Correlation between Uniaxial Compression Test and Ultrasonic Pulse Rate in Cement with Different Pozzolanic Additions

Abstract

This work aims to study the relationship between the compression resistance and velocity from ultrasonic pulses in samples of mortars with 25% of pozzolanic content. Pozzolanic cement is a low-priced sustainable material that can reduce costs and CO2 emissions that are produced in the manufacturing of cement from the calcination of calcium carbonate. Using ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) to estimate the compressive resistance of mortars with pozzolanic content reduces costs when evaluating the quality of structures built with this material since it is not required to perform an unconfined compression test. The objective of this study is to establish a correlation in order to estimate the compression resistance of this material from its ultrasonic pulse velocity. For this purpose, we studied a total of 16 cement samples, including those with additions of pozzolanic content with different compositions and a sample without any additions. The results obtained show the mentioned correlation, which establishes a basis for research with a higher number of samples to ascertain if it holds true at greater curing ages.