Time Reverse Modeling of Acoustic Waves for Enhanced Mapping of Cracking Sound Events in Textile Reinforced Concrete

Abstract Time reverse modeling (TRM) is successfully applied to acoustic signals from a circular microphone array, for mapping of sudden cracking sound events. Numerical feasibility using synthetic acoustic sources followed by an experimental study with steel pendulum impacts on a steel plate is carried out. The mapping results from the numerical and experimental data are compared and verified using a delay-and-sum beamforming technique. Based on the feasibility and experimental study, a mapping error is estimated. In the main experimental study, cracking sound events obtained during a tensile test on a textile-reinforced concrete specimen are mapped with the TRM. The enhanced capability of the TRM to map simultaneously occurring cracking sound events along crack paths is demonstrated.