Application of empirical mode decomposition in the impact-echo test

This research develops a signal processing method for the impact-echo test based on the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) in the Hilbert–Huang transform (HHT). First, apply the decomposition to decompose the impact-echo signal into several intrinsic mode functions (IMF's). Then, the Fourier analysis is performed on each IMF. Examining the behaviors of the IMF's in the time and frequency domain, one can judge which IMF represents noise, echo wave, surface wave, or modal vibrations. Since the echo IMF has little influence from the other signals, one can locate the echo peak easily. Numerical simulations and model tests show that the proposed method is promising in the detection of internal cracks in concrete even when the vibration and noise signals are strong.