• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.4
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• pp.427-436
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• 2017

Concrete technologists have used ultrasonic pulse velocity test for decades to evaluate the properties of concrete. However, the presented research work focuses on the use of ultrasonic pulse velocity test to study the degradation in steel-concrete bond subjected to increasing loading. A detailed experimental investigation was conducted by testing five identical beam specimens under increasing loading. The loading was increased from zero till failure in equal increments. From the experimentation, it was found that as the reinforced concrete beams were stressed from control unloaded condition till complete failure, the propagating ultrasonic wave velocity reduced. This reduction in wave velocity is attributed to the initiation, development, and propagation of internal cracking in the concrete surrounding the steel reinforcement. Using both direct and semidirect methods of testing, results of reduction in wave velocity with evidence of internal cracking at steel-concrete interface are presented. From the presented results and discussion, it can be concluded that the UPV test method can be successfully employed to identify zones of poor bonding along the length of reinforced concrete beam. The information gathered by such testing can be used by engineers for localizing repairs thereby leading to saving of time, labor and cost of repairs. Furthermore, the implementation strategy along with real-world challenges associated with the application of the proposed technique and area of future development have also been presented.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.973-981
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• 2002

Recently, the use of high strength concrete (HSC) has increased dramatically md however, few studies have been conducted on the early-age properties of HSC such as setting. The penetration resistance test (specified by KS F 2436) that is the standard test method for determining initial and final setting times of concrete, may not be appropriate for HSC because of the high viscosity of the mortar mixture. To address this issue, an ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) monitoring system was used to investigate the setting behavior of mortar and concrete. The experimental study was carried out to measure the UPV's of mortars and concretes having various water/binder ratios (W/B) and various fly ash replacement levels, during the first 24 hours of testing. Test results showed that the UPV in concrete was developed faster than that of mortar with the same W/B, and that of ordinary concrete was greater than that of fly ash concrete. Typical values of UPV were suggested that correspond to the initial and final setting times, based on following criteria: (1) the penetration resistance method; (2) the instant when the UPV begins to develop; and (3) the instant when the UPV development rate is maximum. The method and UPV monitoring device used in this study is promising for the setting assessment of concrete, particularly for HSC.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.19-35
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• 2019

In this paper, the effect of the type and amount of fibers on the physicomechanical properties of concrete containing fine recycled refractory brick (RRB) and natural aggregate subjected to elevated temperatures was investigated. For this purpose, forta-ferro (FF), polypropylene (PP), and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers with the volume fractions of 0, 0.25, and 0.5%, as well as steel fibers with the volume fractions of 0, 0.75, and 1.5% were used in the concrete containing RRB fine aggregate replacing natural sand by 0 and 100%. In total, 162 concrete specimens from 18 different mix designs were prepared and tested in the temperature groups of 23, 400, and $800^{\circ}C$. After experiencing heat, the concrete properties including the compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), weight loss, and surface appearance were evaluated and compared with the corresponding results of the reference (unheated) specimens. The results show that using RRB fine aggregate replacing natural fine aggregate by 100% led to an increase in the concrete compressive strength in almost all the mixes, and only in the PVA-containing mixes a decrease in strength was observed. Furthermore, UPV values at $800^{\circ}C$ for all the concrete mixes containing RRB fine aggregate were above those of the natural aggregate concrete specimens. Finally, regarding the compressive strength and UPV results, steel fibers demonstrated a better performance relative to other fiber types.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2021

The Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is a system, which is utilized for solving complicated problems by using nonlinear equations. This study aims to investigate compressive strength, rebound hammer number (RN), and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) of sustainable concrete containing various amounts of fly ash, silica fume, and blast furnace slag (BFS). In this study, the artificial neural network technique connects a nonlinear phenomenon and the intrinsic properties of sustainable concrete, which establishes relationships between them in a model. To this end, a total of 645 data sets were collected for the concrete mixtures from previously published papers at different curing times and test ages at 3, 7, 28, 90, 180 days to propose a model of nine inputs and three outputs. The ANN model's statistical parameter R2 is 0.99 of the training, validation, and test steps, which showed that the proposed model provided good prediction of compressive strength, RN, and UPV of sustainable concrete with the addition of cement.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.419-427
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• 2017

With the rising global environmental awareness on energy saving and carbon reduction, as well as the environmental transition and natural disasters resulted from the greenhouse effect, waste resources should be efficiently used to save environmental space and achieve environmental protection principle of "sustainable development and recycling". This study used recycled cement mortar and adopted the volumetric method for experimental design, which replaced cement (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%) with recycled materials (fly ash, slag, glass powder) to test compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV). The hyperbolic function for nonlinear multivariate regression analysis was used to build prediction models, in order to study the effect of different recycled material addition levels (the function of $R_m$(F, S, G) was used and be a representative of the content of recycled materials, such as fly ash, slag and glass) on the compressive strength and UPV of cement mortar. The calculated results are in accordance with laboratory-measured data, which are the mortar compressive strength and UPV of various mix proportions. From the comparison between the prediction analysis values and test results, the coefficient of determination $R^2$ and MAPE (mean absolute percentage error) value of compressive strength are 0.970-0.988 and 5.57-8.84%, respectively. Furthermore, the $R^2$ and MAPE values for UPV are 0.960-0.987 and 1.52-1.74%, respectively. All of the $R^2$ and MAPE values are closely to 1.0 and less than 10%, respectively. Thus, the prediction models established in this study have excellent predictive ability of compressive strength and UPV for recycled materials applied in cement mortar.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.173-179
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• 2008

This paper aims to calculate age coefficient of ultrasonic pulse velocity by non-destructive test. When concrete compressive strength is measured by non-destructive test, rebound test hammer method is applied to estimate age coefficient depending on the course of time after concrete casting, but ultrasonic pulse velocity method is not applied in the process. Although it is necessary to consider age coefficient with change of ultrasonic pulse velocity of concrete depending on aging, there have been little attempts to apply that method. The experiments were conducted to calculate aging effects which will be applied to establish the formula of measuring concrete strength. As a result of experiments, it was found that ultrasonic pulse velocity showed radical changes depending on concrete hardening in comparison with initial standard values. So, it was concluded that age coefficient must be applied to calculate strength. In conclusion, age coefficient of ultrasonic pulse velocity of concrete was suggested on the basis of experimental results.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.70-79
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• 2020

The main objective of this research to develop an IoT based wireless contactless ultrasonic system (ICUS) and its application to concrete structure. The developed system consists of 16 mems, 2Mhz digitizer, amplifying circuit, FPGA, and wifi module, enabling to measure leaky surface waves from concrete specimens without physical coupling process and wires. Multi-channel analysis is performed to improve the accuracy of data analysis, and the velocity of leaky surface waves and acoustics are derived. Field inspection of railroad concrete sleepers is conducted to evaluate the performance of the system and to compare the results with conventional ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV). As a result of the field inspection, UPV was limited to evaluate damages. This is because crack pattern of railroad sleepers is parallel to ultrasonic ray path and accessibility of the railroad at the field is disadvantageous to contact-based UPV. On the other hand, ICUS possibly detect the damages as reduction of dynamic modulus by up to 59% compared to non-damaged specimen.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.587-611
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• 2017

This study focused on the influences regarding the use of polyepoxide-based polymer and silica fume (SF) on the fresh and hardened state properties of self-compacting lightweight concrete (SCLC) along with their impacts on electrical resistance and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV). To do so, two series of compositions each of which consists of twelve mixes, with water to binder (W/B) ratios of 0.35 and 0.4 were cast. Three different silica fume/binder ratios of 0, 5%, and 10% were considered along with four different polymer/binder ratios of 0, 5%, 10%, and 15%. Afterwards, the rupture modulus, tensile strength, 14-day, 28-day, and 90-day compressive strength, the UPV and the electrical resistance of the mixes were tested. The results indicated that although the use of polymer could enhance the passing and filling abilities, it could lead to a decrease of segregation resistance. In addition, the interaction of the SF and the polymeric contents enhanced the workability. However, the impacts regarding the use of polymeric contents on fresh state properties of SCLC were more prevalent than those regarding the use of SF. Besides the fresh state properties, the durability and mechanical properties of the mixes were affected due to the use of polymeric and SF contents. In other words, the use of the SF and the polymer enhanced the durability and mechanical properties of SCLC specimens.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.437-450
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• 2009

The effect of six different curing conditions on compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) of volcanic pumice concrete (VPC) and normal concrete (NC) has been studied. The curing conditions include water, air, low temperature ($4^{\circ}C$) and different elevated temperatures of up to $110^{\circ}C$. The curing age varies from 3 days to 91 days. The development in the pulse velocity and the compressive strength is found to be higher in full water curing than the other curing conditions. The reduction of pulse velocity and compressive strength is more in high temperature curing conditions and also more in VPC compared to NC. Curing conditions affect the relationship between pulse velocity and compressive strength of both VPC and NC.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.409-410
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• 2023

In this study, the compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity were evaluated according to the elapsed time on concrete mixed with normal and lightweight aggregates at early age. For evaluation in various strength ranges, the design compressive strength was set to 30, 45, and 60MPa and evaluated. As a result of the experiment, the compressive strength of concrete mixed with lightweight aggregates developed 5MPa earlier compared to normal aggregate concrete, and the UPV showed a similar tendency.