Crack detection in reinforced concrete

Automatic segmentation of cracks using crack detection methods fails when applied on concrete with embedded reinforcements; it results in artifacts called false-detected cracks. We present a two-step approach to trace the cracks which reduces significantly detecting the false ones. In the first step, the reinforcements were found and removed from the 3D data set, and in the second step, the cracks were detected in the 3D data set free from reinforcements. To visualize and determine the structure and the degree of damages nondestructively, planar tomography as a special case of laminography was used.