Abstract
A new non-destructive inspection technique with using acoustic emission (AE) sensor was developed for the purpose of overcoming problems originating in existing hammering test. The new technique enables us to obtain inspection results with no dependence on personal skills of a checker, and to judge the integrity of the bolts based on quantitative measurement results. The investigation of applying the new method to wedge anchor bolts is reported. From experimental results by using this technique, the trend of peak frequency changes obtained from concrete blocks with no crack has a clear tendency to increase with increasing tightening torque. In addition, the peak frequency obtained from the bolt installed in the cracked concrete block decreases compared with one in no-crack concrete block. These results indicate the possibility that both looseness of nut and degradations such as cracking in concrete could be detected by the new technique.
