Dynamic structural analysis is increasingly important for civil structures. In this context, non-destructive tests are a promising tool, as they allow obtaining integrated and comprehensive information about structure stiffness and damping and, moreover, may be repeated and compared over time. The determination of the modulus of elasticity of concrete by way of its acoustic response represents an innovative methodology to obtain a design parameter which associated with the compressive strength, achieves the guidelines for the design of structural elements in plain, reinforced and prestressed concrete. Test results show that the use of acoustic response-based tools in the determination of resonance frequency yields values with differences of less than 1% from those obtained by more commonly used non-destructive methods.
dynamic experimental analysis; non-destructive testing; acoustic response; dynamic modulus of elasticity