QUANTITATIVE-EVALUATION AND VISUALIZATION OF CRACKING PROCESS IN REINFORCED-CONCRETE BY A MOMENT TENSOR ANALYSIS OF ACOUSTIC-EMISSION

Fracture tests are conducted on two types of reinforced concrete specimens under cyclic loadings. Cracking process is quantitatively evaluated and visualized by applying a moment tensor analysis to the AE waveforms detected during the fracture. First, bending tests are performed on reinforced concrete beams. It is found that both tensile and shear cracks are generated around the reinforcement in the low loading stages. However, shear cracks become dominant as the cracking process progresses. In the final stages, shear cracks are generated near the interface between the reinforcement and concrete even during unloadings. A bond strength test, made second, shows that tensile cracks are produced around the reinforcement in the early stages. They spread apart from the reinforcement to wider areas in the later stages. An intense AE cluster due to shear cracks is observed along the interface between the reinforcement and concrete. The previous result from an engineering structure is also presented for comparison. All these results demonstrate a great promise of the analysis for quantitative evaluation and visualization of the cracking process in reinforced concrete. The relationship between the opening width of surface cracks and the Kaiser effect is intensively studied. It is shown that a breakdown of the Kasier effect and high AE activities during unloading can be effective indices to estimate the level of deterioration in concrete structures.