What is Concrete Imaging (concrete X-ray or concrete radar)?

Concrete X-ray or concrete scanning is a technology that allows to precisely locate conduits and PVC pipes, void detection, and taking concrete slab measurements. Concrete scanning enables construction industry to safely locate hazards and determine the clear course within the concrete elements before drilling, cutting or coring which means, Identify what is inside or underneath the concrete without drilling or digging into the concrete. Concrete radar identifies the entire problem before drilling, coring or cutting the structure and gives sharp and accurate imaging reports to enable simple location and path finding.

How the system works?

Concrete Imaging system consists of a transmitter or the source and a receiver which provide high quality, sharp and accurate imaging reports by collecting and processing the electromagnetic waves. Concrete X-ray has the transmitter on one side while the receiver on the other. Whereas the Concrete radar has both the transmitter as well as the receiver in one unit thus accesses only one side of the structure for testing.

Why use the Concrete imaging?

While cutting, coring or drilling without using the Imaging system, one cut or hit can cause project delays and cost you future work. Concrete imaging reduces the chances of damages by 90% and quickly locates the position of Rebar, water pipelines and electrical conduits embedded in the concrete, saving time as well as money. Accurate target location within the structure is achieved more safely, quickly and economically with the concrete imaging technology.

Be Brand conscious

Before giving the project to any company, make sure about the quality of imaging service they provide. The Concrete Imaging equipment should be safe to use around the people present without evacuating them, any safety constraints and setup requirements so that the disturbance in the operation can be eliminated or minimized to possible extent. The company technicians should have all the equipments to troubleshoot any problem on site which can cause delay in the project. Do ask for the written reports from the company that takes the project.

Limitations of Concrete X-ray over Concrete radar

Concrete x-ray is damaging to the human body, so identifying the exclusion zones around the area being tested become a compulsion which means part or all of the site will need to be evacuated along with that it produces one image per exposure which becomes time consuming and costly. Also operators have to access both the sides of the structure as the transmitter and the receiver are different units.

Whereas Concrete radar emits very low energy which is not harmful for humans hence evacuation of site is not necessary and it scans larger areas producing a vertical sectional view of the area which can be placed together to form a 3D model. It requires access to only one side of the structure because the radar transmitter or the source and the receiver are present in one unit and rely on the basis of reflection of the radio waves to produce a significant image.

Hence, knowing the above factors, you are free to choose the process you find suitable for finding cracks and fissures in the concrete of your house. All the best!

Why is concrete scanning so important?

Have you ever wondered how all the tall buildings around you are still standing so tall and strong? Does it ever strike you what goes into the construction of this marvellous creation? Well you need to ask yourself that and we’ll answer it for you!

Wherever you go, you find tall skyscrapers and complex architecture around you. We live today in a so called concrete jungle where there are more buildings than green patches in the cities. This is all thanks to the amazing development of technology involved in architecture and construction techniques. We have evolved from houses made of wood and clay and thatched roofs to much stronger concrete homes and offices. Every structure we see is made of concrete and iron or steel.

Emergence of Concrete Scanning:

Due to the complex construction techniques involved in today’s age there is a need to make sure that everything that goes into the construction of a building is 100% safe and strong. Even the concrete we use as an input is scanned repeatedly to make sure that it is without defects. This has given rise to a new kind of service known to us as concrete scanning. It has gained immense importance where construction and architecture is concerned.

About Concrete Scanning:

Concrete scanning is nothing but scanning of concrete blocks and slates using magnetic rays such as x-rays and radar technology. It is done to make sure that the concrete block which will go into construction of a building is safe and strong and not filled with any sort of impurity which would make it weak in future resulting in a disaster and loss of numerous lives. It is not an easy job to scan concrete blocks and so concrete x-rays and concrete radar technologies are used here to assist the companies.

Complex nature of scanning:

Such a scanning of concrete is a very tedious task and must be done with full concentration. Several computers and scanners are employed in making sure that the scanning is being conducted as per industry standards and that no sub standard material must pass through the scanning process. For this, top quality companies and state of the art technology like concrete x-rays and concrete radar should only be used because making skyscrapers and office buildings is a long term investment and no business person would want their building to go down within a few years due to sub standard concrete.

Types and process of concrete scanning:

There are various kinds of scanning done for concrete blocks such as locating rebar and post tension cabling, any form of void detection, scanning for proposed core penetration, locating any conduits in the concrete or water pipes for future, safe and accurate entry/exit point location for coring techniques are some of the few methods applied to ensure that the concrete that reaches construction sites is free of any sort of defects and is fit to be drilled and used for construction.

These are some of the ways we tried to inform you about concrete scanning and what it is all about. So next time if somebody talks to you about construction, you can tell them what we just told you!