Nondestructive identification of delaminations in concrete floor toppings with acoustic methods

This paper presents an original methodology for the nondestructive identification of delaminations in concrete floor toppings by means of the combined impulse-response and impact-echo acoustic methods. It is demonstrated that the impulse-response method is highly suitable for the fast exploration of large stretches of concrete floor and rough location of defective areas while the impact-echo method is ideal for the precise location of the boundaries of the areas. If the surface area of the tested floor topping is large, the nondestructive tests can be automated by mounting the equipment on a special scanner or robot. An example of the practical use of the proposed methodology is presented. It confirms the usefulness of the methodology for the nondestructive identification of delaminations in large-area concrete floor toppings. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.