Effectiveness of nonlinear ultrasonic and acoustic emission evaluation of concrete with distributed damages

Nonlinear ultrasonic (NLU) and acoustic emission (AE) techniques are used for nondestructive evaluation of concrete, damaged under compression loading. Experiments were carried out in 18 cubic specimens (150 × 150 × 150 mm) cast with three different w/c (six specimens for each w/c). Three specimens at each w/c were used for AE monitoring and three others for NLU evaluation. The NLU evaluation is based on measuring the change in fundamental amplitude with increasing damage and output power level. In acoustic emission testing technique four sensors were used to listen to the wide range of events under various loading and unloading cycles. An increase in AE hits was observed with increasing damage. Each loading and unloading stage was carefully examined for Kaiser and Felicity effects in order to assess the concrete deterioration. It was proposed to measure Felicity ratio at three different loading levels, corresponding to AE hits at 3%, 5%, and 10% of the AE hits at the previous maximum load, respectively. Normalized values of Felicity ratio were plotted and compared with the NLU test data. Correlation between acoustic emission and nonlinear ultrasonic techniques in assessing damage growth in concrete was investigated.