Non-destructive evaluation of anchorage zones by ultrasonics techniques.

This work aims to evaluate the efficiency and reliability of two Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) methods for damage assessment in bridges' anchorages. The Acousto-Ultrasonic (AU) technique is compared to classical Ultrasonic Testing (UT) in terms of defect detection and structural health classification. The AU technique is firstly used on single seven-wire strands damaged by artificial defects. The effect of growing defects on the waves traveling through the strands is evaluated. Thereafter, three specimens of anchorages with unknown defects are inspected by the AU and UT techniques. Damage assessment results from both techniques are then compared. The structural health conditions of the specimens can be then classified by a damage severity criterion. Finally, a damaged anchorage socket with mastered defects is controlled by the same techniques. The UT allows the detection and localization of damaged wires. The AU technique is used to bring out the effect of defects on acoustic features by comparing a healthy and damaged anchorage sockets. It is concluded that the UT method is suitable for local and crack-like defects, whereas the AU technique enables the assessment of the global structural health of the anchorage zones.