CEMENT and CONCRETE RESEARCH, Vol. 20, pp. 335-345, 1990. Printed in the USA. 0008-8846/90. $3.00+00.

Copyright (c) 1990 Pergamon Press plc.

ATTENUATION O F ULTRASONIC PULSE IN CEMENT MORTAR

K. Tharmaratnam and B. S. Tan School of Architecture Faculty of Architecture and Building National University of Singapore Republic of Singapore 0511 (Refereed) (ReceivedJuly 21; in final form Oct. 12, 1989) ABSTRACT The use of ultrasonic pulse attenuation (UPA) as a non-destructive testing parameter to evaluate the quality of material is presented in this paper. The attenuation of ultrasonic pulse is a combined effect of the geometric dispersion and energy dissipation. The characteristic of pulse attenuation with respect to the transmitted path length can be represented by a simple equation. Experiments to examine the relationship of the quality of cement mortar to pulse attenuation and to pulse velocity (UPV) are performed. Results of the experiments show that the pulse attenuation correlate well to compressive strength of cement mortar. The combined U P A and UPV method for strength estimation is also evaluated.
Introduction

The use of non-destructive testing methods in evaluating the quality of in-situ concrete has achieved increasing acceptance in recent years (4). The ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) technique is one of the often used non-destructive methods. Beside pulse velocity, another parameter associated with the propagation of ultrasonic pulse is the attenuation of the pulse amplitude (UPA). The pulse attenuation has been sparsely studied in non-destructive testing. A previous study (5) indicated that the ultrasonic damping, a form of pulse attenuation, can be combined with pulse velocity to estimate the strength of concrete. One recent study (6) which uses the attenuation of pulse amplitude has shown that pulse attenuation is more sensitive than pulse velocity in detecting the occurrence of crack growth in concretes under cyclic load. This present investigation studies the relationship between the pulse attenuation and the strength property of the cement mortar. The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the possibility of determining a parameter representative of the pulse attenuation and subsequently, establishing a relationship between this parameter with the quality of the solid medium. The first part of the paper explains briefly the attenuation process of ultrasonic pulse propagation in solid medium. The later part describes experiments done to examine the characteristics of the pulse attenuation with respect to the path length and also the quality of the medium, using cement mortars with different strengths. Cement mortar mixtures are used to study the U P A response in a relatively more homogenous material than concrete which is essentially cement mortar plus coarse aggregate (gravel). This study aims to provide some basis for future studies of attenuation of ultrasonic pulse in concrete. 335

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UltrgsQni~; Pulse Attenuation In Solid

The attenuation of the sound pressure consist of two components, namely the geometric divergence and the energy dissipation (1,2).

Divergence of the Sound Beam

As the sound beam travels through the solid medium away from the source, the sound beam will diverge from the centre of the beam. The dispersion causes loss of pulse amplitude as the area of the sound beam is increased. K r a u t k r a m e r (1) has represented the pulse amplitude by the following equation : Pd = ]Po 2 Sin {~r[./(D 2 / 4 + r 2) - r] / 5) 1 ..... (1) where Pd = diverged pulse amplitude at distance r, Po ffi initial pulse amplitude at the source, 6 = wavelength of the sound beam, D = diameter of the oscillator and r = distance away from the source. The above equation can be simplified if the distance is relatively far from the source, that is r >) D ~ / 4 6 , which is considered a f a r - f i e l d problem :
Pd =

Po ~" D2 / 4 6 r ............................... (2)

Dissipation of the Sound Wave

The dissipation effect consists of two processes, namely scattering and absorption. Scattering is due mainly to the non-homogenous composition of the medium. The second process, absorption of sound wave, is the actual loss of sound energy into heat energy, due mainly to the internal friction of the medium. For a plane sinusoidal wave of small amplitude, the attenuation of the above two dissipating factors are found to be exponential and the pulse amplitude can be approximated by the following equation (1-3) : Pa = Po e ' a r ..............................................(3) where a ffi attenuation coefficient. The natural logarithm of Eq.(3) gives a r ffi Ln(Pa/Po). This is the total attenuation over distance r, a dimensionless number which is expressed in naper (Np). The attenuation coefficient, a can therefore be given in N p / m m . The attenuation coefficient a is affected by the frequency of propagation. At present, however, this will not be examined in this study since only one type of transducer (50KHz) was used for the experiments.

Comparison Between Divergence and Dissipation Factor

For quality evaluation of materials, the dissipation factor is critical since it is related to the properties of the mixture. The divergence factor is mainly a geometric phenomenon. The relative contributions of the phenomena of divergence and dissipation to the total attenuation are shown in Table I. Table I shows that the relative importance of each factor depends on the path length r and the attenuation coefficient a. The second column of the table shows that the divergence factor follow the inverse distance law which is dominant at shorter distances (<150mm) but gradually becomes less significant for long path lengths. However, the dissipation factor becomes more prominent at shorter distances when the attenuation coefficient becomes higher.

Combined Ultrasonic Pulse Attenuation

The combined effect of both the divergence and dissipation factors are given by the following

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Table I

Comparison Between the Attenuation of Divergence and Dissipation Losses

Path Length r (mm)

Attenuated Pulse Amplitude Divergence Pd(r)/Pd(50) Dissipation Pa(r) / Pa(50) (%)

For Attenuation Coefficient ct ( N p / m )

(%)
50 I00 150 300 450 600 I000 50.0 33.3 16.7 II.I 8.3 5.0

95.1 90.5 77.9 67.0 57.7 38.7

90.5 81.9 60.7 44.9 33.3 15.0

86.1 74.1 47.2 30.1 19.2 5.8

81.9 67.0 36.8 20.2 11.1 2.2

77.9 60.7 28.7 13.5 6.4 0.9

equation : Pr = Po Kc Kd ( l / r ) e "at ........................ (4) where K d = 7r D 2 / 4 6 (far-field, Eq.2), K c = attenuation factor due to contact losses, Pr = pulse amplitude at distance r from the source. The equation for the near field cases can be obtained by inserting Eq.(l) instead of Eq.(2). In the ultrasonic pulse transmission, further losses of energy will be caused by the imperfect coupling between the transducers and the specimen surface. The factor K e, in Eq.(4) is the additional constant introduced to account for such losses. It was noted from experimental results that this constant varies widely with respect to the roughness of the specimen surface. Thus considerable care need to be taken to ensure a smooth surface that provide a consistent K c.
Definition of the Pulse Attenuation Parameter

The term 'pulse amplitude' means the amplitude at the centre of the beam since it is the maximum amplitude of the beam cross-section and the easiest to measure in direct transmission of pulses. The pulse amplitude of the first peak is measured for the determination of attenuation since the first amplitude is free from any interference from the reflected waves. In ultrasonic pulse testing, the amplitude of the pulse is measured in voltage potential instead of acoustic pressure. This is due to the fact that the acoustic pressure of the ultrasonic sound is detected as particles displacements by the receiving piezoelectric transducer, which converts the physical displacements into voltage potential. However, the above attenuation equations are still applicable since the amplitude of particle displacement is closely related to the amplitude of the acoustic pressure and similarly the voltage potential to the particle displacement. The ultrasonic pulse attenuation parameter (UPA) used in this study is defined as the ratio of the first pulse amplitude measured at distance r, over the initial amplitude Po" The amplitude ratio will be denoted as, A r = Pr / Po' where the initial amplitude can be approximated with the first pulse amplitude measured with no specimen between the transducers. This pulse amplitude ratio is used because it is directly measured in testings, and quick assessment can be done immediately after measurements.
Exnerimental Proeamme

Tests were carried out on cement mortars at two stages. The first group of mortar mixes was

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examined for the characteristics of the ultrasonic pulse attenuation with respect to changing path lengths. A second group of mixes with similar workability was tested for the correlation between the strength and the pulse attenuation. Details of the mix proportions are given in Table I1. Table II Cement Mortar Mixes

Batch

Mix

Cement ContenI (Kg/m") 276 to 656 249 to 437

Sand Conten~ ( K g / m ~) 1659 to 1159 1680 to 1530

W/C Ratio 0.90 to 0.50 1.00 to 0.57

Comment

I II

IA, IB & IC IIA, liB, IIC, IID, liE & IIF

Low to High workability Medium workability

Specimen preparation
Cubes specimens of sizes 100mm and 150mm were cast for both sets of mortar mixes. But thin specimens o f 10 to 50 mm and long specimens of 300 mm were also cast for the first group of mortars. The fine aggregate used is a i r - d r y natural sand conforming to the first grading zone (BS 882). The type of cement used was ordinary Portland cement and all materials were batched by weight. All the mixes were compacted on a vibrating table to obtain fully compacted test specimens. The specimens were removed from mould one day after casting and then water cured until a day before testing. Specimens were tested at 2 g - d a y for pulse amplitude, pulse velocity and compressive strength.

Testing Procedure
Two 5 0 - K H z piezoelectric transducers (lead zirconate titanate crystal type) were used as the transmitter and receiver of ultrasonic vibrations. The ultrasonic pulse was generated at the alternating current frequency of 50Hz with a commercially available ultrasonic-scope (MARUI). A digital-storage oscilloscope was used to detect the transmitted waves from which the transmitted time and the pulse amplitudes were obtained. The measurements were taken at the m i d - p o i n t of cube specimens and in a direction perpendicular to the casting direction. In the initial stage of the experiment, it was found that large variations in pulse amplitudes were observed for cubes from the same mortar mix when measurements were done on bare mortar surfaces with grease applied on as a coupling material. Subsequently, a thin layer (0.5 - 1.0 mm) of paraffin wax was coated to provide a relatively smooth surface in addition to applying grease as the coupling material. The pulse amplitudes were observed to have increased substantially, but more importantly the variations between cubes of same mortar mix were greatly reduced.

Results and Discussion Pulse attenuation with respect to path length

Figure 1 shows the relationship between the pulse amplitude and path length for the mortar mixes. The measured pulse amplitude ratios are plotted together with a best-fit line in the form of the attenuation equation, Eq.(4). The constants for the equation were obtained from regression analysis of the measured data. All the mixes showed very good correlation between the amplitude ratio and path length with the attenuation equation. Thus the exponential decrease of pulse amplitude with respect to path length can be applied to a composite of cement and sand mixture.

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! (oJ
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The relationship between the amplitude ratio and the path length for mortar : (a) IA, (b) IB and (c) IC.

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Slight deviations from Eq.(4) for path lengths of less than 30mm are observed in the figures. These deviations are possibly due to the fact that the attenuation equation was simplified for far-field problems only (Sec 2.1). Thus the length of the test specimen should be relatively long ~ 50mm) to avoid this problem. However, very long path length has a disadvantage since the amplitude of pulse will be small due to attenuation over a long path length. It is difficult for the oscilloscope to show the amplitude difference for mixes of different quality. Therefore in the UPA testing of materials the specimen length should be at a moderate range to avoid both extreme problems. This range depends mainly on the properties of the pulse (the far-field criteria) and the attenuation process of the testing material.
Correlations of Pulse Attenuation and Velocity with the Compressive Strength

The correlation studies for 100 and 150ram cubes between the 28-day compressive strength, f , with

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the pulse amplitude ratio are shown in Figure 2. The figures show that the compressive strengths of cement mortars are related to the amplitude ratios. The relationship can be represented approximately with : f = a e t~r .................... (5) where f is the compressive strength in MPa, A r is the amplitude ratio, and a and b are constants. The correlation coefficients of both 100 and 150ram cubes is 0.876, and the average deviation of the calculated strength from the measured strength are 2.8 and 2.3 MPa ( M N / m m z =N/mm 2 ), respectively.
2 (~d lO0~J~m Cubcs 2 Ib) #50mm Cubes

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FIG. 2 Correlation of amplitude ratio with the compressive strength for : (a) 100ram, and (b) 150ram cubes. The correlation between the pulse velocity and compressive strength is also shown in Figure 3. This relationship has been studied before (7-9) and the equation most commonly used is : f -- c eav ......................... (6) where V is the pulse velocity in km/s, and c and d are constants. In this experiment the correlation coefficient of this relation are 0.906 and 0.908, respectively for 100 and 150ram cubes. The average deviation of the calculated strength from the measured strength are 2.6 and 2.7 MPa respectively for 100 and I50mm cubes. Both pulse attenuation and pulse velocity correlations have similar precision in the estimation of mortar strength. One significant difference between the two correlation is that the percentage change of pulse attenuation is of a larger range (.04-.024 / .024 = 67%) than that of the pulse velocity (4.3-3.4 / 3.4 = 26%), for the corresponding change in compressive strength. This implies that the pulse attenuation is more sensitive to changes in compressive strength than the pulse velocity. However there is a higher degree of variability in the measurement of pulse attenuation. In the experiment, the coefficient of variation (sample standard deviation / sample average) of the amplitude ratios for cubes of the same mix was within the 10% range, which is higher then the 5% range for the pulse velocities.

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UltrasonicPulse, Attenuation,Mortar, Pulse Velocity

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3 (a) lOOmm Cubes

35 '1"k = g.~te

3 (hi 150mm Cubes

Ilffi |.qh A

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FIG. 3 Correlation of pulse velocity with the compressive strength for : (a) 100ram, and (b) 150ram cubes.

Combined correlation of Pulse Attenuation and Pulse Velocity

Studies (8-10) have indicated that combined correlation of UPV with other parameters, such as the pull-out force and the Rebound number, can improve the reliability of the prediction of compressive strength. A combined correlation study was done to examine the possibility of improving the accuracy of strength estimation using pulse velocity and pulse amplitude ratio. The relationship selected is in the form of : f = B e (cv OAr) ......... (7)

where B, C, and D are constants. The correlation coefficients are 0.935 and 0.933 respectively for the 100mm and 150ram cubes. The average deviation of the measured compressive strength from the strength calculated by the relationship are 1.9 and 2.1 MPa respectively. The deviations of this

Table III Correlations Coefficients and Constants

Desciption

f ffi a e ~ r lOOmm 150mm

f ffi c eav lOOmm 150mm c : d: .015 1.83 .023 1.72

f ffi B e cv OAr 100mm 150mm B: C: D : .020 1.17 0.93 0.935 2.1 14 .052 1.09 1.13 0.933 1.9 13

Constants

a : b:

.118 2.05

.502 2.47

Correlation Coefficient R Strength (MPa) Deviation (%)

0.876 2.7 18

0.876 2.8 18

0.908 2.7 17

0.906 2.6 16

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E. Tharrnaramam and B.S. Tan

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4(aJ
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Correlation

f - Ar
15'

4(c) Correlation

F & Ar

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FIG. 4 Comparison between the measured strength and the estimated strength for 150ram cubes using correlation : (a) f - A r,(b) f - V, and (c) f V & A r (combined).

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combined correlation are lower than the individual UPV and UPA correlations. Table III shows the correlation characteristics, that is the equation constants, the correlation coefficient and the average strength deviations, for both individual and combined methods. The comparison between the measured and calculated strength for the individual and combined methods are shown in Figure 4, for the 150ram cubes. The figure shows that estimates of the combined method lie closer to the equity line than the individual methods. The Attenuation Coefficient a

The attenuation coefficient r~, the theoretical representation (Eq.4) of pulse attenuation per unit length, can be calculated using amplitude ratio (A r) readings (average of 4 specimens) of 100ram and 150ram cubes from each mix. If one assume that a and K c were the same for both cubes, the constant K o in Eq.(4) can be eliminated and solved for a. Subsequent substitution into Eq.(4) yield

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Table IV The Attenuation Coefficient a

Mortar Mix

100mm Cubes Measured* Strength (MPa) Attenuation Coefficient (Np/m) 5.1 3.4 3.3 2.4 1.8 1.0

150mm Cubes Measured* Strength (MPa) 7.5 10.1 14.0 15.6 22.0 26.0 Attenuation Coefficient ot (Np/m) 4.4 .3.5 3.4 2.3 1.9 1.5

IIA IIB IIC liD lie IIF

7.7 9.3 14.1 15.7 23.0 28.1

* average of 4 cubes the constant K c. The experimental values of Kc's were observed to vary significantly between mixes even though the coupling conditions of all the specimens were similar. This is because the ct for 100 & 150 mm cubes are slightly different even for a same mortar mix. Therefore, a constant K c for all mixes (the average Kc's of all mixes from the previous method) was assumed instead, to determine a for each cube size of each mix. Results of this calculation for r, are shown in Table IV. The coefficient is slightly different for different cube size of the same mix, but generally, ct is inversely proportional to the compressive strength. The close correlation between the two parameters can be seen clearly in Figure 5, where a correlation coefficient of r=0.957 is found for a relationship in the exponential form (f=ge'ha). This close correlation shows the possibility of using this NDT testing parameter to determine the strength of material.
II : 0 . ~ ?

in.

t,

!
m m

~t

10.

i 2

1 4

FIG. 5 Relationship between the correlation coefficient and compressive strength of mortars.

It is noted that the numerical calculation of ct is very sensitive to the constant K c. A slight change in K c causes a significant change in t~. Hence the practicality of using c~ as a correlation parameter with strength, will mainly lies in the ability to produce a consistent contact surface and to determine the contact constant K c accurately.

Testings of Specimens with Different Path Lengths

The amplitude ratio correlation with strength, either individual or combined with UPV, is only applicable for the specific length at which the correlation is based. The a - f correlation does not has such limitation since ct is not dependent on the path length. However the difficulty in obtaining a consistent r,, as discussed earlier in section 4.4, make the use of ~-f correlation impractical.

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The use of amplitude ratio-strength correlation in testing specimens with different path lengths is still possible with some approximation. This is done by representing the amplitude ratios measured at different lengths with approximated amplitude ratios at a length for which the amplitude ratiostrength correlation was based. The approximated amplitude ratio derived from Eq.(4) is as follow: A t , = A r ( r / r ' ) e "=(r''r) ........... (8) where r is the specimen path length, r' is the length for which the correlation was based, A r is the measured amplitude ratio, and A t , is the approximated amplitude ratio. This A t , is then substitute into the original correlation (Eq. 5 or 7) to find f . Suppose that a amplitude ratio-strength correlation for a particular type of mix proportion was established at 150mm, A l s 0 - f , but a specimen with a different path length, say 125mm, is to be evaluated. The measured amplitude ratio at 125ram, A l z 5 cannot use the A150- f correlation to estimate the strength. Instead, the approximated A l s 0 for this specimen is initially determined from Eq.(8) and subsequently used to find the strength estimate from the original A15o-f correlation. For the above example, the coefficient a need to be determined or estimated in order to use Eq.(8). This is a major drawback for this method since it required additional amplitude ratio measurement on another specimen of different length but similar quality to the 125ram specimen. Otherwise, a can only be estimated based on previous tests on similar mixes, which will introduce additional errors in the strength evaluation. However, this approximate method is less sensitive to variation in r, than the direct a - f method. A sample calculation for comparison shows that, for a 100 mm specimen, a change of a from 2 to 3 N p / m causes the strength estimate from the direct correlation to vary by 30 % (19.6-13.7 MPa), where as the estimate from the approximate amplitude ratio method vary by only 17 % (20.6-17.2 MPa). This approximation method is applied to the 100mm cubes of mixes I I A - I I F . The approximate 150ram amplitude ratios (A150) for the 100ram cubes are calculated (Eq.$) using the r, values determined from experiments (Table III). Figure 6 compares the measured strength to the calculated

6(c0 Correlalion f - Ar

6{b) Approximate Ar Method

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y
s a a& a

r )0 0 I0
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FIG. 6 Comparison between the measured strength and estimated strength for 100ram cubes using (a) direct correlation, f - A t , and (b) the approximated amplitude ratio method.

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345

strength from two procedures; this approximate method and the original (Alo0-f) correlation of the 100ram cubes. The calculated strengths are close to the measured strength for both methods. This shows that the approximation method is as accurate as the direct At- f correlation. The extrapolation of the amplitude ratio is only applicable for the range of path length examined so far. Further studies are needed to extend the use of this approximation and the amplitude ratiostrength correlation over a wider range of path length, which is likely to be encountered in the insitu testings.
Conclusion

The major findings from this investigation reported are as follows : 1. The attenuation of ultrasonic pulse can be represented by the quantity, Ar, defined as the ratio of the amplitude of the first peak, Pr/Po, with and without specimen respectively. The amplitude ratio is easily measured together with the pulse velocity in the direct transmission of ultrasonic pulse. The variation of the attenuation of ultrasonic pulses with respect to path length can be approximated using a simple equation (Eq.(4)), for cement mortars. The measurement of the pulse attenuation is critically affected by the coupling condition. Therefore, consistency in the transducer coupling is essential for pulse attenuation studies. The attenuation of ultrasonic pulse is well correlated with the compressive strength of the cement mortar. However, the correlation is valid for the same path length for which the relationship is based. There are two ways of evaluating specimens with different path length : (a) the approximate amplitude ratio method - extrapolate the measured amplitude ratio to a equivalent amplitude ratio for a specific length using Eq.(8); or (b) direct correlation of a - f . The combined correlation of pulse attenuation and pulse velocity produced good estimation for strength of cement mortars. Further tests are required to confirm this relationship for cement mortars with different types of aggregates. The use of combined UPA and UPV method as a qualitative non-destructive testing technique, appears possible, for the evaluation of the quality of concrete.
References

2. 3. 4.

5.

6.

7.

(1)

J. Krautkramer & H. Kraukramer, Ultrasonic Testing of Material. Third Edition. 0.667, Springer-Verlag, New York (1983). (2) L. Filipczynski, Z. Pawlowski & J. Wehr, Ultrasonic Methods of Testing Materials. p.230, Butterworths, London (1966). (3) H. Kolsky, Stress Waves in Solids. p.213, Dover Publication, New York (1963). (4) V.M. Malhotra, In Situ/Nondestructive Testing of Concrete, SP-82, ACI, Detroit, i(1984). (5) A. Galan, ACI, 64 (10L 678 (1967). (6) V. Fernando & W. Suaris, ACI Material, 84 (3L 185 (1987). (7) J.H. Bungey, The Testing of Concrete in Structures, 0.207, Surrey University Press, London (1982). (8) A. Samarin & P. Meynink, Concrete International: Design & Construction, 3 (3L 25 (1981). (9) I. Facaoru, Proc. Syrup. on Non-Destructive Testing of Concrete and Timber, Inst. of Civil Engineers, London, 39 (1969). (10) P. Knaze & P. Beno, RILEM Material and Structure, 17 (99L 207 (1981). (11) Bristish Standard Institution, BS 882, BSI, London, (1973).