3D Corrosion Detection in Time-dependent CT Images of Concrete

In civil engineering, the corrosion of steel reinforcements in structural elements of concrete bares a risk of stability-reduction, mainly caused by the exposure to chlorides. 3D computed tomography (CT) reveals the inner structure of concrete and allows one to investigate the corrosion with non-destructive testing methods. To carry out such investigations, specimens with a large artificial crack and an embedded steel rebar have been manufactured. 3D CT images of those specimens were acquired in the original state. Subsequently three cycles of electrochemical pre-damaging together with CT imaging were applied. These time series have been evaluated by means of image processing algorithms to segment and quantify the corrosion products. Visualization of the results supports the understanding of how corrosion propagates into cracks and pores. Furthermore, pitting of structural elements can be seen without dismantling. In this work, several image processing and visualization techniques are presented that have turned out to be particularly effective for the visualization and segmentation of corrosion products. Their combination to a workflow for corrosion analysis is the main contribution of this work.