Analysis of Acoustic Emission Signals Processed with Wavelet Transform for Structural Damage Detection in Concrete Beams

Jose M. Machorro-Lopez, Jorge A. Hernandez-Figueroa, Francisco J. Carrion-Viramontes, Juan P. Amezquita-Sanchez (), Martin Valtierra-Rodriguez (), Saul E. Crespo-Sanchez, Jesus J. Yanez-Borjas, Juan A. Quintana-Rodriguez and Luis A. Martinez-Trujano
Additional contact information
Jose M. Machorro-Lopez: Investigador CONACYT-Instituto Mexicano del Transporte, km 12 Carretera Estatal No. 431 “El Colorado-Galindo” San Fandila, Pedro Escobedo 76703, Querétaro, Mexico
Jorge A. Hernandez-Figueroa: Instituto Mexicano del Transporte, km 12 Carretera Estatal No. 431 “El Colorado-Galindo” San Fandila, Pedro Escobedo 76703, Querétaro, Mexico
Francisco J. Carrion-Viramontes: Instituto Mexicano del Transporte, km 12 Carretera Estatal No. 431 “El Colorado-Galindo” San Fandila, Pedro Escobedo 76703, Querétaro, Mexico
Juan P. Amezquita-Sanchez: ENAP-RG, CA Sistemas Dinámicos y Control, Departamento de Ingeniería Electromecánica, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Rio Moctezuma 249 San Cayetano, San Juan del Río 76807, Querétaro, Mexico
Martin Valtierra-Rodriguez: ENAP-RG, CA Sistemas Dinámicos y Control, Departamento de Ingeniería Electromecánica, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Rio Moctezuma 249 San Cayetano, San Juan del Río 76807, Querétaro, Mexico
Saul E. Crespo-Sanchez: Tecnológico de Monterrey, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Avenida Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey 64849, Nuevo León, Mexico
Jesus J. Yanez-Borjas: CA Procesamiento Digital de Señales, Universidad de Guanajuato, División de Ingenierías Campus Irapuato-Salamanca (DICIS), Salamanca 36885, Guanajuato, Mexico
Juan A. Quintana-Rodriguez: Instituto Mexicano del Transporte, km 12 Carretera Estatal No. 431 “El Colorado-Galindo” San Fandila, Pedro Escobedo 76703, Querétaro, Mexico
Luis A. Martinez-Trujano: Instituto Mexicano del Transporte, km 12 Carretera Estatal No. 431 “El Colorado-Galindo” San Fandila, Pedro Escobedo 76703, Querétaro, Mexico

Mathematics, 2023, vol. 11, issue 3, 1-19

Abstract: Concrete beams are elements used in many civil structures; unfortunately, they can contain cracks that lead to the collapse of the structures if those defects are not detected early enough. In this article, a new method to determine the structural condition of concrete beams subjected to bending is proposed. In general, it is based on the processing of the acoustic emissions (AE) signals, which are generated during the application of a load, by using the mathematical tool called wavelet transform (WT). The sound of the internal energy/crack is recorded as a hit or AE signal event; then, those signals acquired as waveforms are post-processed with the continuous WT (CWT); then, the wavelet energy (WE) is calculated for each hit by using an adequate scale range and the most convenient mother wavelet. Thus, with this method, it is possible to determine the structural condition (healthy or damaged) of concrete beams subjected to bending just by calculating the WE of any hit at any time and, even more, it is possible to define more precisely the stage of the structural condition as a healthy condition, micro-cracks appearance, the manifestation of a principal crack (hit with the highest WE), propagation of the principal crack, and final rupture. This method is experimentally validated in the laboratory, and additionally, ultrasonic pulse velocity tests (UPVT) are performed for some specimens to confirm the change between healthy and damaged conditions. The results are promising in order to apply this effective method in concrete beams of real-life structures.

Keywords: acoustic emission signals; bending load; concrete beams; damage detection; ultrasonic pulse velocity test; wavelet transform (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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