Investigating the quality of grouting for tendon ducts using numerical UT-simulations
Publication date
2026-07-01
Document type
Konferenzbeitrag
Organisational unit
Conference
14th European Conference on Non-Destructive Testing 2026 (ECNDT 2026) ; Verona, Italy ; June 15–19, 2026
Publisher
NDT.net
Series or journal
E-Journal of Nondestructive Testing (eJNDT)
ISSN
Periodical volume
31
Periodical issue
7
Peer-reviewed
✅
Part of the university bibliography
✅
Language
English
Abstract
The assessment of grouting quality is one of the most important inspection tasks for post-tensioned bridges since insufficient grouting can lead to corrosion of the tensioning strands inside the duct. Ultrasonic testing (UT) is an NDT-method, which is capable of solving this task. However, due to many factors affecting the outcome of the inspection (e.g., bonding quality, depth of the duct, concrete quality, etc.) the interpretation of measurements results is very difficult, and results can be ambiguous. In this study, we conduct large-scale 3D UT-simulations to better assess and quantify the challenges during the inspection. A heterogeneous concrete model with explicit discretization of aggregates and pores is used to simulate noise generated during measurements. The amplitude and phase of the reflection signal are identified as the primary indicators for the grouting condition. A large set of simulations is carried out to assess the dependence of both indicators with varying grouting and bonding (between duct and grout) conditions. It was found that grouting conditions exhibit a strongly nonlinear influence on the indicators, while a linear trend could be observed for bonding conditions. Also, a strong dependency on the position from which the inspection is carried out was observed.
Description
Published by NDT.net under License CC-BY-4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4)
Version
Published version
Access right on openHSU
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