Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association ISSN:2233-8292(Print) 2287-4747(Online) 한국터널지하공간학회 논문집

Rock bolts and shotcrete play a crucial role as a main support system in the underground space. Thus, the safety of the underground space may be affected by the defect of rock bolts. In order to evaluate the rock bolt integrity by using non-destructive technique, the transmission method of the guided ultrasonic waves, which are generated by using the piezo disk elements has been successfully performed. The energy generated by the piezo disk elements, however, is not enough for the rock bolts in the field. In addition, the piezo disk elements should be installed at the end of the steel bar during construction of the rock bolts. The purpose of this study is the devolvement of the reflection method, which may generate enough energy, and the application in the field rock bolts. Both laboratory and field tests are carried out. The guided ultrasonic waves with high energy are generated by the hammer impact with the center punch, and the AE sensor is used to measure the reflected guided waves. The received guided waves are analyzed by the wavelet transform. The peak value of the wavelet transform produces the energy velocity, which is used for the evaluation of the rock bolt integrity. The energy velocity increases with an increase in the defect ratio in both laboratory and field rock bolts. This study demonstrates that the hammer-impact reflection method may be a suitable method for the evaluation of the rock bolt in the field.