Positioning system to ECT sensors used for quality assessment in reinforced concrete structures

• Grant number: 14/17664-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2014
• End date: September 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Electrical Engineering - Electrical, Magnetic and Electronic Circuits
• Principal Investigator: Alceu Ferreira Alves
• Grantee: Wallace Gabriel de Souza
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This Scientific Initiation Research Project will be linked to the Research Project titled "Development of ECT Sensor for Preliminary Verification and Monitoring of Corrosion Processes in Reinforced Concrete Structures", FAPESP grant number 2014/08797-8. This research project aims to collect subsidies for the development of a technique of nondestructive testing based on Eddy Current Testing (ECT), to verify corrosion processes on steel rods in reinforced concrete structures. The use of this kind of testing is justified by the fact that the steel is a ferromagnetic material (good conductor of magnetic flux) and good conductor of electric current (eddy currents are induced in the body of the rod, once it is subjected to the presence of time-varying electromagnetic fields). This behavior produces alterations on the magnetic flux distribution in the region between the material under analysis and the sensor device. It is expected that these alterations will vary according to the degree of corrosion of the steel rods, and a correlation between these phenomena can be established and used to verify the occurrence of corrosion, and even quantifying its degree.The research development will consist of the production of dozens of specimens, with different levels of corrosion. A technique for the acceleration of the process of corrosion will be developed with this goal. From theoretical studies and computer simulations, several configurations for the inductor/sensor devices will be proposed. Then the electromagnetic and electronic devices will be built. Finally, from measurements performed with high precision measurement instruments, and through the use of specially developed mathematical models for this analysis, the practical limits of this proposal will be investigated. The Electrical Engineering student Wallace Gabriel de Souza should be part of the team that will execute this project, working on the development and implementation of an automation circuit for the sensor to be used in laboratory tests and field trials. This activity was not initially foreseen in the original project, but it will contribute to research results since the system to be developed can be used more accurately and fast, once movements made with the hands will be replaced by automatized movements. In addition, the student may collaborate in activities carried out by other members of the group, enhancing his experience in other areas of the research.