Outline

We have developed a prototype scanner capable of nondestructive, in-situ measurement of water content in cracks in concrete structures.

Details

The need to maintain aging tunnels, dams, and other concrete structures to prevent geotechnical disasters calls for a means of nondestructive, in-situ measurement of cracks and other weaknesses that contain water. To address such needs, the Exploration Geophysics Research Group is developing a device that uses nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to target hydrogen nuclei, one of the few available geophysical exploration methods of measuring water quantity. A surface scanner based on the NMR principle has the potential to enable the non-destructive, in-situ, real-time measurement of the quantity of water in cracks within concrete structures or rock formations. The prototype developed by the Group is capable of detecting the NMR signal of a water sample separated by a distance of 5 cm from the sensor surface within about 5 minutes.

Applications

If the current prototype is developed through improving the configuration of the high-frequency coil and rare earth magnet and through making the device waterproof and dustproof, it could be put to practical use as a civil engineering geophysical exploration system.

Joint researcher

Shin Utsuzawa (New Mexico Resonance; Visiting researcher,AIST)

Contact person

Yoshito Nakashima, e-mail : nakashima.yoshito{at}aist.go.jp