Ultrasonic-Based Wall Thickness Measurement and Structural Defect Detection: An Initial Study

Abstract

Structural health monitoring is important to ensure the safety and durability of buildings and infrastructures. Traditional inspection methods are often expensive and may not detect hidden defects. This paper presents a low-cost ultrasonic-based non-destructive testing (NDT) system designed for wall thickness measurement and structural fault detection. The system uses a 300 kHz ultrasonic transducer with an STM32 microcontroller and Raspberry Pi for signal processing. A transmitter generates short ultrasonic pulses, and the receiver collects echoes from surfaces and defects inside the material. Signal conditioning circuits, including amplification and filtering, improve the detection of weak echoes, while digital processing is used to calculate wall thickness and identify cracks or corrosion. Tests show that the system can measure variations in thickness and detect different types of faults effectively. The proposed design offers a portable and affordable tool for monitoring structural integrity, which can be applied in civil engineering and preventive maintenance.