Nondestructive evaluation of elastic constants and crack depth in concrete using transient elastic waves

In this paper, we apply the transient elastic waves to the nondestructive evaluation of elastic constants and crack depth in concrete specimens. We determined the elastic constants of a concrete specimen through the measurements of the Rayleigh and the longitudinal wave velocities. Furthermore, transient elastic wave experiment on a concrete block with a normal surface-breaking crack is conducted. The measured diffracted wave signal from the crack is in agreement with the simulated signal calculated from a 3-D finite difference program. Finally, we demonstrated that the depth of the normal surface-breaking crack can be determined with an optimization algorithm.