Elastic modulus in large concrete structures by a sequential hypothesis testing procedure applied to impulse method data

An experimental method denoted as Impulse Method is proposed as a cost-effective non-destructive technique for the on-site evaluation of concrete elastic modulus in existing structures: on the basis of Hertz's quasi-static theory of elastic impact and with the aid of a simple portable testing equipment, it makes it possible to collect series of local measurements of the elastic modulus in an easy way and in a very short time. A Hypothesis Testing procedure is developed in order to provide a statistical tool for processing the data collected by means of the Impulse Method and assessing the possible occurrence of significant variations in the elastic modulus without exceeding some prescribed error probabilities. It is based on a particular formulation of the renowned sequential probability ratio test and reveals to be optimal with respect to the error probabilities and the required number of observations, thus further improving the time-effectiveness of the Impulse Method. The results of an experimental investigation on different types of plain concrete prove the validity of the Impulse Method in estimating the unknown value of the elastic modulus and attest the effectiveness of the proposed Hypothesis Testing procedure in identifying significant variations in the elastic modulus.