Application of Elastic Reverse Time Migration to Ultrasonic Echo Data in Civil Engineering

• Published in: E-journal of Nondestructive Testing 2022-09, Vol.27 (9)
• Main Authors: Grohmann, Maria, Niederleithinger, Ernst, Buske, Stefan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1435-4934; 1435-4934
• DOI: 10.58286/27182

The ultrasonic echo technique is widely used in non-destructive testing for investigation and damage analysis of concrete constructions. To improve the ultrasonic imaging of complicated structures in concrete, we transferred a seismic migration technique, the Reverse Time Migration (RTM), to non-destructive testing. In a preliminary study, we tested a 2D acoustic RTM algorithm on measured ultrasonic echo data acquired at a concrete foundation slab. Compared to the conventional used synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT) algorithms for ultrasonic data reconstruction, our acoustic RTM results showed a significant improvement in imaging the interior structure of the concrete slab. In contrast to SAFT, RTM is a wavefield-continuation method in time and uses the full wave equation. RTM is, thus, able to include multiple reflections and to handle multi-pathing as well as many other complex situations. As a drawback RTM requires extensive computing power and memory capacity. An RTM algorithm that uses the full elastic wave equation instead of the full acoustic one (as applied in our preliminary work) has the potential to optimize the imaging results even further. This is due to the fact, that our ultrasonic data are generated by exciting elastic waves. In a first step, we tested two 2D elastic RTM algorithms on synthetic ultrasonic echo data generated with a concrete model. Our synthetic elastic RTM results showed an enhancement in imaging the features inside the test model compared to acoustic RTM and SAFT. In a second step, we acquired ultrasonic measurement data at a concrete specimen consisting of three steps and four air-filled tendon ducts. Processing the real ultrasonic data with our elastic RTM codes was successful and improved the reconstruction of the geometries of the steps and tendon ducts. With our study we have shown that elastic RTM is a step forward for ultrasonic testing in civil engineering.