APPRAISING THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF CONCRETE BY PULSE VELOCITY MEASUREMENTS

THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON COMPANY HAS USED THE SONISCOPE AT NUMEROUS CONCRETE STRUCTURES TO EVALUATE THE CONDITION AND PERFORMANCE OF EXISTING CONCRETES AND TO DETERMINE THE STRENGTH PROPERTIES AND QUALITY OF NEW CONCRETES. IN APPRAISING THE PRESENT CONDITION OF EXISTING STRUCTURES, FOR EXAMPLE, SONISCOPE TESTS AT THE BIG CREEK- SAN JOAQUIN HYDROELECTRIC DEVELOPMENT HAVE SHOWN THAT THE CONCRETES IN ELEVEN MAJOR DAMS ARE SATISFACTORY WITH PULSE VELOCITY MEASUREMENTS VARYING FROM 11,600 TO OVER 15,000 FT/ SEC. MOREOVER, THE SONISCOPE'S USEFULNESS ON A ONE TEST SERIES BASIS WAS DEMONSTRATED AT A LOS ANGELES OIL REFINERY, WHERE THE INSTRUMENT WAS USED TO VERIFY THE ACCEPTABILITY OF NEWLY PLACED CONCRETE IN THE WALLS OF A LARGE OIL SKIMMING TANK WHERE SURFACE IRREGULARITIES HAD CAUSED THE OWNERS TO FEAR THE EXISTENCE OF INTERNAL DISCONTINUITIES. AFTER A SERIES OF 89 SONISCOPE MEASUREMENTS IN 8-IN. AND 10-IN. WALLS, THE CONCRETE WAS JUDGED TO BE SATISFACTORY. FURTHERMORE, SONISCOPE TESTING IS OF VALUE IN A QUALITATIVE WAY IN DETERMINING THE SUITABILITY OF A MATERIAL FOR AN UNUSUAL APPLICATION. FOR INSTANCE, TESTS WERE CONDUCTED ON LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE TO BE USED IN LARGE DIAMETER, LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE PIPE PROPOSED FOR INSTALLATION IN THE CONDENSER COOLING WATER SYSTEM OF THE EDISON COMPANY HUNTINGTON BEACH STEAM STATION. THE CONCRETE WAS JUDGED ACCEPTABLE AND CONSIDERABLE SAVING IN COST RESULTED. INTERPRETATION OF PULSE VELOCITY TEST DATA REQUIRES AN AWARENESS OF ALL CIRCUMSTANCES AND CONDITIONS SURROUNDING THE MATERIAL TESTED.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbbulletin/206/206-007.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • No 206, pp 46-56, 5 FIG, 2 TAB Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Spencer, R W
  • Laverty, B R
• Publication Date: 1959

Media Info

• Monograph Title: Effects of concrete characteristics on the pulse velocity
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Bulletin
  • Issue Number: 206
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Concrete dams; Concrete pipe; Concrete structures; Evaluation; Performance; Pulses; Quality control; Strength of materials; Velocity measurement
• Uncontrolled Terms: Interpretation; Pulse velocity tests; Quality
• Old TRIS Terms: Soniscope
• Subject Areas: Highways; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00213240
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Sep 12 1994 12:00AM