Acoustic
The brittle and / or progressive breakage of the wires and / or strands is a complicated problem to investigate in prestressed structures. It can lead to significant losses of the bearing capacity and, in extreme cases, induce the collapse of the structure. The Acoustic Emission Technique (AE) is an important non-destructive investigative method for monitoring the development of degradation phenomena (widespread or localized).
From the parametric analysis of the acquired signal, interesting information can be obtained about the evolution of the state of damage of the structural element (Standards ISO 16836: 2019, ISO 16837: 2019, ISO 16838: 2019).
The equipment supplied to the SISCON Centre provides for the positioning of piezoelectric sensors (resonant and broadband) close to the prestressing cables trajectory. In this way, it is possible to evaluate the attenuation of the Acoustic Emission through the structural element in order to highlight anomalies, faults and breakages in the prestressing systems even for significant distances between the origin of the acoustic event (breakage) and the sensor.
