens which had been mixed for different strengths were tested and the impact echo response signal was measured for each test specimen. The total sound signal energy which is assessed from integrating the impact-echo response signal was compared with the directly measured compressive strength for each specimen. The comparison showed that the total sound signal energy has a direct relationship with the directly measured compressive strength and the results clearly indicated that the compressive strength of construction materials can be assessed nondestructively using total sound signal energy which is assessed from integrating the impact-echo response signal induced from impacting an object.

• Architectural research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.23-31
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• 2020

This study aims to verify a method for accurately estimating the sizes of the column, slab, and beam members of concrete structures using the impact echo method, which is a nondestructive testing method. The concrete specimens are designed and fabricated with six single-layer frame specimens composed of columns, slabs, and beam members based on three strengths of 24, 30, and 40 MPa. To estimate the sizes of the members according to the member types of concrete structures, the experiment was performed using the impact echo method. As a result of estimating the sizes of the concrete column members using the impact echo method, the error rate is 2.9%. As a result of estimating the depth of the concrete beam members, the error rate is 9.7%. And, as a result of estimating the thickness of the concrete slab members, the error rate is 2.4%. These results confirmed that quality control of the members of concrete structures is possible by estimating their sizes using a non-destructive testing method.