TY - JOUR

T1 - Development of stiffness and ultrasonic pulse velocity of fatigue loaded concrete

AU - von der Haar, Christoph

AU - Marx, Steffen

N1 - Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy for the financial support for the research project ”ProBeton – development and experimental testing of fatigue resistant concrete foundation structures for offshore wind turbines“.

PY - 2016/12/6

Y1 - 2016/12/6

N2 - Damage processes in fatigue loaded concrete structures depend on the number and amplitude of the load cycles applied. Damage evolution is linked to a reduction in concrete stiffness, and it is thought that this reduction causes stress redistributions at component level which have a favourable impact on the service life of a structure. Until now, the stiffness reduction and stress redistribution have never been successfully measured in laboratory tests or in situ. It is only known that the real service life is longer than the calculated one and that indicators of stiffness reduction, such as component deflection, increase with the number of load cycles applied. Ultrasonic measurement techniques are considered to be well suited to detecting degradation processes caused by cyclic loading. It is expected that the stiffness reduction in fatigue loaded concrete structures can be recorded reliably with ultrasonic pulse velocity measurements. In the light of this, fatigue tests were performed on small-scale concrete specimens. The aims of the tests were to understand the correlation between the observed stiffness degradation of the specimens and the results of ultrasonic pulse velocity measurements and to estimate the potential for using ultrasonic pulse velocity measurements in continuous structural health monitoring.

AB - Damage processes in fatigue loaded concrete structures depend on the number and amplitude of the load cycles applied. Damage evolution is linked to a reduction in concrete stiffness, and it is thought that this reduction causes stress redistributions at component level which have a favourable impact on the service life of a structure. Until now, the stiffness reduction and stress redistribution have never been successfully measured in laboratory tests or in situ. It is only known that the real service life is longer than the calculated one and that indicators of stiffness reduction, such as component deflection, increase with the number of load cycles applied. Ultrasonic measurement techniques are considered to be well suited to detecting degradation processes caused by cyclic loading. It is expected that the stiffness reduction in fatigue loaded concrete structures can be recorded reliably with ultrasonic pulse velocity measurements. In the light of this, fatigue tests were performed on small-scale concrete specimens. The aims of the tests were to understand the correlation between the observed stiffness degradation of the specimens and the results of ultrasonic pulse velocity measurements and to estimate the potential for using ultrasonic pulse velocity measurements in continuous structural health monitoring.

KW - concrete

KW - fatigue

KW - measurement systems

KW - stiffness reduction

KW - structural health monitoring

KW - ultrasonic pulse velocity

KW - ultrasound

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85000711478&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/suco.201600007

DO - 10.1002/suco.201600007

M3 - Article

VL - 17

SP - 630

EP - 636

JO - Structural Concrete

JF - Structural Concrete

SN - 1464-4177

IS - 4

ER -