See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/252720876

Following Stress Level Modification of Real Size

Concrete Structures with Coda Wave
Interferometry (cwi)

Conference Paper · June 2011

DOI: 10.1063/1.3592082

CITATIONS READS

11 110

10 authors, including:

Odile Abraham Eric Larose

Institut Français des Sciences et Technologie… French National Centre for Scientific Researc…
126 PUBLICATIONS 820 CITATIONS 122 PUBLICATIONS 2,394 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

A. Le Duff Vincent TOURNAT

ESEO Group CNRS
66 PUBLICATIONS 161 CITATIONS 193 PUBLICATIONS 1,124 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Signal processing methods for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and Non-Destructive Testing (NDT)
applications View project

Mesure des flux polluants en collecteurs d’assainissement View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Odile Abraham on 09 July 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. All in-text references underlined in blue are added to the original document
and are linked to publications on ResearchGate, letting you access and read them immediately.
FOLLOWING STRESS LEVEL MODIFICATION OF REAL SIZE
CONCRETE STRUCTURES WITH CODA WAVE
INTERFEROMETRY (CWI)

Y. Zhang1, O. Abraham1, E. Larose2, T. Planes2, A. Le Duff3, B. Lascoup4, V. Tournat5, R.

El Guerjouma5, L.-M Cottineau1, O. Durand1

1
MACS Department, LCPC, BP4129, 44341 Bouguenais Cedex, France
2
LGIT, Grenoble, France
3
SII Group, ESEO, BP30629, 49009 Angers, France
4
ESTACA, Laval, France
5
LAUM, Le Mans, France

ABSTRACT. The determination of the stress level in in-situ concrete structures is of paramount
importance for in the engineering field. CODA wave interferometry (CWI) has been recently
proposed to monitor stress levels in pre-stressed concrete structures in a non-destructive manner. The
idea is to follow very small changes of the ultrasonic wave velocity linked to stress level
modifications, through Murnaghan's theory. The change in velocity, which is of the order of 0.1 % for
10 MPa for classical concrete, can be measured by taking advantage of the heterogeneity of concrete.
The accurate measurement of travel time delay is made possible by a source generating a wave train
with wavelength sizes comparable to that of the aggregates in the concrete, resulting in multiple
scattering. This method is sufficiently sensitive to record small changes in the medium’s mechanical
properties. An experiment on a real size concrete structure subjected to time varying loading is
described.

Keywords: Ultrasonic, Scattering, Nondestructive Evaluation, Creep, Fatigue, Non-linearity On Velocity

PACS: 43.35.Cg, 43.25.2c, 62.20.Hg, 62.20.me, 43.25.Ed

INTRODUCTION

In the past, concrete has often been considered homogeneous for the in-situ non-
destructive testing of concrete structures, thus preventing ultrasonic measurements at
frequencies higher than a few tens of kilo-Hertz. The heterogeneity of concrete was often
viewed as a handicap causing unwanted structure noise [1]. The need to estimate concrete
structures’ residual life-time through, for instance, the characterization of concrete cover
from 3 to 5 cm thick (with regards to aggregates sizes commonly ranging from a few
millimeters up to 2-3 cm), has turned researchers to consider higher ultrasonic frequencies
to increase resolution.
Papers on coherent field estimation for the frequency range from approximately
50 kHz to 500 kHz [2-4], run alongside those dealing with the incoherent field where
interesting results have been recently reported [5,7,8] regarding sensitive mechanical
property measurements. Indeed, when the ultrasonic wavelengths have sizes similar to that
of the heterogeneity, scattering occurs and the diffuse waves, as they have traveled long
distances, are sensitive to very small changes in the mechanical properties of concrete.
CODA Wave Interferometry (CWI) takes advantage of this phenomenon by relying on the
comparison of two measurements at two different stages of material state recorded with
exactly the same experimental set-up. The principle has been known in geophysics for a
long time [9] and is now widespread outside this community. The sensitivity of CWI to
small changes has recently been applied to acousto-elastic studies in concrete [5,7,8]. In
this paper we investigate the potential of this technique on real size concrete structures
subjected to fatigue damage. Classic Acousto-elasticity states that, in the first order, the
velocity variation
/ of the acoustic field is proportional to the applied stress


·σ (1)


In this study we will compute, after long lasting (several weeks corresponding each time
to approximately 2 million cycles) fatigue damage loadings of the NBT specimen, the velocity
variation
/ measured during a dedicated CWI loading procedure.

EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP

The New Ballastless Track (NBT)

The structure under study is a pluri-metric real size New Ballastless Track (NBT)
consisting of two concrete slabs super-positioned on top of a layer mimicking ground
conditions (Fig. 1).
Strain gauges are disseminated inside the structure together with temperature
sensors. Eight actuators are used to similate load cycles comparable to those generated by
the High Speed Train in service as well as the corresponding fatigue damage. These
actuators apply a load ranging from 0 to 200 kN to the structure while CWI measurements
are undertaken. The loading is increased and then decreased in 20 kN increments. The load
remains constant during CWI measurements.

FIGURE 1. Left: Photo of the New Ballastless Track (NBT) and Right: ultrasonic equipment used. The
source and the receiver are glued on the side of the top slab 0.2 m apart.
FIGURE 2. Typical recorded raw signal and time window used during CWI signal processing (vertical
dashed lines).

Experimental Set-Up and Signal Processing

The source and the receiver are large band transducers glued to the side of the top
concrete slab 0.2 m apart. The source is a chirp in the frequency band 200 kHz-800 kHz.
The concrete mix is confidential but the largest aggregate size is ~ 0.011 m so that the
source frequency range corresponds to wavelengths approximately equivalent to the
aggregate size, ensuring multiple diffusion as required for CODA measurements. All
recorded signals are cross-correlated with the excitation function to give the impulse
response h(t). Figure 2 shows an example of the recorded signal with the time window
superimposed. The initial signal h0(t) is recorded when no force is applied and serves as a
reference. Subsequent signals are stretched by an amount ε and compared to the reference
h0(t). [8,11].

The value of ε thatmaximizes the correlation coefficient Xd corresponds to the

actual velocity change [8,11]:
$%
(), () "$& ()·() 
   (2)
 (()!·  ()! %
'"$% () · "$%  ()% 
$& $&

( 
/ (3)

FIGURE 3.
/ and Kd as a function of the applied load measured for the initial stages of the NBT
specimen. The results are the average of 6 values obtained at each load level. The loading increases in 20 kN
steps from 0 to 200 kN and then decreases again to 0 kN.
We also use the remnant decorrelation coefficient Kd [8] between the waveforms:

)*  100 · (1 -  ) (4)

VELOCITY VARIATIONS VERSUS APPLIED LOAD

Initial State

Figure 3 shows in red the velocity variations of the initial set of data (state N°1).
Six CWI measurements are taken for each loading level and the average is then calculated
per level and denoted on Figure 3 by the circles and error bars. The reference signal is the
first one recorded at load level 0 kN. We can notice a clear velocity increase as a function
of loading. We can also observe that the structure does not come back instantaneously to
its initial state when the load is completely removed.

Sensitivity to Fatigue Damage

The same measurements are taken at two later times (state N°2 and state N°3), two
long lasting fatigue loadings have been undertaken on the NBT specimen between the
measurements. Every fatigue loading (between state N°1 and state N°2 and between state
N°2 and state N°3) corresponds to around 2 millions of cycles mimicking fatigue damage
caused by a High Speed Train (TGV) loading and lasts several weeks. Each measurement
is performed at the beginning of the afternoon at approximately the same time, and with
the same duration.
Figure 4 shows the average values of
/ as a function of loading. The load level
F indicated in the graphs corresponds to that applied by each individual actuator. The slope
(/. is calculated from data measured from load level F=0 kN up to F=160 kN (Tab. 1)
because in this load range the relation between the strain and the stress is estimated as
being linear (Fig. 5). The slope (/. increases as a function of fatigue damage, showing its
sensitivity to intrinsic modifications of the mechanical properties of concrete.
Unfortunately we will see that the measurements are also very sensitive to temperature
variations. As the measurements lasts for approximately two hours, we may have a
superposition of two phenomena: one induced by the external loading the other related to
temperature.

FIGURE 4. Averaged
/ as a function of the applied load measured for the 3 stages of the NBT specimen.
Each 2 stages are separated by 2 million of cycles that correspond to fatigue damaged caused by High Speed
Train (TGV) loading.
TABLE 1. Estimation of slope (/. for 3 states of NBT specimen.

NBT fatigue loading Slope (%/MN)

State N°1 : Initial state 0.0959 ±0.0067
State N°2 : after approx. 2 Millions cycles 0.1445 ±0.0129
State N°3 : after approx. 4 Millions cycles 0.1712±0.0183

FIGURE 5. Strain information (magenta) near the CODA measurements during one loading experiment.
The load applied is in blue. The relationship between the load and the strain is considered linear from 0 N up
to 160 kN.

Long Lasting Experiment: Sensitivity to Temperature

Figure 6 shows the velocity variation
/ as a function of time over the 4 days
when no loading was applied to the structure. One 0 kN→200 kN→0 kN loading is also
included in the figure (the black curve at the beginning of the experiment). The 24h
periodicity of temperature is clearly seen on the
/ curve. Some delay is observed
between the external temperature and the
/ curve. Unfortunately this delay is not
constant and depends on the thermal gradient within the concrete itself. The air temprature [°C]
Velocity variation ε [%]

FIGURE 6.
/ and temperature recorded over 4 days. The loading takes place at the beginning of the
measurement and lasts only around 2 hours.
TABLE 2. Estimation of β at state N°3 with accelerated loading.

NBT fatigue loading Slope (%/MN)

State N°3 : 100 s triangular first loading 0.1488±0.0119
State N°3 : 100 s triangular second loading 0.1426±0.0116
State N°3 : 1000 s triangular loading 0.1464±0.0060

a)

b)

c)

FIGURE 7.
/ (left) and Kd (right) during the triangular loadings a) first 100s loading b) second 100s
loading c) 1000s loading. The slope (/. is computed in the region where we assume strain to be almost
linear with load level.
FIGURE 8.
/ (left) and Kd (right) during 20 cycles of 100 seconds triangular loadings
( 0 kN→200 kN→0 kN).

We can see that temperature induces velocity variations of the same order to that of
the 200 kN loading scheme (around 0.01 % for 1° C). This prompted us to redesign our
experiment to measure (/. without being influenced by the temperature.
We decided for state N°3 to test an accelerated loading procedure. The subsequent
measurements are taken every 1s and the loading, of triangular shape, is performed within
a 100 s or 1000 s (Fig. 7) time interval. A test lasting 100 s is performed on the Friday
and after the week-end the experiment is reproduced and followed, 3 hours later, by a test
lasting 1000 s. The last test optimizes signal to noise ratio and temperature effect
minimization. Even though the data is noisier for the shorter loading time, it is still
possible to compute the slope (/.. The 3 slopes are given in Table 2. They are almost
equal but differ from the slope obtained for the 2 hour test (Tab. 1 / State N°3), showing
that temperature in long lasting experiments influences the slope measurements.

Observation of Creep on Periodic Loading

Another phenomenon, enjoying less attention in the literature to our knowledge, is

the observation of creep during CWI measurements when considering acousto-elasticity
studies. This phenomenon, which is clearly observable in all our previous figures where
the
/ does not come back to its initial state, is illustrated in Figure 8, during a cyclic
loading of several 100 seconds triangles.

CONCLUSION AND PROSPECTS

In this paper we have shown that CODA wave interferometry can be used to follow
the stress level in real size concrete structures as a result of acousto-elastic effects and that
load testing can be used to follow concrete damage due to fatigue. The sensitivity of
CODA wave interferometry is such that initial mechanical modifications can be studied in
instances where ballistic waves are inoperative. Indeed, velocity variation of the order of
0.01% is easily measured. Unfortunately this kind of velocity variation is of the same order
of magnitude than that induced by an increase of the external temperature of around 1°C. It
is thus necessary to reconsider the experimental procedure in order to use CODA wave
interferometry in the field when no temperature control is possible. We have started to
study also in this paper the possibility to drastically reduce the loading test speed (from
~2 hours to 1000 seconds). This will be continued later on together with the use of non-
 linear acoustics.[12] Another important topic is to recover the stress level within the
structure from surface measurements.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank all the partners of the project FUI NBT (RFF, ALSTOM,
Vossloh Cogifer, RAILTECH, CEF and SNCF) for providing us access to the NBT test
platform. The help of J.-P. DESROCHE (LCPC) during the loading test was also greatly
appreciated.

REFERENCES

1. O. Abraham and Ph. Côte, “Impact-echo thickness frequency profiles for detection of voids
in tendon ducts” , ACI Struct. J., 99(3), pp. 239-247, (2002).
2. J.-F. Chaix, V. Garnier and G., Corneloup, Ultrasonics, 44, pp. 200-210 (2006).
3. D.G. Aggelis and T. Shiotani, J. Acous. Soc. Am., 122(5), pp. EL151–EL157. (2007).
4. M. Chekroun, L. Le Marec, O. Abraham, O. Durand and G. Villain, Ultrasonics, 49, pp.
743-751 (2009).
5. C. Payan, V. Garnier, J. Moysan and P.A. Johnson, Appl. Phys. Lett., 94, 011904 (2009).
6. E. Larose, J. de Rosny, L. Margerin, D. Anache, P. Gouedard, M. Campillo and B. van
Tiggelen, Phys. Rev. E, 73, 016609 (2006).
7. E. Larose and S. Hall, J. Acous. Soc. Am., 125(4), pp. 1853-1856 (2009).
8. N. Tremblay, E. Larose and V. Rossetto, J. Acous. Soc. Am., 127(3), pp.1239-1243 (2010).
9. K. Aki and B. Chouet, J. Geophys. Res., 80, pp. 3322-3342 (1975).
10. T.T. Wu and T.F. Lin, ACI Mat. J., 95, pp. 519-524 (1998).
11. C. Sens-Schönfelder and U. Wegler, Geoph. Res. Lett., 33, L21302 (2006).
12. V. Tournat and V. Gusev, “Non-linear coda-type elastic waves in stressed granular media”,
Phys. Rev. E 80, 011306 (2009).

View publication stats