Electrical Resistance Tomography for Assessment of Cracks in Concrete

This paper presents a study on the feasibility of using electrical resistance tomography (ERT) for detecting cracks in concrete. Our previous studies have demonstrated that cracks in concrete can be detected with ERT in cylindrical geometries. In this work, the main focus is on investigating the capability of ERT for crack detection and characterization in more realistic geometries in which the sensor array is attached to one planar surface of concrete. The feasibility of ERT in crack detection is tested with: 1) concrete slabs containing plastic plates; and 2) beams with real cracks generated by three-point bending. The results with slabs demonstrate the ability of ERT to distinguish between crack-like defects with different depths and to detect laminar defects. The results with beams verify that the method is also feasible in the case of real cracks.