UNIST Develops Ultrasound Imaging Technology... From Bio to Construction

UNIST Professor Kim Geon’s Team Measures Concrete Carbonation Depth Using Ultrasound Imaging Technology

To Be Applied in Various Fields Such as Battery and Cancer Diagnosis… Published in Cem. Concr. Res.

A technology has been developed to non-destructively measure the depth of carbon dioxide captured in concrete structures.

This is the first case of applying ultrasound imaging technology, previously used in the medical field, to the construction sector.

From the left, Professor Kim Geon, first author Researcher Baek Seung-o.

Professor Kim Geon of the Department of Earth Environment and Urban Construction Engineering at UNIST (President Lee Yong-hoon), together with Professor Kim Hyung-gi of Chosun University’s Department of Architectural Engineering and Professor Michael Oelze’s team from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois, developed a Quantitative Ultrasound (QUS) imaging technology that can precisely visualize the carbonation depth of cement.

Carbonation of concrete involves capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide within concrete structures and is one of the core strategic technologies in the construction industry for carbon neutrality. As carbonation progresses, the microstructure within concrete members changes, but these structural changes have been difficult to measure with existing non-destructive methods, relying instead on destructive techniques.

The research team extracted ultrasound scattering and attenuation characteristics of the material from the collected ultrasound signals and visualized these as images to capture microstructural changes.

The resulting images detected carbonation depth with an error margin of about 1 mm compared to results measured by the conventional destructive phenolphthalein indicator method. This demonstrated the ability to non-destructively measure carbonation depth by location.

Currently, widely used ultrasound imaging inspection methods have limitations due to low resolution, making them heavily dependent on the experience of experts or doctors. However, the developed technology constructs image pixels based on quantitative indicators determined by the material, allowing even those with limited experience to easily assess structural changes in the material.

Professor Kim Geon stated, “This is the first case proving that quantitative ultrasound imaging technology, previously limited to the biomedical field, can be usefully applied in construction. This technology is expected to be utilized in various research areas such as predicting automotive battery lifespan and precise visualization of cancer tissues.”

The research results were published online on April 25 in ‘Cement and Concrete Research,’ a top-tier journal in the construction field. The research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea through the Young Researcher Program and Basic Research Project.

Developed Quantitative Ultrasound (QUS) Imaging Technique.

Since joining the Department of Earth Environment and Urban Construction Engineering at UNIST in 2020, Professor Kim Geon has been conducting interdisciplinary convergence research encompassing construction engineering and polymer chemistry. Representative projects include cancer tissue destruction using focused ultrasound energy, polymer molecular chain reinforcement, ultrasound-based structural health evaluation, and the development of stress-visualizing polymer sensors that enable anyone to easily diagnose structures.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.