AUTOMATED APPROACH FOR LENGTH AND WIDTH MEASUREMENT OF CONCRETE SURFACE CRACKS USING IMAGE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES

Abstract

The detection and measurement of cracks is an essential monitoring responsibility in civil engineering infrastructure for ensuring long-term durability, structural safety, and integrity. Traditionally, this has been accomplished through a visual inspection, with the length and width of cracks being manually collected; this method is laborious, can lead to subjective evaluations, and is fraught with inaccuracy because it is difficult to ensure an accurate spatial measurement. Although the reality that algorithms have been developed for automatic crack detection, crack length and width evaluation, which play crucial roles in structural integrity assessment and maintenance planning. This research article presents a novel approach to measuring the length and width of a concrete surface crack based on digital image processing techniques using MATLAB software. This work consists of three categories: Firstly, measurement of crack length and width by manual using a vernier caliper. Secondly, instrumental measurement by a laser distance measurement device; and thirdly, an automated method for concrete surface crack length and width measurement based on digital image processing techniques. The goal is to measure the length and width of cracks accurately and validate the measurements through the first and second methods. Automated measurement of crack length and width gives similar results compared to results obtained from manual and instrumental methods. The promising potential for precise crack dimension measurement and its use in structural engineering and non-destructive testing is highlighted by the preliminary results showing that the method is robust, efficient, and highly accurate at estimating crack length and width in digital images.