Detection of flaws in construction columns using 3D reconstruction and manipulation

A methodology is proposed for the analysis of construction columns to determine structural defects such as bubbles and different types of materials in concrete as well as the diameter of the steel rods. A filtered backprojection algorithm was used to obtain a 2D density distribution assuming three different materials in the column (concrete, air and steel). An interpolation of this 2D distribution is used to obtain inter-planar voxels to construct a 3D object. This computer object can be manipulated and new projections can be generated to analyze planes that cannot be directly measured. The input data were generated by a computer simulation of the column characteristics. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Inc.