Abstract
Various non-destructive testing techniques are being applied for tendon maintenance and safety management of prestressed concrete (PSC) bridges, which became a social issue after the rupture of the external tension member of the Jeongneungcheon Viaduct in Seoul in 2016. Acoustic emission (AE) is one of the most effective non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods for structural health monitoring (SHM) of large-scale infrastructure. It enables real-time monitoring of concrete cracks and damage to embedded rebar without causing structural failure. It is particularly suitable for detecting cracks in the tendons of PSC bridges. PSC bridges are structurally categorised into internal and external tendon systems based on how they are prestressed. While external tendons can be inspected through visual or acoustic methods, internal tendons are much more difficult to detect defects because they are embedded within the concrete. This research aims to develop an AE-based technique to detect fracture signals in internal tendons of PSC bridges, and to establish maintenance guidelines for safety inspection and field application. To this end, various simulated fracture tests are performed to build a database of AE signals related to tendon fracture. In addition, field experiments are conducted to evaluate the feasibility of real-world implementation. Based on the results of these field validation tests, maintenance guidelines for the AE-based monitoring of internal tendon fractures in PSC bridges are proposed.
Keywords
prestressed concrete, internal tendon, fracture, non-destructive, acoustic emission.
DOI
10.5703/1288284318139
Recommended Citation
Seo, Dong-Woo; Park, Sangki; Kim, Jaehwan; and Park, Ki-Tae, "Internal Tendon Damage Monitoring Technology of Prestressed Concrete Bridge using Acoustic Emission Method" (2025). International Conference on Durability of Concrete Structures. 1.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/icdcs/2025/tmc/1
Internal Tendon Damage Monitoring Technology of Prestressed Concrete Bridge using Acoustic Emission Method
Various non-destructive testing techniques are being applied for tendon maintenance and safety management of prestressed concrete (PSC) bridges, which became a social issue after the rupture of the external tension member of the Jeongneungcheon Viaduct in Seoul in 2016. Acoustic emission (AE) is one of the most effective non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods for structural health monitoring (SHM) of large-scale infrastructure. It enables real-time monitoring of concrete cracks and damage to embedded rebar without causing structural failure. It is particularly suitable for detecting cracks in the tendons of PSC bridges. PSC bridges are structurally categorised into internal and external tendon systems based on how they are prestressed. While external tendons can be inspected through visual or acoustic methods, internal tendons are much more difficult to detect defects because they are embedded within the concrete. This research aims to develop an AE-based technique to detect fracture signals in internal tendons of PSC bridges, and to establish maintenance guidelines for safety inspection and field application. To this end, various simulated fracture tests are performed to build a database of AE signals related to tendon fracture. In addition, field experiments are conducted to evaluate the feasibility of real-world implementation. Based on the results of these field validation tests, maintenance guidelines for the AE-based monitoring of internal tendon fractures in PSC bridges are proposed.
