Computerized Tomography Analysis of Reinforced Concrete

X-ray computerized tomography (CT) has the potential of being a powerful, nondestructive method in assessing the degree of distress existing in reinforced concrete members. Paper presents a feasibility study of using CT to inspect reinforced concrete specimens. One of the main objectives was to verify the CT resolution in determining the size and location of voids and reinforcing bars. To assess the efficiency of CT in determining large voids, a concrete cylinder was cast with a conical hole centered along its longitudinal axis. The hole was posteriorly filled with a material of similar density but higher atomic number and the specimen was reanalyzed to determine CT's capacity in distinguishing changes in material composition. To evaluate the efficiency of CT in establishing the location of reinforcing bars, a concrete cylinder with a reinforcing bar embedded in its center and a cube with reinforcing bars distributed along its diagonal were used. The results indicate that CT was able to resolve the many different phases in reinforced concrete (reinforced bars, concrete, and voids) with great accuracy.