The non-linear behavior of both virgin and damaged concrete samples is experimentally inves- tigated by means of ultrasonic tests. Recent theoretical models, indeed, have pointed out that mono-frequency ultrasonic excitations bring to light such phenomena as harmonic generation and sidebands…
The non-linear behavior of both virgin and damaged concrete samples is experimentally inves- tigated by means of ultrasonic tests. Recent theoretical models, indeed, have pointed out that mono-frequency ultrasonic excitations bring to light such phenomena as harmonic generation and sidebands production, which are essentially due to the material non-linearity. The estimation of the harmonic components parameters (am- plitudes and phases) is achieved through a signal processing technique based on MUltiple SIgnal Classifica- tion (MUSIC) system, which reveals to be optimal for the specific signal model here considered. The experi- ments described in this paper show that the material non-linear features increase with increasing level of internal deterioration, thus suggesting the possibility to use the ultrasonic signal analysis in the frequency domain as a valuable tool for damage assessment.