Credit Seminar on

“CORROSION MONITORING OF
REINFORCEMENT IN REINFORCED
CONCRETE STRUCTURES”

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the

degree
MTECH-STRUCTURE

Submitted by:
MOHD FAISAL ANSARI (183040043 )

Under the Guidance of

Prof. Sauvik Banerjee

M.TECH - 1ST YEAR (2018-20) – STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay – 400076

1
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

For the successful completion of this project, I would like to thank my

project guide “Prof. Sauvik Banerjee”. His kind cooperation and useful
instruction lead me to complete the project with the report work in a
stipulated time. I also thank the Department of Civil Engineering for
providing me the facilities for this project.
I also want to say thanks to the Non-Destructive Testing Lab of the Civil
Engineering Department for providing state of the art facilities which have
proved to be invaluable for the completion of this project.

2
 ABSTRACT

Structural health monitoring is a process of in-service health assessment for a

structure through an automated monitoring system. Most of the building
structure gets deteriorated due to extreme weather condition and health of
structure gets affected because of extreme loading condition like earthquake,
blast, corrosion etc. Most of the civil infrastructures are facing problem of
corrosion so we have to continuously monitor the health of structure.
Corrosion of steel in the RC structures is a major issue and
billions of dollars are spent every year globally in maintenance of these
structures. In this report attempt is made to study the corrosion in concrete
using Acoustic Emission technique. Acoustic emission is a passive type
effective method to measure the rate of corrosion.

3
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…………………………………………
ABSTRACT
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………1
1.1 Structural Health Monitoring (SHM)……………………...1
1.2 Methods by which SHM can be done……………………..2
1.3 Non Destructive testing (NDT)……………………………3
1.4 Types of NDT……………………………………………..4
CHAPTER 2 REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURES……………5
2.1 Damages in structures…………………………………….7
CHAPTER 3 CORROSION MONITORING OF REINFORCEMENT
IN REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURES………11
CHAPTER 4 MECHANISM OF CORROSION…………………….....12
4.1 Chloride induced corrosion in concrete………………...13
4.2 Carbonation induced corrosion in concrete………….…13
CHAPTER 5 DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES FOR CORROSION
MONITORING…………………………………….…….15
CHAPTER 6 ACOUSTIC EMISSION…………………………………16
6.1 AE Hits………………………………………………….18
6.2 Signal Strength and Cumulative Signal Strength……….19
6.3 RA value and average frequency………………………..20
6.4 B-value and IB-value……………………………………22
6.5 Intensity Analysis……………………………………….24
CHAPTER 7 COMPARISON BETWEEN AE and other NDT
Methods………………………………………………….26
CHAPTER 8 SUMMARY………………………………………………27
CHAPTER 9 REFERENCE……………….............................................28

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 LIST OF FIGURES

1) REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURES

2) Crack
3) Deflection
4) Shrinkage
5) Corrosion
6) Corrosion
7) Electrolytic reaction
8) Chloride induced corrosion
9) Carbonation induced corrosion
10) Acoustic emission
11) Loss of steel reinforcement due to corrosion
12) Cumulative AE Hits and no of AE Events during corrosion test
13) The variation in CSS parameter
14) Tensile and Shear crack based on RA values and average frequency
15) Variation in RA values and average frequency by Ohtsu and Tomoda
16) Variation in RA Values and average frequency research by Kawasaki
17) Graph of B-value and IB-value
18) Results of Intensity analysis

LIST OF TABLES

1) AE parameters and their contribution

2) Comparison between Acoustic Emission and other NDT methods

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING:

Structural health monitoring is a process of in service health
assessment of a structure through an automated monitoring system gives a
condition of a structure at every moment during the life of a structure. The
state of a civil structure must remain in design domain. An SHM strategy has
many important components including sensing network, data processing and
analysis, damage assessment and decision making. SHM technology has
great potential to offer significant economic and life safety benefits. The
SHM process involves the observation of a system over time using
periodically sampled dynamic response measurements by using no of
sensors.

In the field of civil engineering all design codes and concrete codes
enforce the use of safety factors and various analysis and design procedure to
make sure that structure should be safe and stable during its design life and
during its life it should serve the purpose for which it was designed for.
During the design life of structure it may be subjected to extreme loading
conditions like Earthquake, wind and blast etc. There may be a two cases
either the structure suffer minor damages or in worst case it may collapse.
Even if the structure is suffered minor damages and withstand loading, it is
crucial to examine the structure strength and its load carrying capacity to
make sure no major damage has been occurred. Even if the structure is not
exposed to extreme or worst loading condition it is better to monitor the
health of a structure. Because of deterioration and environmental effects can
weaken the strength and load carrying capacity of a structure. It can be done
by usual inspections by the experienced engineer and by some more
advanced method like Non-Destructive testing Eddy current, Ultrasonic
wave propagation, Rebound hammer test, impact echo, acoustic emission
etc. are used to monitor the health of a structure.

6
1.2 Methods by which Structural Health Monitoring Can
Be Done

• WIRED TECHNIQUE
• IMPEDANCE BASED SHM TECHNIQUES
• DATA FUSION TECHNIQUE
• VIBRATION CONTROL TECHNIQUE
• SMART WIRELESS TECHNIQUE

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1.3 NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING:

Nondestructive testing (NDT) is the process of inspecting, testing, or

evaluating materials, components or assemblies for discontinuities, or
differences in characteristics without destroying the serviceability of the part
or system. In other words, when the inspection or test is completed the part
can still be used. It also provides the effective balance of quality control and
cost effectiveness. NDT can be used prior to the use of structure for quality
control and to detect service related conditions caused by wear, fatigue, stress
and corrosion and others factors which affect reliability which applies to
industrial inspections.

Today modern nondestructive tests are used in manufacturing, fabrication and

in-service inspections to ensure product integrity and reliability, to control
manufacturing processes, lower production costs and to maintain a uniform
quality level. During construction, NDT is used to ensure the quality of
materials and joining processes during the fabrication and erection phases, and
in-service NDT inspections are used to ensure that the products in use
continue to have the integrity necessary to ensure their usefulness and the
safety of the public. NDT method relies upon electromagnetic radiation sound
and other signal conversions to examine wide variety of articles (metallic,
non-metallic, concrete, artifacts, antiquities and infrastructure etc). It can be
done without destroying the serviceability of a structure. Now modern NDT is
used to test are used in manufacturing fabrication and in service inspection to
ensure product reliability and integrity to control manufacturing process,
lower production costs and to maintain a uniform quality level. During
construction, NDT is used to ensure the quality of materials and joining
processes during the fabrication and erection phases, and in-service NDT
inspections are used to ensure that the products in use continue to have the
integrity necessary to ensure their usefulness and the safety of the public.
NDT provides an excellent balance between quality control and cost-
effectiveness.
8
1.4 TYPES OF NDT METHOD
• Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity Test
• Ultrasonic Flaw Detector
• Rebound Hammer test
• Acoustic Emission
• Eddy Current
• Half Cell potentiometer
• Guided Wave Technique
• Magnetic Particle Testing
• Sound Analysis
• Visual Inspection
• Electromagnetic Testing
• Cover Meter Testing
• Liquid Penetrant Testing
• Concrete Resistivity Measurement
• Embeddable Corrosion Monitoring Sensor
• Open Circuit Potential Measurements
• Acoustic Emission for Corrosion Monitoring
• Linear polarization resistance technique

9
CHAPTER 2
REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURES
Reinforced concrete structure is a combination of concrete and steel rebar
widely used in construction industry like in building construction, towers,
bridges etc. We know that concrete has relatively low tensile strength and
ductility and high compressive strength so it is counteracted by the inclusion
of reinforcement in concrete.

Fig 1.

Reinforced concrete structures are widely acceptable construction material

throughout the world because of its durability and reliability. Plain bar
reinforcement is not so much effective in bearing stress in the structure. It is
relatively poor in withstanding the stresses due to vibration, wind loading and
earthquake etc. So to increase the overall strength of concrete structures steel
rods, wires, mesh, cable should be embedded in concrete before it sets. These
reinforcement are often known as rebars resist tensile forces and bending
stress effectively. By forming a strong bond between concrete and rebars they
10
can effectively resist many type of static forces as well dynamic forces
effectively acting as a single element.

Reinforced concrete can be precast or cast-in-place (in situ) concrete,

and is used in a wide range of applications such as; slab,
wall, beam, column, foundation, and frame construction Reinforcement is
generally placed in areas of the concrete that are likely to be subject to
tension, such as the lower portion of beams. It is usual for there to be a
minimum of 50 mm cover, both above and below the steel reinforcement, to
resist spalling and corrosion which can lead to structural instability.
Reinforced concrete is extremely durable and requires little maintenance. It is
good in thermal resistivity, fire and corrosion resistance.

11
2.1 DAMAGES IN STRUCTURES

For a concrete structure to be serviceable, cracking must be controlled and

deflections must not be excessive. It must also not vibrate excessively.
Concrete shrinkage plays a major role in each of these aspects of the service
load behaviour of concrete structures.

1) CRACKS: Cracks can be classified on the basis of thickness of crack.

This is a serious problem in construction industry can negatively effect
aesthetics beauty, architectural view and most importantly, the structural
characteristics of a project. It reduces the load carrying capacity of a structure.
They can happen anywhere, but occur especially in walls, beams, columns,
and slabs, and usually, are caused by strains not considered in the design. Due
to crack formation in structural member the probability of corrosion in
concrete increases this further reduces the strength or capacity of rebars in
resisting load and may also cause a major failure of a structure.
The main reason for the occurrence of these cracks is as follows:
Unplanned structural element, unforeseen accommodation of structural
element, Early removal of shuttering, Thermal expansion, Material
retraction, Infiltration, Vibration and Tremors, and insufficient positive
reinforcement.

2) DEFLECTION: This is a major problem in reinforced concrete

structures and it becomes problematic when deflection structural element
exceeds the permissible limit as stated by IS CODES. Due to this damage
rebar and concrete loses their strength. This problem also occur because IS-
CODE do not provide real guidance on how to adequately model the time
dependent effects of creep and shrinkage in deflection calculation. For
deflection control structure should be designed for maximum deflection
criteria that are appropriate to the structure and its intended use. Stirrup
12
should be provided near to each other to reduce the deflection. Deflection also
causes the psychological effects. It reduces the load carrying capacity of
structural member and structural member is also more prone to corrosion
effects. This further deteriorate the capacity/strength of structural member.

Fig 2. CRACK Fig 3. DEFLECTION

3) SERVICEABILTY FAILURES: This involves relatively large

deflection and crack and also include the leakage, vibration, deterioration of
wall, shrinkage of concrete is also responsible

4) CORROSION IN REINFORCEMENT: It is basically an

electrochemical reaction similar to that simple battery. The composition of
mild steel varies along its length and potential anodic (more negatively) and
cathodic (positively charge) set up at various points of structure. The
corrosion seems to be an common phenomenon causing widespread
destruction of concrete structures. Corrosion of a reinforcement in structure
occur due to a localized failure of the passive film on rebars by chloride ions
and a general failure of the passivity by neutralization of concrete due to
reaction with carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This is also called as
CANCER for CONCRETE. A good concrete is supposed to provide

13
protection to the embedded reinforcement because of high alkaline protective
environment (pH 12.5) so it control the corrosion process but however over
the passage of time due to carbonation or ingress of chloride ions pH value
start declining slowly and alkaline surrounding the environment is lost leading
to the corrosion process and also leads to formation of chain of crack and and
spalling of concrete too. The important factor quality and durability of
concrete appears to be its impermeability which can be enhanced by providing
sufficient cement content, low w/c ratio, complete compaction and curing.
The same can be further improved by using proper admixtures and
providing increased concrete cover.

Fig 4. SHRINKAGE Fig 5. CORROSION

14
The main factors responsible for corrosion of reinforcement bars
are as follows:

a) Loss of alkalinity due to carbonation: When the steel is left unprotected

in the atmosphere corrosion begins to start on the reinforcement surface.
b) Loss of alkalinity due to chlorides: Chloride ions tends to deteriorate the
steel surface by reducing the alkalinity of the concrete.
c) Cracks in concrete: Cracks formation may expose the reinforcement bar to
the atmosphere and may increase the carbonation.
d) Insufficient cover: Due to this reinforcement will be in touch environment
and hence corrosion will start.
e) Moisture pathways: Regular contact of concrete with water may lead to
water reaching the steel reinforcement by diffusion through the pores of
concrete or cracks present in concrete may lead to corrosion of concrete.

15
CHAPTER 3
CORROSION MONITORING OF REINFORCEMENT
IN REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURES
Corrosion of steel reinforcement in concrete structures is most frequently the
result of the breakdown of passive film formed due to the highly alkaline
environment around steel reinforcement. This problem faced by throughout
of the world that leads to deterioration of steel structures and reducing the
load bearing capacity of structure. Two condition can breakdown the
protective environment around the reinforcement without attacking the
surrounding concrete are
i) Acid attack ii) Carbonation
It is generally accompanied by the loses of reinforcement cross-section and
steel material is converted into corroded products which occupy the large
volume than the steel reinforcement, which produces tensile stresses in the
surrounding concrete which leads to cracking and spalling of concrete.
Corrosion also causes the loss of bonding between the concrete and steel bars,
so strain compatibility between concrete and steel bars is no longer valid
Due to this major critical problem it is also called as “cancer in concrete”.
This phenomena reduces the strength carrying capacity of the affected
structure and loss of serviceability of structure also occur. Corrosion causes
the major economic losses and damage to infrastructures is the largest
problem faced by the industrialized countries. As a result major part of
maintenance cost is being spent on infrastructures for repair and structural
health monitoring. India loses $40 billion dollar annually (about 4 % of the
india’s economy) due to corrosion on infrastructures, industrial building and
towers. Corrosion monitoring can offer great advantages in terms of safety,
management and preventive maintainanace. Based on the monitoring data
various industries take decision not only to improve the object’s remaining
life but also on the other life extension techniques, and cost effective measures
to solve corrosion problem.
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CHAPTER 4
MECHANISM OF CORROSION IN REINFORCED
CONCRETE STRUCTURES

Corrosion defines as chemical or electrochemical reaction between meta and

environment and steel or iron want to move back to its low energy level. Steel
is thermodynamically unstable under normal condition. In corrosion process
metal loses energy and tries to convert back into iron oxide and dust by
releasing energy. For corrosion process three basic essential elements are two
metals at different energy levels, an electrolyte, and a metallic connection.
Corosion is the sum of two half reactions Oxidation and Reduction.
If we talk about reinforced concrete then all the above listed three criteria are
present in RC structures.

ANODIC REACTION: Fe Fe2+ + 2e

CATHODIC REACTION: O2 + 2H2O +4e 4OH-

The alkaline environment around the steel rebar protecting the steel is not
always maintained, and can be destroyed either by chloride attack or
carbonation attack.

17
 Fig 7

4.1 CHLORIDE INDUCED CORROSION IN CONCRETE:

Its primarily affects the reinforcement in concrete and causes corrosion.
Chlorides can be admitted before construction by the use of admixtures
containing calcium chloride through using mixing water contaminated with
salt water and after construction chlorides in salt or sea water. Factors
affecting is humidity, temperature, concrete permeability and chloride binding
capacity, cement content and its types.
REACTIONs: Fe2+ + 2Cl FeCl2
FeCl2 + 2H2O Fe(OH)2 + 2HCl

Fig 8

4.2 CARBONATION INDUCED CORROSION IN CONCRETE:

It is a reaction of carbon di-oxide present in environment with the alkaline
hydro-oxides in the concrete. The carbonic acid does not attack the cement
paste. Calcium hydro-oxide is the only substance that reacts with CO2.
REACTIONS: Ca(OH)2 + CO2 CaCO3 + H2O
Formation of carbonic acid: CO2 + H2O H2CO3
18
 H2CO3 + Ca(OH)2 CaCO3 + 2H2O
Once Ca(OH)2 has been converted hydrated CSH gel will liberate CaO, which
also undergoes carbonation
CARBONATION: H2CO3 + CaO CaCO3 + H2O

Fig 9
CO2

19
CHAPTER 5
DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES FOR
CORROSION DETECTION
Corrosion monitoring is the practice of measuring corrosivity of process of
stream conditions by the use of “PROBES” which is continuously exposed to
process stream conditions. Corrosion monitoring probes can be mechanical,
electrical, and electrochemical devices. These probes are an important
monitoring system and nature of sensors depend upon various individual
techniques used for monitoring but often these sensors can be used as a
instrumented coupons. The rate of corrosion dictates how long any process or
element can be usefully and safely operated

TYPES OF CORROSION MONITORING

1. ELECTROCHEMICAL METHOD
a) Open circuit potential monitoring
b) Resistivity method
c) Polarization resistance
d) Galvanostatic pulse transient method
e) Electrochemical noise method
2. ELASTIC WAVE METHOD
a) Ultrasonic pulse velocity test
b) Acoustic emission test
c) Impact echo test
3. ELECTROMAGNETIC METHOD
a) Ground penetrating radar
4. CONCRETE RESISTIVITY MEASUREMENT
5. HALF-CELL POTENTIOMETER METHOD
6. EMBEDDED CORROSION MONITORING SENSOR

20
CHAPTER 6
ACOUSTIC EMISSION TEST (AE) FOR
CORROSION MONITORING
Acoustic emission refers to the generation of transient elastic waves produced
by a sudden distribution of stresses in a material. When a structure is
subjected to loadings (like wind, earthquake, blast, temperature), localized
sources triggered the release of energy in the form of stress waves, which
propagate to the surface and recorded by the sensors. Sources of errors can be
any like earthquake, wind, blast, or propagation of cracks, slip and dislocation
movements, melting, twinning, and phase transformations in metals. Detection
and analysis of AE signal can give many valuable information regarding
origin, type, location and importance of discontinuity in a material. It has
many industrial applications e.g. assessing structural integrity, detecting flaws,
testing for leaks, or monitoring weld quality, detection of rate of corrosion and
is used extensively as a research tool. As AE receives the signal release by the
breakdown or deterioration of the material so AE is a passive type NDT
method. The AE method is different from other NDT methods from two
aspects first AE signal receive the signal rather than emitting the signal so it is
a passive type method and the second difference is AE system detects and
cares about the internal changes of the material when service loads are
applied, however, other techniques primarily investigate the discontinuities of
the material geometry. AE method can be applied for various purposes like
detecting propagation of cracks, welding accuracy, corrosion of
reinforcement, deterioration in material.
The parameter based technique is useful for better characterization of
the AE source. Parameter analysis of hits or events, signal strength, and
energy demonstrate that AE can be easily used for the detection of Corrosion
of steel Reinforcement in concrete and initiation and propagation of cracks.

21
AE parameters and their contribution in providing information
about the source event.
TABLE 1

VARIABLES PARAMETER DESCRIPTIONS

Detection of an AE signal
HIT

Local material change, no of hits

EVENT

Largest voltage peak in the waveforms

AMPLITUDE

Time elapsed from signal start and peak

RISE TIME amplitude
TIME Time b/w signal start and signal end
DOMAIN DURATION

Signals with amplitude larger than this level

THRESHOLD

No of times AE signal cross threshold

COUNTS
SIGNAL Area under the positive and negative
STRENGTH envelope of linear voltage signal
FREQUENCY Name of source event
FREQUENCY SPECTRUM
DOMAIN
TIME FREQUENCY Energy distribution of source event through
DOMAIN SPECTROGRAM time

22
 Fig 10
ACOUSTIC
EMISSION

6.1) AE HITS: AE parameters are used to study the onset of corrosion and
the nucleation of crack in RC Structures. Yoon et al. [152] carried out AE
Monitoring in RC beams subjected to four different degrees of corrosion. It
was observed that AE hits increased with an increase in the degree of
corrosion. Melcher and Li observed that AE activity corresponds to the
corrosion loss of steel reinforcement in a marine environment. At Phase 1, the
onset of corrosion is initiated and the phase is dominated by the presence of
oxygen and water. Then, corrosion loss decreases and stabilizes at Phase 2.
The mass loss of corrosion increases again at Phases 3 and 4, where the
corrosion penetrates inside and the expansion of corrosion products occur due
to anaerobic corrosion. Thus, based on the four phases of corrosion loss, two
stages of corrosion activity are characterized, i.e., the onset of corrosion and
the growth of corrosion products (nucleation of cracks).

23
 Fig 11 Fig 12

Fig 11) typical loss of steel reinforcement due to chloride immersion.

Fig 12) cumulative AE Hits and no of AE Events during corrosion test.

6.2) SIGNAL STRENGTH (SS) AND CUMULATIVE SIGNAL

STRENGTH (CSS):
Signal strength (SS) is one of the AE parameters; it is defined as the area
under the voltage signal of AE over the duration of the waveforms. It provides
the measure of the waveform energy released by the specimen, it is rational
damage indicator. The SS of the prestressed specimen (P1) is attributed to the
nucleation of cracks caused by the accumulation of corrosion products at the
Steel-concrete interface; it could be an indicator of early crack formation due
to corrosion. While the cumulative signal strength (CSS) exhibits a clear rate
change before the onset of corrosion according to electrochemical methods,
which suggests that the AE technique could detect the onset of corrosion. In
Fig 12. The CSS rate increases slowly in Phase 1 indicating de-passivation of
the layer surrounding the steel reinforcement and the onset of corrosion. The

24
presence of a sudden rise at the end of Phase 1 might indicate crack initiation
due to steel corrosion. The rise of CSS in Phase 2 indicates corrosion activity.
The sudden rise at the end of Phase 2 seems to be crack propagation leading to
a macro-crack. Further phases are a repetition of Phase 2 continuing in the
same manner. According to the phenomenological model of corrosion loss in
a marine environment, the CSS curve obtained could also be divided into four
phases, but the curve shows two sudden rises at the end of Phases 1 and 2

Fig 13) The variation in CSS parameter, which are similar to the curve of typical
corrosion of steel reinforcement.

6.3) RA VALUES AND AVERAGE FREQUENCY:

The characteristics of AE signals are estimated using two parameters, RA
value and average frequency. The RA value and average frequency are
defined from the AE parameters, i.e., rise time, maximum amplitude, counts,
and duration [151,156], as shown in Equations (1) and (2).
RA VALUE = RISE TIME / AMPLITUDE (Eq 1)
AVERAGE FREQUENCY = COUNTS / DURATION (Eq 2)
A crack type is classified by the relationship between RA value and average
frequency. A tensile-type crack is referred to as an AE signal with high
25
average frequency and low RA value. A shear-type crack is identified by low
average frequency and high RA value. This criterion is used to classify AE
data detected in the corrosion process.

The RA values and the average frequency were used by Ohtsu and Tomoda to
classify AE sources, in two weeks of wet and dry tests in an RC slab. At 40
days, the RA value was high and the AF was low, indicating shear cracking
and later the RA value decreased and AF increased showing tensile cracking.
However, on the other hand, Kawasaki et al. [153] showed different trends for

RA values and average frequency, as shown in Figure 8b. The trend lines
proposed classify the onset of corrosion and nucleation of cracks in an RC
beam. At Stage 1, at 14 days to 21 days, RA values drastically increase and
the average frequencies become smaller. The crack could be classified as
a tensile crack due to the onset of corrosion in the RC beam. At Stage 2, an
increase in RA values and a decrease in average frequencies were observed.
This implies that generations of nucleation of crack due to corrosion were
induced in the concrete specimen. From the above references, the trends for
RA value and average frequency, which were proposed by Ohtsu and Tomoda
for an RC slab, seem similar to the trends for RA value and average frequency
26
proposed by Kawasaki et al. For an RC beam at Stage. The RA value is low
and the average frequency is fairly high.

Fig 15.
Variation in RA
values and average
frequency by Ohtsu
and Tomoda

Fig 16.
Variation in RA
Values and average
frequency research
by Kawasaki

6.4) B-VALUE AND IB-VALUE:

In the AE method, the formula for b-value given by Gutenberg and Richter
which was developed to understand the relationship between the magnitude
and frequency of earthquakes was modified by Colombo et al. Where, Amax
is peak amplitude of the AE events in decibels (dB).
Log10 N = a−b (Amax)
However, to evaluate the slope failure and facture process, Shiotani et al. [5]
improved the formula to improve b-value (Ib-value). This formulation is more
based on statistical analysis, such as mean and standard deviation, for each of
27
the AE amplitude sets. The formula is defined as:
Ib = (logN (μ − α1σ) − logN (μ − α2σ))
(α1 + α2) σ
where, σ is the standard deviation, μ is the mean value of the amplitude
distribution, α1 is the coefficient related to the smaller amplitude, and α2 is
coefficient related to the fracture level. In an RC structure, the b-value is
associated with the crack formation and gives us valuable information about
the integrity of the concrete specimen. At the time of formation of
cracks the number of hits increases due to which the b-value decreases. When
the distributed micro-crack occurs at an early stage of corrosion, the b-value is
large and when the macro-crack begins to localize the b-value is small.
Previous research has indicated that b-values below 1.0 correspond to the
transition from micro-crack to macro-crack.

For the latter, the Ib-value is adopted for calculation, based on cumulative
distribution as proposed by Shiotani [144]. In contrast, the case where the Ib-
values become small implies nucleation of large AE hits. The variations in the
Ib-value are given by Kawasaki et al. [153], as shown in Figure 16. Large
drops are observed between 21 days and 35 days, before the first dramatic
increase in Ib-value. This might imply that the micro-cracks are generated at
the onset of corrosion on the surface of the steel reinforcement. Due to high
AE activity at Stage 2, the Ib-values decrease. Since the results of Ib-values at
56 and 84 days are comparatively lower than those of Stage 1, large-scale

cracks are considered to be actively generated as corrosion-induced cracks in

the RC beam. Furthermore, the fluctuations in Ib-values in Stage 2 are even
bigger than in Stage 1. These results imply that the cracks are repeatedly
generated due to corrosion products expansion.

28
Fig 17.

B-VALUE IB-VALUE

6.5) INTENSITY ANALYSIS:

Intensity analysis (IA) is used to quantify corrosion rate and level [170–173].
Intensity analysis evaluates the structural significance of an AE event by
calculating two values, called the historic index (Hi) and the severity index
(Sr), from the signal strength [174–176], as shown in Equations (8) and (9).
The historic index is used to estimate changes of the slope in the CSS plotted
as a function of time. The severity index is the average of the large signal
strength received at a sensor (i.e., 50 events having the highest signal strength)
[177]. An increase in severity index often corresponds to structural or material
damage.

Where,
29
Hi = Historic index, N = Number of hits up to time t,

Soi = Signal strength of the ith hit, K = empirically derived constant based on
material,
Sr = Severity index, J = empirically derived constant based on material,
Som = signal strength of the mth hit where the order of m is based on
magnitude of the signal strength.
The K and J value are related to N by the relations: K = 0, N ≤ 50; K = N−30,
51 ≤ N ≤ 200; K = O.85N, 201 ≤ N ≤ 500 and J = 0, N < 50; J = 50, J ≥ 50.
Velez et al. [161] developed IA-based criteria for assessing corrosion in
prestressed concrete (PC) piles. An assessment chart divides the criteria into
three areas, i.e., no corrosion, early corrosion, and cracking, as shown in
Figure 17. The figure shows that corroding and non-corroding specimens can
be distinguished. In addition, the values of Hi and Sr are consistent with the
levels of corrosion.

Fig 18 Result of INTENSITY ANALYSIS

30
CHAPTER 7
COMPARISON BETWEEN ACOUSTIC EMISSION
AND OTHER NDT METHODS

S ACOUSTIC EMISSION OTHER NDT METHODS

No.
1 Detects movements of defects Detects geometric form of defects

2 Require stress Do not require stress

3 Each loading is unique Inspection can be repeatable

4 More material sensitive Less material sensitive

5 Less geometry sensitive More geometry sensitive
6 Less intrusive on plant / process More intrusive on plant process
7 Require access only on sensors Require access to whole area of
inspection
8 Test whole structure at once Scans local regions in sequence
9 Main problem noise related Main problem geometry related

31
CHAPTER 8
SUMMARY
A no. of NDT methods for the monitoring of corrosion of steel reinforcement.
There are six important NDT methods for Corrosion Monitoring i.e. Visual
inspection, Electrochemical methods (Resistivity method, LRP, GPM), Elastic
wave methods, (UPV, AE, and IE), the Electromagnetic method (GPR), the
Optical sensing method (FBG), and the IRT method. Each technique has its
own pros and cons in relation to principles, certain applications, and
limitations. However, Acoustic Emission is more effective for monitoring and
detecting steel corrosion in RC Structures at an early stage.
1) The early no of cumulative AE hits can detect the corrosion at early stage.
If AE Hits shows significant increase it means, it corresponds to onset of
corrosion.
2) AE parameters like sudden rise in cumulative signal strength (CSS) and
absolute energy indicates crack initiation due to steel corrosion in RCS.
3) B-Value and IB-value are developed to characterize damage in RC
structures. B-value below 1.0 indicates the transition from microcracking to
macrocracking. Due to expansion of corrosion product there will be a large
fluctuations in IB-value.
4) Intensity analysis uses criteria to identify the condition of the RC Structures
i.e. an exponential relationship has been developed between AE energy and
acid concentration, suggesting the feasibility of using AE as promising
technique to monitor corrosion. no corrosion, early corrosion, and cracking.
5) An exponential relationship has been developed between AE energy and
acid concentration, suggesting the feasibility of using AE as promising
technique to monitor corrosion.
Therefore, due to above factors Acoustic Emission are a strong and good
method to become an efficient NDT method in the detection of corrosion
occurring in real time, so it is far better than other NDT methods. The future
Performance of AE in corrosion evaluation of RC Structures seems promising.
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CHAPTER 9
REFERENCES

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predict corrosion.
Zaki, A., Chai, H.K., Aggelis, D.G. and Alver, N., 2015. Non-destructive
evaluation for corrosion monitoring in concrete: A review and capability of
acoustic emission technique. Sensors, 15(8), pp.19069-19101.
Song, H.W. and Saraswathy, V., 2007. Corrosion monitoring of reinforced
concrete structures-A. Int. J. Electrochem. Sci, 2, pp.1-28.
Mazille, H., Rothea, R. and Tronel, C., 1995. An acoustic emission technique
for monitoring pitting corrosion of austenitic stainless steels. Corrosion
Science, 37(9), pp.1365-1375.
Seah, K.H.W., Lim, K.B., Chew, C.H. and Teoh, S.H., 1993. The correlation
of acoustic emission with rate of corrosion. Corrosion Science, 34(10),
pp.1707-1713.
NDT RESOURCE CENTRE, [https://www.nde-ed.org/index_flash.htm]
accessed on 23/11/2018.
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