Pulse Peak Delay-Total Focusing Method for Ultrasonic Tomography on Concrete Structure

An ultrasonic array device like the A1040 MIRA is used to non-destructively visualize the inside of concrete structures. A data set acquired by the ultrasonic array device is so unfocused that an image reconstruction algorithm is required to transform the data set into an understandable image. The image reconstruction algorithm like total focusing method exploits the time-of-flight of an ultrasonic pulse when focusing the image. While a high frequency ultrasonic pulse barely affects the accuracy of results, a low frequency ultrasonic pulse with a long wavelength causes an overall sagging of the resulting image around half wavelength of the pulse, which results in a poor quality of results. In this research, a modified total focusing method called pulse peak delay-total focusing method is proposed to calibrate the sagging in the resulting images due to the long wavelength of the pulse. The simulation of an ultrasonic array signal is implemented to validate the proposed method. The experimental results are compared with the simulation results to validate the proposed method. The simulation using the proposed method shows good agreement with experimental results. Analysis of results using potential damage curve and array performance indicator shows that the proposed method allows the higher accuracy, as well as the increased resolution of resulting images.