NDT Lab Manual

Chapter 3
Determine the Pulse Velocity, Crack Depth and Compressive Strength
of concrete by using PUNDIT – lab ultrasonic instrument.

1. INTRODUCTION
The ultrasonic Pulse Velocity test (UPV) is one of the popular methods which are used to obtain
information about the interior of a concrete structure with two accessible surfaces
(transducers). The most known instrument, which we used in the lab, is the PUNDIT (Portable
Ultrasonic Non-destructive Digital Indicating Tester) this comes with two transducers and one
calibration rod to adjust the readings before any test.

Figure - 1: PUNDIT LAB

One of the important things in this test is having a good acoustical coupling between the face
of each transducer and the concrete surface by using a medium such as grease, hand cream or
jelly.

1.1: Transducer Arrangement:

There are three major ways through which the transducers may be arranged, as shown in
Figure – 2 below.
a) Opposite faces (direct method)
b) Adjacent faces (semi - direct method)

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c) Same faces (indirect method)

(a) (b)

(c)
Figure – 2: Transducer Arrangements: (a) Direct (b) Semi direct (c) Indirect

While the maximum pulse energy is transmitted at right angle to the face of the transmitter,
the direct method is the most reliable method from this perspective of transit time
measurement. In some cases no opposite surfaces can be accessed, therefore this test can also
be also arranged with adjacent surfaces (semi-direct method) Figure – b, and on the same
surface (indirect method) Figure – c.

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2. OBJECTIVE
To determine the pulse velocity, crack depth and compressive strength of concrete by using
PUNDIT - lab ultrasonic instrument.

3. APPLICABLE STANDARDS
ASTM C597

4. APPARATUS:
PUNDIT Lab - Ultrasonic instrument

5. TEST PROCEDURE
5.1: Basic Measurements:
Step 1:
Switch on the mains and apply little amount of grease to the two transducers faces.
Step 2:
Use the reference bar to check and adjust the time reading on the instrument to be the same
as the calibration number on the bar; in our case it is 25.4 μs, as represents in Figure – 3.

Figure – 3: Calibration rod

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To calibrate the instrument the following steps should be taken into account.

Select System Settings

Set correction factor to 1.0

Select calibration

If necessary, select to enter the transit time as

marked on the calibration rod.

Variable parameter; set as follows:

Up/down keys - fine adjustment
Left/right keys - coarse adjustment.
Center key - enters the value and returns to the
previous menu.
Cancel key - cancels the input and returns to the
previous menu.

Press “Start” to begin the calibration sequence.

The final display shows the expected transit time and

below it the measured transit time. This should
match the value on the calibration rod.

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5.2: Pulse Velocity:

Step 1:
In order to determine the pulse velocity it is compulsory to measure the path length between
the two transducers.
Step 2:
Press the transducers hardly onto the concrete opposite surfaces, and hold for a while to allow
readings to be taken, wait until a consistent reading appears on the display screen of the
instrument.
Step 3:
Record the stable reading, which is the time (T) in microseconds (μs) for the ultrasonic pulse
to travel the path length and pulse velocity (V) in m/s.

Select
“Basic Measurements

Select parameter setting “path length”

Enter the path length

Start the measurement

The display shows:

- Transmission time
- Measured pulse velocity

Save the result or:

Start a new measurement

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5.3: Crack Depth (m):

Select “Compound Measurements”

Select “Crack Depth”

Select parameter setting “b”.

Measure and enter the distance “b”

Transducers in first position – Start

“t1” is measured. Stable reading indicated by a tick

Transducers in 2nd position - Start

“t2” is measured. Stable reading is indicated by a tick

and result screen is displayed.
The display shows:
- “t1”
- “t2”
- Crack Depth
Save the result or press start to repeat the
measurement.

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5.4: Compressive Strength (N/mm2):

When the pulse velocity is known it is easy to determine the compressive strength of concrete
by using the graph shown in the Figure – 4 below which indicates the relationship between the
pulse velocity and compressive strength of concrete.
50

45
fc = 31.6V - 105
R2 = 0.90
40
Compressive Strength, MPa

35

30

25

20

15
3.70 3.90 4.10 4.30 4.50 4.70 4.90
V, km/s

Figure – 4: Compressive Strength V/S Pulse Velocity

6. OBSERVATION:
Distance Pulse Velocity Crack Width Compressive Strength
S.No Time (μs)
(mm) (Km/s) (mm) (N/mm2)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

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7. ADVANTAGES
Low cost
Fast test
Simple
Well established
No damage to the structure
Represent the quality of the concrete (internal compressive strength)

8. LIMITATIONS
Accessible surfaces are needed
Mains needed
Good contacts needed between concrete surfaces and transmitters
Not reliable
Calibration is needed to get real readings
Indirect results (calculations are needed)
Accurate measurements needed

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