Pulsed Eddy Current Sensing for Condition Assessment of Reinforced Concrete

Reinforced concrete (i.e., concrete wall-like structures having steel reinforcement rods embedded within) are commonly available as civil infrastructures. Such concrete structures, especially the walls of sewers, are vulnerable to bacteria and gas induced acid attacks which contribute to deterioration of the concrete and subsequent concrete wall loss. Therefore, quantification of concrete wall loss becomes important in determining the health and structural integrity of concrete walls. An effective strategy that can be formulated to quantify concrete wall loss is, locating a reinforcement rod and determining the thickness of concrete overlaying the rod via Non-destructive Testing and Evaluation (NDT & E). Pulsed Eddy Current (PEC) sensing is commonly used for NDT & E of metallic structures, including ferromagnetic materials. Since steel reinforcement rods that are commonly embedded in concrete also are ferromagnetic, this paper contributes by presenting experimental results, which suggest the usability of PEC sensing for reinforced concrete assessment, via executing the aforementioned strategy.