The sound of rain drops hitting the concrete on a bridge can indicate its overall stability and condition. This technique is cheaper and less invasive than currently used methods
A team of Brigham Young University engineers has found that by listening to how a highway bridge sing in the rain they can determine serious flaws in the structure.
Employing a method called impact-echo testing, professors Brain Mazzeo and Spencer Guthrie can diagnose the health of a bridge's deck based on the acoustic footprint produced by a little bit of water.
Specially, the sound created when a drop let makes impact can reveal hidden dangers in the bridge.
"There is a difference between water hitting intact structures and water hitting flawed structures," Mazzeo said. "We can detect things you can't see with a visual inspection; things happening within the bridge itself."
The study presents a more efficient and cost-effective method to address the mounting safety concerns over bridge corrosion and aging across the world.
While impact-echo testing for bridges is nothing new to engineers, the researchers are the first to use water droplets to produce acoustic responses. Current testing relies on solid objects such as hammers and chains.
The idea is to detect delamination, or the separation of structural layers, in a concrete bridge deck.
The most common method involves dragging a chain over a bridge and marking spots where dull, hollow sound is produced.
However, this method can take hours to carry out for a single bridge and requires lane closures that come with additional complications.
The study results, published in the non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation International could help transform deck surveys into rapid, automated and cost efficient exercises.
The method is as simple as dropping droplets of water on the material and recording the sound. The acoustic response indicates the health of the concrete.
"The response gives you an indicaton of both the size and the depth of the flaw," Mazzeo said.
Mazzeo said the method could be used to test materials beyond bridges, including aircraft composites, which are susceptible to delamination.
Though the current research is preliminary, the researchers envision a day where bridge deck surveys would take only a few moments.
"We would love to be able to drive over a bridge at 25 or 30 mph. spray it with water while we're driving and be able to detect all the structural flaws on the bridge," Mazzeo said. "We think there is a huge oppurnity, but we need to keep improving on the physics."
A team of Brigham Young University engineers has found that by listening to how a highway bridge sing in the rain they can determine serious flaws in the structure.
Specially, the sound created when a drop let makes impact can reveal hidden dangers in the bridge.
"There is a difference between water hitting intact structures and water hitting flawed structures," Mazzeo said. "We can detect things you can't see with a visual inspection; things happening within the bridge itself."
The study presents a more efficient and cost-effective method to address the mounting safety concerns over bridge corrosion and aging across the world.
The idea is to detect delamination, or the separation of structural layers, in a concrete bridge deck.
The most common method involves dragging a chain over a bridge and marking spots where dull, hollow sound is produced.
However, this method can take hours to carry out for a single bridge and requires lane closures that come with additional complications.
The study results, published in the non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation International could help transform deck surveys into rapid, automated and cost efficient exercises.
The method is as simple as dropping droplets of water on the material and recording the sound. The acoustic response indicates the health of the concrete.
"The response gives you an indicaton of both the size and the depth of the flaw," Mazzeo said.
Mazzeo said the method could be used to test materials beyond bridges, including aircraft composites, which are susceptible to delamination.
Though the current research is preliminary, the researchers envision a day where bridge deck surveys would take only a few moments.
"We would love to be able to drive over a bridge at 25 or 30 mph. spray it with water while we're driving and be able to detect all the structural flaws on the bridge," Mazzeo said. "We think there is a huge oppurnity, but we need to keep improving on the physics."
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