Description
The renovation of existing buildings and infrastructures is becoming in the last years increasingly important. This results in a greater and greater need to understand the real condition of building components and what can determine its level of damage. There are many known methods in the field of structural health monitoring and damage control. Among them, non-destructive testing (NDT) methods assume particular importance as they enable the evaluation of structural integrity without compromising functionality. A NDT technique that gives a view into the interior of the material at laboratory scale and in practice is computed tomography (CT). This technique can be particularly useful in concrete, where insight into the interior can enable a detailed analysis of the reinforcement and potential risks to its integrity, such as corrosion. By taking X-ray scans from different sides of concrete elements, 3D data can be created, which makes it possible to determine cracks, pores, and defects. This article will explore the potential of non-destructive testing using CT in the context of damage analysis for concrete structures. An example will be shown on a small laboratory concrete sample, focusing on how to methodically approach the scan and process the resulting data. Finally, the results will be discussed, and some further research possibilities will be presented.
