Assessment of Early-age Properties of Mortar by Monitoring of Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity

초음파 속도 모니터링에 의한 모르터의 초기재령 특성 평가

Ultrasonic pulse velocity(UPV) is a useful tool for examining the property of early-age mortar or concrete. Thus, UPV has been used for a long time to characterize setting and hardening of cementitious materials. In this study, in order to investigate the characteristics of setting for mortar, UPV was measured using automatic monitoring system up to 3 days after casting. Test results show that UPV of high water to binder ratio(w/b) mortar remained constant at the beginning of hydration and then abruptly began to increase. However, UPV of low w/b mortar gradually increase due to setting retard caused by use of superplasticizer. Furthermore, the development of UPV for mortar with fly ash is slower than that of mortar without fly ash. It was concluded that the property change of mortar or concrete, such as setting and hardening can be assessed by monitoring of UPV.