Non-Destructive Diagnostics of Concrete Beams Strengthened with Steel Plates Using Modal Analysis and Wavelet Transform

Externally bonded reinforcements are commonly and widely used in civil engineering objects made of concrete to increase the structure load capacity or to minimize the negative effects of long-term operation and possible defects. The quality of adhesive bonding between a strengthened structure and steel or composite elements is essential for effective reinforcement; therefore, there is a need for non-destructive diagnostics of adhesive joints. The aim of this paper is the detection of debonding defects in adhesive joints between concrete beams and steel plates using the modal analysis approach. The inspection was based on modal shapes and their further processing with the use of continuous wavelet transform (CWT) for precise debonding localization and imaging. The influence of the number of wavelet vanishing moments and the mode shape interpolation on damage imaging maps was studied. The results showed that the integrated modal analysis and wavelet transform could be successfully applied to determine the exact shape and position of the debonding in the adhesive joints of composite beams.