Use of Interwire Ultrasonic Leakage to Quantify Loss of Prestress in Multiwire Tendons

This paper presents a technique developed on the basis of ultrasonic guided waves to monitor prestress levels in multiwire prestressing strands. The transducer layout identified for stress measurement is composed of an ultrasound excitation provided by a piezoelectric element bonded on a peripheral wire. Ultrasound detection is performed on the central and peripheral wires at the strand’s end. The ultrasonic feature used for stress monitoring is the interwire leakage between the peripheral and the central wire, occurring across the strand anchorage. A semianalytical finite-element analysis is first used to predict modal and forced wave solutions in seven-wire strands as a function of the applied prestress level. The numerical analysis accounts for the changing interwire contact as a function of applied loads and predicts the attenuation occurring in loaded strand when the wave travels across the anchorage. Results of load monitoring in free strands during laboratory tests are then presented. Finally, a st...