NDE Lab

The Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) Lab at UT Arlington Civil Engineering Department has the latest, state of the art GPR system from Geophysical Survey System, Inc. (GSSI). The equipment can be used for various types of subsurface conditions, including rock, soil, ice, water, concrete, pavement and structures.

GPR: Ground Penetrating Device

Features:

  • GPR Main Frame
  • Pulse Generating Antenna
  • Calibrated Survey Wheel
  • GPS Enabled Data
  • Power Supply
  • Operating Laptop

Operational Efficiency

  • Collect Data day or night
  • Operate in all weather conditions
  • Easy to operate
  • Rapid rate of data collection
  • Efficient post processing

Specifications:

  •  32 bit raw data
  • Line scan and Oscilloscope display
  • Antenna Capacity up to 8 channels
  • 500 GB data storage capacity
  • Time and Survey Wheel Operation mode
  • Up to 16384 samples per scan
  • 0-20000 nanosecond time range
  • Operating temperature -10 to 50 degree C
  • Power: 260W max (120W typical) at 95-250VAC 50/60Hz or +10VDC to +28VDC

Pavement Inspection:

GPR imaging of pavement provides accurate information about thicknesses of pavement layers, subgrade thickness and the approximate variation of moisture in subgrade. It can also detect any voids or delamination under rigid or flexible pavements.

Concrete Inspection:

GPR imaging of concrete provides information about rebar location, rebar clear cover, rebar spacing, utility conduits inside concrete, post- tensioning duct location, voids, water penetration, concrete deterioration and a variety of other objects inside concrete.

Utility Inspection:

Utility pipes, septic tanks, bank of conduits, and other buried objects can be effectively detected Using GPR. Bridge Inspection:

Bridge deck deterioration mapping may be performed using GPR. Potential deterioration zones can be detected.

Pundit Array Transducer

  • Gain: 0 to 80 dB
  • Analog bandwidth: 15 to 100 kHz
  • Nominal transducer frequency: 50 kHz shear wave
  • Range/resolution: 0 to 1000 μs / 1 μs
  • Pulse voltage: +/-150 V
  • Number of channels: 8 (with upgrade option to 16)

The Pundit 250 Array is based on the ultrasonic multichannel pulse echo technology using 8 channels. One channel transmits and the echoes are received by the other seven channels. Each channel transmits in turn. A complete measurement consists of 28 A-scans. These are used to compute and display a B-scan in real-time using the Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT). Coupling two transducers results in a 16-channel aperture processing a total of 240 A-scans per measurement cycle.

Ultrasonic Testing Device

The PUNDIT ultrasound testing can be used for:

  • Measuring Uniformity of Concrete
  • Measuring modulus of elasticity of concrete
  • Determining the presence of crack in concrete and steel
  • Detection and localization of voids, utility pipes and honeycombing in concrete

Rebound Hammer

The rebound hammer is used to measure the nondestructive compressive strength of concrete. The hammer can convert the rebound number automatically to compressive strengths. The range of measurement is 1450 psi to 14500 psi. The data can be stored in the device and also can be taken to computer for further processing using Hammerlink software.

The possible usages are:

• Ideally suited for on-site tests of concrete
• The concrete test hammer is suitable for testing a wide variety of concrete, mortar and rock
• Handy for difficult to access or confined test areas (i.e. working overhead)

Half Cell Potential Meter

Half Cell Potential (HCP) meter is used to determine the state of corrosion of steel reinforcement in concrete using ASTM C876. Structures like bridge decks, parking garages, concrete piers, substructures, tunnel lining and foundation can be tested for potential corrosion. To analyze the results, the measurements made with HCP meter can be plotted on a grid and lines of equipotential contours drawn, highlighting areas of possible corrosion activity.

Infrared Camera

Infrared camera can produce thermograph or temperature profile of any surface. The FLIR E50 camera and the NDE lab can produce thermograph with temperature as high as 1200°F. It can be used for condition monitoring, building diagnostics, moisture inspection, energy losses in buildings. It can also be used to determine the delamination and bubbles close to surface of in FRP retrofitted concrete.

SX-10 Trimble Scanner

The SX-10 Trimble scanner combines surveying and 3D scanning to capture high-accuracy measurments. This allows the scanner to be used in general and topographic surveys, roadway surveys, voluemtric surveys, infrastructure surveys, power line inspection, tank calibratio and dimension control. The scanner also geneerates 3D model of the surveyed area which can then be imported into a variety of CAD software.

iCor

iCOR is a Non-Destructive testing device. This device is for detailed corrosion evaluation and condition assessment of reinforced concrete structures. 
Without an electrical connection to the rebar, iCOR can provide corrosion rate mapping of rebar, corrosion potential mapping of rebar, the in-situ real electrical resistivity of concrete and ambient temperature and relative humidity. With an electrical connection to the rebar, iCOR can provide corrosion potential (Half-Cell Potential Test) of concrete. iCOR can also be used for the detection of corrosion in the reinforcement and rehabilitation, repair of concrete structures. This device can be used both in the field and in laboratories.

Compresometer

During the compression test, the Compressometer is used for evaluating deformation and strain characteristics of concrete cylinders.