PROJECT: MULTI-PHYSICAL NON-DESTRUCTIVE INSPECTION AND MONITORING OF REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURES IN GHANA (2021-2022)

The collapse of reinforced concrete (RC) structures (e.g., buildings and bridges) in Ghana is alarming. Integrating multi-physical non-destructive structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques into Ghana’s building and bridge inspection systems will minimize the occurrences of RC structural collapse. SHM of RC structures has become an integral part of Structural Engineering in the 21st century. It ensures reliable performance of RC structures while providing early detection and quantification of critical defects. This project seeks to develop an SHM framework for RC structures in Ghana. The primary research questions are 1) what is the current state of Ghana’s inspection and monitoring system for RC structures? 2) what are the potential impacts of multiphysical nondestructive inspection and monitoring techniques on the safety and sustainability of Ghana’s infrastructure systems? and 3) what data fusion methodology can be used to integrate multiphysical NDE techniques in the SHM system in Ghana? The research questions will be answered by investigating the use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) as nondestructive evaluation (NDE) sensors for the inspection and monitoring of some selected RC structures in the study area (Kumasi). Also, laboratory characterization of construction materials (e.g., concrete, bitumen) will be performed to support field data interpretation. Furthermore, numerical simulation of ultrasonic waves (utilized by UPV) and electromagnetic (EM) waves (utilized by GPR) will be executed to understand the fundamental interactions between construction materials and the various waves. Moreover, theoretical derivation of ultrasonic wave and EM wave scatterings by RC structures will be done to support the physical interpretation of field data. The primary objective of this research project is to develop a multi-physical non-destructive structural health monitoring (SHM) framework for RC structures (e.g., buildings and bridges) in Ghana using GPR and UPV sensors.