Non-Destructive Testing of Concrete Materials from Piers: Evaluating Durability Through a Case Study

Concrete is currently the most used construction material, mainly due to its mechanical strength, chemical stability, and low cost. This material is affected by wear processes caused by the environment, which lead to a reduction in the useful life of the infrastructure in the long term. These wear p...

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Main Authors: Abraham Lopez-Miguel, Jose A. Cabello-Mendez, Alejandro Moreno-Valdes, Jose T. Perez-Quiroz, Jose M. Machorro-Lopez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:NDT
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2813-477X/2/4/33
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author Abraham Lopez-Miguel
Jose A. Cabello-Mendez
Alejandro Moreno-Valdes
Jose T. Perez-Quiroz
Jose M. Machorro-Lopez
author_facet Abraham Lopez-Miguel
Jose A. Cabello-Mendez
Alejandro Moreno-Valdes
Jose T. Perez-Quiroz
Jose M. Machorro-Lopez
author_sort Abraham Lopez-Miguel
collection DOAJ
description Concrete is currently the most used construction material, mainly due to its mechanical strength, chemical stability, and low cost. This material is affected by wear processes caused by the environment, which lead to a reduction in the useful life of the infrastructure in the long term. These wear processes can cause cracks, corrosion of reinforcing steel, loss of load capacity, and loss of concrete section, among other problems. Considering the above, it is necessary to carry out durability studies on concrete to determine the integrity conditions in which the infrastructure is found, the reasons for its deterioration, the environmental factors that affect it, and its useful life under these conditions, and develop restoration or protection plans. Generally, the durability studies include non-destructive testing such as ultrasonic pulse velocity, electrical resistivity, porosity measurement, and capillary absorption rate. These techniques make it possible to characterize the concrete and obtain information such as the total volume of pores, susceptibility to corrosion of the reinforcing steel, decrease in mechanical resistance, cracks, presence of humidity, and aggressive ions inside the concrete. In this work, two durability studies are presented with non-destructive tests carried out on active piers that are 20 and 40 years old. These are located in coastal areas in southern Mexico on the Gulf of Mexico side, with 80% average annual relative humidity, temperatures above 33 °C on average, high concentrations of salts, load handling, vibrations, flora and fauna typical of the marine ecosystem, etc. The results obtained reveal important information about the current state of the piers and the damage caused by the environment over time. This information allowed us to make decisions on preventive actions and develop appropriate and specific restoration projects for each pier.
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institution Kabale University
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spelling doaj-art-4673edea18dc4ebd83b10183052f32162025-01-24T13:44:21ZengMDPI AGNDT2813-477X2024-12-012453254810.3390/ndt2040033Non-Destructive Testing of Concrete Materials from Piers: Evaluating Durability Through a Case StudyAbraham Lopez-Miguel0Jose A. Cabello-Mendez1Alejandro Moreno-Valdes2Jose T. Perez-Quiroz3Jose M. Machorro-Lopez4Instituto Mexicano del Transporte, km 12 Carretera Estatal No. 431 “El Colorado-Galindo” San Fandila, Pedro Escobedo 76703, Queretaro, MexicoInstituto Mexicano del Transporte, km 12 Carretera Estatal No. 431 “El Colorado-Galindo” San Fandila, Pedro Escobedo 76703, Queretaro, MexicoInstituto Mexicano del Transporte, km 12 Carretera Estatal No. 431 “El Colorado-Galindo” San Fandila, Pedro Escobedo 76703, Queretaro, MexicoInstituto Mexicano del Transporte, km 12 Carretera Estatal No. 431 “El Colorado-Galindo” San Fandila, Pedro Escobedo 76703, Queretaro, MexicoInvestigador CONAHCYT—Instituto Mexicano del Transporte, km 12 Carretera Estatal No. 431 “El Colorado-Galindo” San Fandila, Pedro Escobedo 76703, Queretaro, MexicoConcrete is currently the most used construction material, mainly due to its mechanical strength, chemical stability, and low cost. This material is affected by wear processes caused by the environment, which lead to a reduction in the useful life of the infrastructure in the long term. These wear processes can cause cracks, corrosion of reinforcing steel, loss of load capacity, and loss of concrete section, among other problems. Considering the above, it is necessary to carry out durability studies on concrete to determine the integrity conditions in which the infrastructure is found, the reasons for its deterioration, the environmental factors that affect it, and its useful life under these conditions, and develop restoration or protection plans. Generally, the durability studies include non-destructive testing such as ultrasonic pulse velocity, electrical resistivity, porosity measurement, and capillary absorption rate. These techniques make it possible to characterize the concrete and obtain information such as the total volume of pores, susceptibility to corrosion of the reinforcing steel, decrease in mechanical resistance, cracks, presence of humidity, and aggressive ions inside the concrete. In this work, two durability studies are presented with non-destructive tests carried out on active piers that are 20 and 40 years old. These are located in coastal areas in southern Mexico on the Gulf of Mexico side, with 80% average annual relative humidity, temperatures above 33 °C on average, high concentrations of salts, load handling, vibrations, flora and fauna typical of the marine ecosystem, etc. The results obtained reveal important information about the current state of the piers and the damage caused by the environment over time. This information allowed us to make decisions on preventive actions and develop appropriate and specific restoration projects for each pier.https://www.mdpi.com/2813-477X/2/4/33case studyconcretedamagedurabilityintegrity evaluationnon-destructive testing
spellingShingle Abraham Lopez-Miguel
Jose A. Cabello-Mendez
Alejandro Moreno-Valdes
Jose T. Perez-Quiroz
Jose M. Machorro-Lopez
Non-Destructive Testing of Concrete Materials from Piers: Evaluating Durability Through a Case Study
NDT
case study
concrete
damage
durability
integrity evaluation
non-destructive testing
title Non-Destructive Testing of Concrete Materials from Piers: Evaluating Durability Through a Case Study
title_full Non-Destructive Testing of Concrete Materials from Piers: Evaluating Durability Through a Case Study
title_fullStr Non-Destructive Testing of Concrete Materials from Piers: Evaluating Durability Through a Case Study
title_full_unstemmed Non-Destructive Testing of Concrete Materials from Piers: Evaluating Durability Through a Case Study
title_short Non-Destructive Testing of Concrete Materials from Piers: Evaluating Durability Through a Case Study
title_sort non destructive testing of concrete materials from piers evaluating durability through a case study
topic case study
concrete
damage
durability
integrity evaluation
non-destructive testing
url https://www.mdpi.com/2813-477X/2/4/33
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