Recently, air-coupled impact-echo (IE) tests for rapid damage detection in concrete structures have been popularly employed, but they typically require an acoustically shielded, high sensitivity, pre-polarized air-pressure sensor. In this study, two types of air-coupled sensors (condenser and dynamic microphones) and one contact sensor (displacement sensor) are evaluated with regard to characterization of delamination damage in a concrete slab using the IE method. The contact and contactless IE tests were carried out over a simulated slab with artificial delaminations. Results show that even the dynamic microphone successfully captures impact-echo signals in a contactless manner and without acoustic shielding.

• 오태근(인천대학교 안전공학과 조교수, 구조기술사) | Oh, Tae Keun Corresponding Author