• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.219-233
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• 2023

Crack width is an important indicator to evaluate the health condition of the concrete structure. The crack width is measured by manual using crack width gauge commonly, which is time-consuming and laborious. In this paper, we have proposed a fast and simplified crack width quantification method via deep Q learning and geometric calculation. Firstly, the crack edge is extracted by using U-Net network and edge detection operator. Then, the intelligent decision of is made by the deep Q learning model. Further, the geometric calculation method based on endpoint and curvature extreme point detection is proposed. Finally, a case study is carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, achieving high precision in the real crack width quantification.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.727-739
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• 2018

Crack is the most common typical feature of concrete deterioration, so routine monitoring and health assessment become essential for identifying failures and to set up an appropriate rehabilitation strategy in order to extend the service life of concrete structures. At present, image segmentation algorithms have been applied to crack analysis based on inspection images of concrete structures. The results of crack segmentation offering crack information, including length, width, and area is helpful to assist inspectors in surface inspection of concrete structures. This study proposed an algorithm of image segmentation enhancement, named morphological segmentation based on edge detection-II (MSED-II), to concrete crack segmentation. Several concrete pavement and building surfaces were imaged as the study materials. In addition, morphological operations followed by cross-curvature evaluation (CCE), an image segmentation technique of linear patterns, were also tested to evaluate their performance in concrete crack segmentation. The result indicates that MSED-II compared to CCE can lead to better quality of concrete crack segmentation. The least area, length, and width measurement errors of the concrete cracks are 5.68%, 0.23%, and 0.00%, respectively, that proves MSED-II effective for automatic measurement of concrete cracks.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.4 no.2 s.12
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• pp.33-42
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• 2002

The cracks in the pavements result from drying shrinkage, temperature change, repeated traffic loadings and so on. The reduction of soil support, spatting and many local failures are caused by water and incompressible foreign materials infiltrated into the cracks. In order to reduce this kind of problems the crack width must be controlled and managed by the accurate measurement. The current method is a visual survey using a microscope, which requires traffic blocking. The purpose of this study is to find the best condition to measure accurate crack width using automated pavement condition survey equipment running at the similar speed as other vehicles. In this study pavement surfaces are filmed on an enlarged scale by the camera with a zoom lens, and then the proper focal distance is determined according to the crack width through a pilot survey. The conditions for measurement of the accurate crack width using the image processing technique are suggested by comparing crack widths surveyed using a microscope in the field with those computed by various factors in the image processing program, STADI-2. In conclusion, the camera with a focal distance of 75m could detect crack range of 0.5mm$\sim$1.2mm In width with an accuracy of 80% for CRCP. The camera with a focal distance of 12.5mm could detect crack range of 1.8mm$\sim$3.3mm in width with an accuracy of 90% for asphalt pavement.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.108-114
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• 1997

Concrete is said to have a high degree of extensibility when it is subjected to large deformations without cracking. The cracking behavior of concrete in the field may even be more complex. For example, in mass concrete compressive stresses are developed during the very early period when temperatures are rising, and the tensile stresses do not develop until at a later age when the temperature begins to decline. Actual cracking and failure depend on the combination of factors and indeed it is rarely that a single adverse factor is responsible for cracking of concrete. The importance of cracking and the minimum width at which a crack is considered significant depend on the conditions of exposure of the concrete. The ultrasonic pulse measurements can be used to detect the development of cracks in structures such as dams, and to check deterioration due to frost or chemical action. An estimate of the depth of a crack visible at the surface can be obtained by measuring the transit times across the crack for two different arrangements of the transducers placed on the surface. In this paper, the concrete cracks that artificially introduced crack width is 1 and 2mm, crack depth is 2, 4, 6, 8cm were measured by Tc-To Method In consequence, the measured depth was increased with increase of measuring distance from concrete crack. The most reliable results were shown when the introduced crack width was 1mm, and the measuring distance was 10cm from concrete crack.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.245-251
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• 2018

Recently, as the importance of structural maintenance has been increased, studies on self - healing concrete technology are being actively carried out. On the other hand, test for evaluating the self-healing performance is not standardized yet. Although visual test is used as a basic method for measuring crack widths, it is difficult to observe the crack width inside the specimen, and there is a disadvantage that only the local measurement of the surface can be measured due to the inhomogeneous cracking characteristics. Although permeability test has been widely used as an indirect method for measuring crack width, there is a problem due to the viscosity of water, and also a possibility that the internal material of the specimen may be eluted during the test. In this study, we propose a crack width evaluation method using gas diffusion characteristics. Idealized straight cracks were fabricated by acrylic and the diffusion coefficients of specimens were analyzed with respect to crack width and thickness. The experimental results show that the crack width and the diffusion coefficient are in a linear relationship and that the thickness and diffusion coefficient are inversely related.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.41-50
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• 2020

Since cracks in concrete structures expedite corrosion of reinforced concrete over a long period of time, regular on-site inspections are essential to ensure structural usability and prevent degradation. Most of the safety inspections of facilities rely on visual inspection with naked eye, so cost and time consuming are severe, and the reliability of results differs depending on the inspector. In this study, a portable measuring device that can be used for safety diagnosis and maintenance was developed as a device that measures the width and length of concrete cracks through image analysis of cracks photographed with a camera. This device captures the cracks found within a close distance (3 m), and accurately calculates the unit pixel size by laser distance measurement, and automatically calculates the crack length and width with the image processing algorithm developed in this study. In measurement results using the crack image applied to the experiment, the measurement of the length of a 0.3 mm crack within a distance of 3 m was possible with a range of about 10% error. The crack width showed a tendency to be overestimated by detecting surrounding pixels due to vibration and blurring effect during the binarization process, but it could be effectively corrected by applying the crack width reduction function.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1991.04a
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• pp.117-120
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• 1991

Cracks of concrete structure must be analyzed and estimated synthetically in order to have a maintenance and to insure the safety and the durability of structure. Concrete cracks have to be surveyed with respect to depth, width, shape and direction etc, but crack depth among these items is not measured easily. Occasionally, it needs to measure the crack depth of concrete structure for the purpose of evaulating the safe capacity and the necessity of repair. Therefore, this research is performed to verify the applicability and the accuracy of Ultra-sonic Pulse Velocity Technique(Tester), in non-destructive testing methods of concrete crack depth.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.63-71
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• 2021

Recently, high-resolution cameras in smartphones enable measurement of minute objects such as cracks in concrete using image processing techniques. The technology to investigate the crack width using an application at an adjacent distance of the close shot range has already been implemented, but the use is limited, so it is necessary to verify the usability of the high-resolution smartphone camera to measure cracks at a longer distance. This study focuses on recognizing the size of subdivided crack widths at a thickness within 1.0 mm of crack width at a distance of 2 m. In recent Android-based smartphones, an experiment was conducted focusing on the relationship between the unit pixel size, which is a measurement component, and the shooting distance, depending on the camera resolution. As a result, it was possible to confirm the necessity of a smartphone lens for the classification and quantification of microcrack widths of 0.3 mm to 1mm. The universal telecentric lens for smartphones needed to be installed in an accurate position to minimize the effect of distortion. In addition, as a result of applying a 64 MP high-resolution smartphone camera and double magnification lens, the crack width could be calculated within 2 m in pixel units, and crack widths of 0.3, 0.5, and 1mm could be distinguished.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.655-658
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• 2003

The crack of concrete structure plays an important role in the durability and safety of structure. Therefore, the features such as width, length, and direction of that must be measured periodically. The conventional method of measurement of cracks is manually sketched, however. it takes a fairly long time and lacks quantitative objectivity. This study proposes the algorithm to extract and analyze cracks automatically. The proposed algorithm is composed of two sub-algorithms. The extraction algorithm includes elimination of effect due to light, binarization. and noise reduction. The analysis algorithm includes thinning process, labeling, and calculation of crack width, length, and direction. The test to demonstrate the algorithm is fulfilled using the images of cracks on real concrete surface.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.615-623
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• 2023

Crack detection is an essential method to ensure the safety of dam concrete structures. Low-quality crack images of dam concrete structures limit the application of neural network methods in crack detection. This research proposes a modified attentional mechanism model to reduce the disturbance caused by uneven light, shadow, and water spots in crack images. Also, the focal loss function solves the small ratio of crack information. The dataset collects from the network, laboratory and actual inspection dataset of dam concrete structures. This research proposes a novel method for crack detection of dam concrete structures based on the U-Net neural network, namely AF-UNet. A mutual comparison of OTSU, Canny, region growing, DeepLab V3+, SegFormer, U-Net, and AF-UNet (proposed) verified the detection accuracy. A binocular camera detects cracks in the experimental scene. The smallest measurement width of the system is 0.27 mm. The potential goal is to achieve real-time detection and localization of cracks in dam concrete structures.