Article Article
Ultrasonic Wave Attenuation as a Parameter for Concrete Strength Prediction

Concrete is one of the most widely used construction materials for civil infrastructures. However, construction defects, wear and aging can deteriorate concrete. Thus, inspection and evaluation of concrete quality is an important task for engineers to ensure that the concrete structure adequately meets the standards for its design and function. The reason for this need for quality control is to prevent the possibility of catastrophic failure or malfunction of civil structures, which may cause high financial costs for repair and/or rehabilitation and, most importantly, it may cause human casualties. Non-destructive testing (NDT) methods are commonly used to inspect and evaluate concrete structures since they cause little to no damage to the structure going through examination. NDT methods are used to inspect new structures (for quality control) and existing structures (for integrity). In addition to being applied as the main testing method for the structure, NDT methods can also be applied as a preliminary testing method for destructive testing methods. Among these NDT methods include electrical and electromagnetic techniques, ultrasonic testing, infrared tomography, and surface hardness tests.

References
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