Efficient damage inspection of deteriorated RC bridge deck with rain-induced elastic wave

To maintain a large number of bridges, efficient inspection methods are needed. We have developed a new and efficient method for inspecting reinforced concrete bridge decks by using acoustic emission (AE) monitoring. Notably, we use AE signals acquired during heavy rain, which have generally been considered to be noise in the past. Analysis of rain-induced AE signals reveals severe cracks deep inside a deck, which would have been difficult to recognize by conventional passive non-destructive testing. Our method is also quite efficient with measurements able to be completed in a very short period of time.