New Technique for Estimation of Fatigue Cracks in Concrete by the Parameters of Electric Response to Pulse Mechanical Excitation

This paper introduces a new technique to test fatigue cracks in concrete that occur during its maintenance. The principle of the technique consists of exposing the object to pulsed mechanical excitation. As a result, acoustic waves start to propagate in the sample. Under the action of acoustic waves the dipole moments of double electric layers on the boundaries of components in concrete are changed and piezoquartz which is a part of sand and gravel is polarized. The external electric field occurs and is registered by a signal receiver placed near the object under study. The possibility of using this technique for crack nondestructive control is studied in the paper. The technique capabilities are shown by comparing the parameters of electric response on pulsed mechanical excitation when testing the defectless concrete and the same sample after developing the artificial crack in the concrete.