The article presents the results of the numerical investigation of Lamb wave propagation in concrete plates while taking into account the complex concrete mesostructure. Several concrete models with randomly distributed aggregates were generated with the use of the Monte Carlo method. The influence of aggregate ratio and particle size on dispersion curves representing Lamb wave modes was analyzed. The results obtained for heterogeneous concrete models were compared with theoretical results for homogeneous concrete characterized by the averaged macroscopic material parameters. The analysis indicated that not only do the averaged material parameters influence the dispersion solution, but also the amount and size of aggregate particles. The study shows that Lamb waves propagate with different velocities in homogeneous and heterogeneous models and the difference increases with aggregate ratio and particle size, which is a particularly important observation for wave-based diagnostic methods devoted to concrete structures.

Early detection of potential defects and identification of their location are necessary to ensure safe, reliable and long-term use of engineering structures. Non-destructive diagnostic tests based on guided wave propagation are becoming more popular because of the possibility to inspect large areas during a single measurement with a small number of sensors. The aim of this study is the application of guided wave propagation in non-destructive diagnostics of steel bridges. The paper contains results of numerical analyses for a typical railway bridge. The ability of damage detection using guided Lamb waves was demonstrated on the example of a part of a plate girder as well as a bolted connection. In addition, laboratory tests were performed to investigate the practical application of wave propagation for a steel plate and a prestressed bolted joint.

The following paper presents the results of the theoretical and experimental analysis of the influence of debonding size on guided wave propagation in reinforced concrete beams. The main aim of the paper is a development of a novel, baseline-free method for determining the total area of debonding between steel rebar embedded in a concrete cover on the basis of the average wave velocity or the time of flight. The correctness of the developed relationships was verified during the experimental tests, which included propagation of guided waves in concrete beams with the varying debonding size, shape and location. The analysis of the collected results proved that guided waves can be efficiently used not only in the debonding detection, but also in an exact determining of its total area, which is extremely important in the context of the nondestructive assessment of the load capacity of the reinforced concrete structures. The undeniable advantage of the proposed method is that there are no requirements for any baseline signals collected for an undamaged structure. The paper comprises of the detailed step by step algorithm description and a discussion of both the advantages and disadvantages.