Strategic measurement reduction in concrete ultrasonic transmission tomography

Non-destructive testing has become increasingly important in the civil engineering industry as a means to extend the lifespan of buildings through appropriate maintenance actions. Among these tests, ultrasonic tomography stands out as an effective method for accurately assessing the internal state of concrete elements. However, the challenge lies in the large number of measurements required for image reconstruction. This study proposes three distinct analyses to better understand the relationship between the number of measurements and the quality of ultrasonic transmission tomography, with a focus on minimizing the required measurements. Two methods were developed for the strategic reduction of measurements, utilizing the ICC metric and IDW interpolation. Numerical simulations were conducted on three models with different inclusion configurations, and an experimental model was used for validation. The findings suggest that a higher number of measurements does not necessarily result in higher quality images. Instead, strategic measurement reduction demonstrated that there is an optimal configuration that achieves high-quality images with a minimal number of measurements. This study offers valuable insights for practical applications in ultrasonic transmission tomography, potentially increasing its feasibility on a larger scale.