A study on the use of advanced nondestructive testing methods on histroric structures

Abstract

Historic structures are social and cultural heritage for the land they are built on. To protect this heritage and to preserve it for the generations to come are among the most important responsibilities of nations. However numerous historical structures are found in Turkey, the awareness around nondestructive maintenance processes which will keep the identity of the structure intact is not developed as required. Historical structures require preservation, and necessary maintenance and reinforcement measures to be taken in order to survive damages arising from several reasons. Such work must be designed by multidisciplinary professionals and must be applied adhering to the original form of the structure. Among the limiting factors involved in an intervention to a structure is the knowledge on the strength and material properties of the structural elements used. Structural elements of a historical building must be subjected to measurements based on a number of assumptions made for parameters such as compressive strength, shear strength and elasticity modules. As a result of practices based on such assumptions, historical structures may face unnecessary repair and reinforcement processes. With the advancement made in technology now it is possible to obtain the necessary data from historical buildings without causing damage or causing minimal damage using nondestructive or semi-destructive test methods. Therefore, it is important and necessary to use and popularize the use of nondestructive testing methods for historical structures. This study investigates the following nondestructive testing methods and reports on the results obtained in a comparative manner: concrete rebound hammer method; flat-jack method; penetration resistance method; ultrasonic method; impact-echo method; and magnetic and electrical methods.