DYNAMIC TESTING OF CONCRETE WITH THE SONISCOPE APPARATUS

THE SONISCOPE MEASURES THE VELOCITY OF TRANSMISSION OF ULTRASONIC PULSES THROUGH CONCRETE. THE DYNAMIC MODULUS OF ELASTICITY OF THE CONCRETE IS CALCULATED FROM THIS PULSE VELOCITY, AND THE VALUES OBTAINED AGREE CLOSELY WITH TESTS BY THE FLEXURAL RESONANCE METHOD. THE SONISCOPE TEST METHOD CAN BE APPLIED EQUALLY WELL TO FIELD STRUCTURES, PAVEMENTS, AND LABORATORY SPECIMENS, REGARDLESS OF THEIR SIZE OR SHAPE. SONISCOPES ARE USED EXTENSIVELY FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS BY THE HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER COMMISSION IN ONTARIO, AND THE PORTLAND CEMENT ASSOCIATION IN THE UNITED STATES, TO EXAMINE DAMS, BRIDGES, PAVEMENTS AND LONG-TIME STUDY FIELD SPECIMENS. THE PULSE VELOCITY IS A RELIABLE MEASURE OF THE QUALITY OR CONDITION OF THE CONCRETE. WHILE ADVANCED DETERIORATION CAN BE FOUND BY OLDER TEST METHODS, SUCH AS HAMMER TAPPING, THE SONISCOPE DETECTS INCIPIENT TROUBLE AND HAS THE GREAT ADVANTAGE OF PROVIDING A QUANTITATIVE RATHER THAN A QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE CONCRETE. THE PULSE VELOCITY IN GOOD CONCRETE IS FROM 13,000 TO 16,000 FT. PER SEC., WHILE VELOCITIES UNDER 5,000 FT. PER SEC. ARE FOUND IN BADLY DETERIORATED PORTIONS OF FIELD STRUCTURES. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbproceedings/29/29-009.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 29, pp 176-183, FIGS, TABS, 4 PHOT, 3 REF. 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:
  • Cheesman, W J
  • Arndt, W J
• Publication Date: 1950

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board Held at Washington, D.C. December 13-16, 1949.
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Proceedings
  • Volume: 29
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Concrete; Dynamic modulus of elasticity; Pulses; Quantitative analysis; Velocity
• Uncontrolled Terms: Pulse velocity
• Old TRIS Terms: Soniscope
• Subject Areas: Highways; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00213943
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jul 2 1971 12:00AM