The paper evaluates the sensitivity of sonic tomography imaging of historic masonry structures to variations in stress level and damage. Six stone masonry walls with different geometries representative of historical typologies were constructed by a professional mason. A laboratory campaign was carried out, subjecting the walls to cyclic uniaxial compression tests. During the test, an automated sonic tomography system was used to inspect the wall under loading cycles of increasing amplitude, which led to obtain tomographic images during loading and compare them under different stress level and damage condition. The use of robotic systems was proved essential to carry out the sonic inspections simultaneously to the compression tests. Results show that sonic wave propagation is not only sensitive to damage level, but also to the stress state. Thus, sonic tomography has the potential to be used to measure damage and stress level of masonry components over time, for example during renovation works on an existing construction.
Acknowledgments
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 101030275. The project is also supported by a fellowship from the Fundación General CSIC´s ComFuturo programme which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 101034263. The project has also received funding from the project NDT-3DHeritage, ref. 202250E049, from ITEFI (CSIC). The authors would like to thank the staff from the laboratory of the Eduardo Torroja Institute for Construction Sciences (IETCC), from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), where the tests were carried out. Finally, the authors would also like to thank the stonemason Rodrigo de la Torre Martín-Romo, who built the masonry walls and whose insight and expertise was essential to decide the most appropriate masonry typologies that are most representative of historical masonry constructions.
