Effective presentation of impact-echo data for bridge deck NDE

Air-Coupled Impact Echo (IE) test is a non-destructive evaluation (NDE) test method, where the dynamic response of an element resulting from an impact event is measured with an air-coupled sensor. IE has been used to characterize damage in concrete bridge decks in a rapid fashion. However, the large amount of data from air-coupled IE tests from bridge decks must be manipulated and presented such that infrastructure engineers can effectively assess the condition of the structure. To address this problem, we used both impact-echo and flexural mode vibrations to characterize the area and degree of delamination damage. The practical nature of this imaging approach is demonstrated experimentally with concrete slabs containing simulated delamination damage.