Holographic detection of cracks in

concrete
A. Luxmoore

Non-destructive testing of concrete, through desirable, presents problems because of

concrete's coarse heterogeneous structure. The author discusses the methods available
for ndt of concrete and points out their limitations. ~le describes the application of
holography to this problem and discusses the results so far achieved. He concludes that
the method is useful and recommends the development of the technique as an engineer-
ing tool.

Metals and alloys are reasonably uniform and homogeneous
materials on a macroscopic scale, and the presence of flaws
and voids in the highly stressed parts of a metal structure
can act as serious stress raisers which initiate failure. It is
the purpose of ndt to detect and locate these discontinuities
individually, and assess their potential effect from the size
and orientation. Concrete is a heterogeneous material with
a more open microstructure, and usually contains numerous
voids in a random arrangement. Failure occurs after the slow
growing of microcracks, initiated at the voids, have inter-
connected to form a system which can support no further
increase in load, and collapse is due to excessive deformation.
At working loads, some growth of cracks is usual, and in
reinforced concrete (the major structural use of concrete),
it is considered that microcracking is an important factor
in transferring load from the concrete to the steel reinforce-
ment.
The strength of concrete is very dependent on the density
of voids;high densities produce low strengths. Careful
manufacture and placing of the concrete can reduce them,
and quality control involves casting several test specimens
from each batch. These are tested to destruction at suit-
able time intervals. In some cases, this system is liable
to serious errors and abuse, and so ndt of concrete is
used to assess the quality of in-situ concrete. The majority
of in-situ testing has been done using ultrasonic pulse
velocity measurements. 1 A number of factors effect this
parameter, but basically the presence of voids cause the
pulse to take a longer path through any given section
The author is at the department of civil engineering at the University
College in Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, UK,
of concrete, and hence lowers the apparent velocity.
Calibration tests have to be made to correlate strength
with pulse velocity, and the technique is a comparative
one. Acoustic emission has also been used to detect
the growth of microcracks 2 but so far this has been
mainly a laboratory technique.
Though microcracking is a basic part of the deformation of
concrete, large cracks can have serious consequences, eg
cracks bridging the surface and reinforcement of a struc-
ture can produce corrosion of the reinforcing steel. The
extent of these cracks (as opposed to microcracks) can
be studied with the pulse velocity technique, 1 but the
cracks must be quite large (several centimetres diameter)
and they must first be located. Visual detection of fine
cracks in concrete is difficult, and the porous nature of the
material makes penetrating dyes of limited value. A
sensitive non-contact technique for detecting surface
cracks could be of great value in inspecting concrete
structures, and with this in mind, a feasibility study was
carried out in the author's laboratory to investigate the
use of holography for this purpose.
Principles of holography
Holography is an alternative imaging process to the photo-
graphic lens, and a hologram can reproduce an object,
but in a different way to that of a photograph. 3 A lens
collects the light scattered by the different points making
up the object, and images them onto a fiat film which
just records the variations of light intensity (Fig. 1).
Light is an electromagnetic wave possessing both amplitude
(related to the intensity) and phase, but the conventional
photograph cannot record the phase as a photographic

258 NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING . OCTOBER 1973

 After processing, the hologram is returned to the same
position, and if it is illuminated only with the reference
beam (the object blanked off) then the interference fringes
Object Lens Film on the hologram diffract some of this light into an exact
copy, both in amplitude and phase of the light rays which
came originally from the object. The object can be seen
by looking through the hologram at the original position of
Object the object. Looking from different positions, one can see
Laser different aspects of the object ie one has a three-dimensional
picture. To obtain precise measurements from the hologram,
the object must be replaced in its original position. Looking
through the hologram, one sees the original object super-
~ P h o t o c j r a p h i c
~ ~ p l a t ¢ {hologram) imposed on the holographic image, making it brighter, and
the two sets of light rays should be identical in amplitude
Mirror
and phase. If the object is distorted or displaced by frac-
tions of a micrometre, the amplitudes and phases of its
reflected rays change, and interfere with those produced by
Laser,,, I the hologram. The image through the hologram is now
seen to be crossed by a series of black interference fringes,
which are related to the distortion (or displacement) of the
M~ / J~ r r o r s / Iogram object, and the position of the observer.
A simple analysis of the relation between fringe pattern and
geometry has been made by Ennos, 6 who showed the
fringes represent displacements measured along the bisec-
tors of the illuminating and viewing directions (Fig.2). In
Appearance of h~ogram general, these directions vary across an object, but for a
(magnified)
flat surface, they can be kept constant by using collimated
t.aser j
light (Fig.3). Abramson has suggested a simple geometrical
device, based on the properties of an ellipse, for calculating
displacements from complex objects. 7 To measure the
absolute displacement, the fringe order must be known (the
number of fringes that will have crossed that point during
deformation), but in many cases, it is only the displacement
Mirror relative to some fiducial mark on the object which is of
interest. The fringe patterns can be used also as a qualitative
assessment of distortion, and a concentration of fringes
Fig.1 Thereare several possible arrangementsfor holographic in a small area denotes excessive deformation in that area.
recording which contrasts with photography (from top); This technique has been used in the USA to detect debond-
conventional photography; holographic recording; holographic
recording using two mirrors; reconstruction of holographic ing of rubber from the reinforcement in tyres, and faults
image

Direction of measured displacement~

cos ko
emulsion is sensitive only to the intensity, and hence Direction of actual
amplitude of the light wave. Gabor suggested holography displacement, d
as a means of recording phase on a photographic emulsion,
using the principles of optical interference. 4,5 Light from /
a single source is split into two beams, one illuminating
the object, the other (reference beam) directed onto a
high-resolution photographic plate. Light scattered by
the object (signal beam) is also recorded on the same plate,
and providing the light source is giving out a continuous
light wave with a constant phase relation, there is a con-
stant phase relation between the rays in the reference beam
and those in the signal beam, and a complex pattern of Original
surface position
interference fringes is produced and recorded on the
photographic plate (the hologram). This can be easily
understood if the object is a plane mirror when the arrange-
/
ment becomes a simple interferometer, and the interfer-
ence pattern is uniformly spaced straight fringes. An
/
object of complex geometry modifies this pattern, but
the basic uniform fringe pattern can still be recognised, and Fig.2 Geometryof optical path difference produced by surface
plays an important part in forming the image. displacement

NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING . OCTOBER 1973 259


5¢r
ologram
Fig.3 Variation of ray bisectors on a complex object
in laminated sheets (bubbles under the surface cause
greater distortion than well bonded areas when the sheet
is lightly loaded). The same principle applies to the detec-
tion of cracks on a surface. Small loads will cause the
cracks to open, and interference between holograms before
and after loading will show a fringe pattern with discontinui-
ties corresponding to the displacement discontinuities
that occur at the crack positions. Though the crack posi-
tions are immediately apparent from this interferogram,
the cracks could not be observed visually on the surface
of the concrete block.
Practical considerations
The recording of a hologram is dependent upon the angle,
4~, between object and reference beams, and upon the wave-
length of light. The pitch of the basic carrier grating
formed on the hologram is X/2 sin (4~/2). Separation of the
direct and diffracted parts of the reference beam during
reconstruction of the image requires an angle of at least
30 ° , so the photographic emulsion must resolve better
than 1 000 lines mm "1 at a wavelength of 632.8 nm (which
corresponds to the output of the helium-neon continuous-
wave laser used in this case). Agfa-Ge,vaert 10E75 plates,
which have been produced especially for holography, were
used in this investigation. When interference is observed
between light from a holographic image and that from a
real object, fringe contrast is often poor, as the amplitudes
of the two light signals are substantially different (the
holographic image being the weaker) and complete extinc-
tion is not possible. Contrast is improved by recording
both before and after hologram on the same plate, and
reproducing the two images holographically with the
same amplitudes. This process also avoids the difficulty
of replacing the single hologram exactly in its original
position, and any distortion due to shrinkage of the emul-
sion during processing is cancelled out. An attempt was
made to use a live fringe pattern (a singly exposed holo-
gram replaced exactly in its original position and com-
pared directly with the distorted object) to control and
vary the fringe observation by rotating the hologram. In
our experiments, the fringe contrast was too low for
accurate ide.qtification of fringe discontinuities, but
methods for improving live fringe contrast are available.
260
Experimental system
The holographic technique was applied to the front surfaces
of 100 mm cubes tested in compression and 150 mm
diameter cylinders used in splitting tests. The optical
system used principally measures the out-of-plane displace-
ments of the surface (Fig.4). This type of displacement
is visualized readily by holographic interferometry and
though in-plane displacement patterns would provide
more useful information, it was felt that cracks would
produce some out-of-plane component of displacement (as
they often propagate from the surface at an angle other
than 90 ° ) which would reveal their positions. The system
was constructed from standard optical components, fixed
to a steel marking-out table with antivibration pads under
its feet. Initially the concrete test cubes were loaded in a
separate loading frame adjacent to the table but, despite
the use of antivibration pads, this frame vibrated relative
to the table, and prevented the recording of any holo-
grams (extraneous displacements during exposure must be
much less than a wavelength of light to avoid blurring
the interference patterns which form the hologram). The
presence of vibration was detected by using a simply
constructed Michelson interferometer, 8 which could be
set to produce interference fringes between a mirror on the
concrete block and a reference mirror on the table (Fig.5).
Any out-of-plane displacement of the mirror on the block
was shown up by movement of the fringes. When the
vibrations were rapid, no fringes were visible.
A special loading frame, incorporating a 1 MN hydraulic
jack, was built on to the end of the table, and tests with
the Michelson interferometer showed that provided the
table was not touched during exposures, no extraneous
displacements were introduced into the optical paths. A
1 : 2 : 3 concrete mix (with 0.5 water/cement ratio) was
used to make the test cubes and cylinders. The mean crush-
ing strength after 28 days was 39 MN mm "2. Gross defor-
mation of the concrete cubes produced a loss of correla-
tion between the holograms before and after loading.
This prevented the formation of interference fringes
between the before and after holograms. Loads of 10 kN
or more produced large rigid-body displacements of the
specimens (due to deflections of the loading frame), but
only small deformation within the specimen. However, the
intereference effects depend on the total displacement of
the specimen, and correlation was soon lost. To avoid this
Loading frame
1 r~' III . . . . . . . J Beam Laser
.... 1,.._\ w J sp-Iltter
\
Concrete cube
Fig.4 Optical arrangement on steel table
NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING . OCTOBER 1973
 Screen

, Mirror
= ~ ~]Beam splitter
= Laser

Concre~ cube

,%

Fig.5 Detailsof Michelson interferometer

problem loads were applied in increments, a hologram was the test-piece surface. When they crossed the start and
exposed, a further small increment (4.5 kN) applied and finish of a crack, the change in discontinuity in the fringes
the hologram plate re-exposed. The plate was then pro- was detected and the positions on the surface noted
cessed, and replaced to check its quality, so that if not (Fig.7). The first detectable imperfection occurred at
satisfactory, it could be repeated before the next large 17 N mm "2, with a slight fringe discontinuity at the bottom
increment. This procedure allowed a complete range of right-hand side. There was no further deterioration until
holograms to be obtained throughout the loading cycle, a load of 26 N mm "2 ie about half the crushing strength,
and hence check on the formation and propagation of any when the area of deformation propagated further. Bunch-
cracks. ing of the fringes was apparent at the base as the load
increased to 28 N mm "L, probably due to frictional effects
between cube and platen. A vertical crack was also visible,
Analysis of fringe patterns
and this propagated further at 33 N mm "2 and 41 N mm "2.
The discontinuities in the fringe patterns corresponding to Failure occured at 45 N mm "2, but the crack propagating
the out-of-plane opening of cracks can be divided into vertically was no longer detectable prior to this load. This
two types (Fig.6). Along the bottom of the cube there was because the front face of the cube was breaking away
are three areas in which the fringe pattern changes markedly from the rest of the block.
from the overall pattern, both in fringe orientation and
density. Along the boundaries of these areas there are Tests on other cubes showed similar behaviour, though the
discontinuities within these areas. These areas correspond crack patterns were different, and depended upon the care
to parts of the surface which have rotated relative to the with which the cube was placed between the loading
rest of the surface, and most probably contain aggregate Platens, as these were not parallel, and could produce a
close to the surface. The other type of discontinuity higher stress at the back of the specimen, with a more
appears in the main body of the overall interference pattern, extensive crack pattern.
as illustrated halfway up the cube on the left hand side The crack patterns on the cylinders were more consistent
in Fig.6. This corresponds to a finer crack which is pene- than those of the cubes, as was expected from the cylinder
trating between the aggregate, and was the most commonly
observed discontinuity in the different specimens. This
latter type of discontinuity is very dependent on the
overall fringe pattern for its detection. In Fig.6, the fringes
are almost perpendicular to the direction of the crack,
which is easily seen. If the fringes were almost parallel to
the crack, detection would be more difficult, especially
when the out-of-plane crack opening was less than half
a fringe (approximately 0.2/am). In the double-exposure
method, there was no control over the orientation of the
overall fringe pattern, as it was usually impossible to pre-
dict the rigid body displacements. Some control was
possible over the number of fringes present, by varying
the load increment between exposures, and this was
adjudged by experience.
Detection of a crack's length was facilitated by traversing
the eye in a horizontal plane across the doubly exposed
hologram. This changed the viewing angle, and hence the Fig.6 Two kinds of fringe pattern indicating cracks may be seen
sensitivity of the fringe pattern, and fringes moved across on the surface of this concrete beam

NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING . OCTOBER 1973 261

Fig.7 Fringe patterns on a concrete cube can be seen to change w i t h load: t o p row, left to right - 17, 26, 28 MN m'2; b o t t o m row, left to
-2
right - 31, 33, 41 MN m

stress distribution (Figs 8 and 9). The first fine crack was the finite size of the hologram plate. The viewing angle
detected at around one-quarter to one-third of the ultimate can be changed by looking at the same object point
load. As load increased, the crack branched out to the through different areas of the hologram. By carrying out
right and left, and other cracks started which joined the the previous analysis for two different views through
initial crack system. At around three-quarters of the ulti- the hologram, two different displacement components
mate load, a vertical crack propagated from the base and can be obtained, and hence converted into in-plane and
connected with the cracks propagating vertically down- out-of-plane components. However, when tried practi-
wards from the top just prior to the ultimate load. cally, the two values were so close to the normal value
Failure occurred catastrophically along the vertical that reliable values of the in-plane displacement could
diameter, with some spalling along the edges, but in all not be calculated.
cases, the interconnection of the crack system occurred
just prior to failure. This suggested that the crack system
grew slowly in size until it reached the conditions for Conclusion
catastrophic propagation, and could be helpful in under- As a practical technique for field work, holography is
standing the basic failure mechanisms in concrete. At limited by its sensitivity to small extraneous vibrations
no time before failure could any of these cracks be detected and displacements; its high sensitivity to rigid body move-
visually when the cylinder face was scrutinised under a ments; and its use of the slow photographic process.
bright light; even after failure, the small branching cracks
were still not visible.
Apart from the qualitative assessment of crack propagation,
such as location and length of crack, the fringe patterns
also yielded the relative out-of-plane displacement across
a crack. The system is analogous to the use of conven-
tional interferometry for measuring step heights but, in
the present case, there is an additional advantage of start-
ing at a continuous fringe (Fig.10). By plotting fringe
positions along either side of the crack, and choosing a
continuous fringe as an arbitrary zero, the displacement
(in terms of fringe order) will be given by the difference
between these two graphs. The value of this fringe-
order difference at any point on the cube can be con-
verted to an actual displacement, by using the geometry
of the incident and observed rays. 6 Although the out-of-
plane displacement yields interesting information on the
crack deformation, in-plane displacement is far more useful.
An attempt was made to evaluate this quantity by using Fig.8 Fringe patterns on the surface of a concrete cylinder

262 N O N - D E S T R U C T I V E T E S T I N G . OCTOBER 1973

 18 kN 36 kN 53 kN 67kN
(Just prior to failure)
Fig.9 A crack propagates in a concrete cylinder during a splitting test as the load is increased

Considerable effort is being expended on the develop-
ment of pulse lasers which will freeze movement in the
structures, and also on electronic recording of the holo-
gram information. 9,10 At present, these two develop-
ments are not compatible, but further work is in progress.
Developments in speckle interferometry would also
remove the problem o f rigid b o d y movements. Despite
these problems, the existing techniques can be used for
a large variety of investigation, and some work has been
carried out on artificially produced cracks in high strength
steels. 11 The holographic results were compared with
penetrating dyes, x-ray radiography and eddy current
testing, and found to be just as reliable, although un-
tempered martensite could produce anomalous fringe
patterns.
With existing lasers, areas of 1 - 2 metres square can be
covered, and the information recorded on a 35 mm film.
This could prove an economic process for testing struc-
tural components of moderate size, if other ndt techniques
are not suitable. Some experience is needed in interpreting
the fringe patterns, but personnel used to ndt techniques
should find no difficulty in this matter. For continuous
and almost flat surfaces, the technique is ideal, as it
can give a bird's eye view of the surface, and the imper-
fections contained therein.

References

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NON-DESTRUCTIVE T E S T I N G . O C T O B E R 1973 263