Qiwen Qiu

Permeation Properties and Pore Structure of Surface Layer of Fly Ash Concrete

This paper presents an experimental study on the nature of permeation properties and pore structure of concrete surface layers containing fly ash. Concretes containing different dosages of fly ash as a replacement for cement (15% and 30% by weight of total cement materials, respectively) were investigated. Concrete without any fly ash added was also employed as the reference specimen. Laboratory tests were conducted to determine the surface layer properties of concrete including chloride transport, apparent water permeability and pore structure. The results demonstrate that incorporation of fly ash, for the early test period, promotes the chloride ingress at the surface layer of concrete but substituting proportions of fly ash may have little impact on it. With the process of chloride immersion, the chloride concentration at the surface layer of concrete with or without fly ash was found to be nearly the same. In addition, it is suggested that the water permeability at the concrete surface area is closely related to the fly ash contents as well as the chloride exposure time. Pore structure was characterized by means of mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) test and the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. The modification of pore structure of concrete submersed in distilled water is determined by the pozzolanic reaction of fly ash and the calcium leaching effect. The pozzolanic reaction was more dominant at the immersion time of 180 days while the calcium leaching effect became more evident after 270 days.

Experimental Investigation on Pore Structure Characterization of Concrete Exposed to Water and Chlorides

In this paper, the pore structure characterization of concrete exposed to deionised water and 5% NaCl solution was evaluated using mercury intrusion porosity (MIP), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The effects of calcium leaching, fly ash incorporation, and chloride ions on the evolution of pore structure characteristics were investigated. The results demonstrate that: (i) in ordinary concrete without any fly ash, the leaching effect of the cement products is more evident than the cement hydration effect. From the experimental data, Ca(OH)2 is leached considerably with the increase in immersion time. The pore structure of concrete can also be affected by the formation of an oriented structure of water in concrete materials; (ii) incorporation of fly ash makes a difference for the performance of concrete submersed in solutions as the total porosity and the pore connectivity can be lower. Especially when the dosage of fly ash is up to 30%, the pores with the diameter of larger than 100 nm show significant decrease. It demonstrates that the pore properties are improved by fly ash, which enhances the resistance against the calcium leaching; (iii) chlorides have a significant impact on microstructure of concrete materials because of the chemical interactions between the chlorides and cement hydrates.

A review of nondestructive testing approaches using mechanical and electromagnetic waves

Mechanical and electromagnetic waves are commonly used in nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques for evaluating the materials and structures in civil engineering industry, due to their good examination of defects inside the matter. However, the individual use of mechanical wave or electromagnetic wave in NDT methods sometimes does not fulfill the satisfactory detection in practice because of the operational inconvenience and low sensitivity. It has been demonstrated that the combination of using both types of waves can achieve a better performance for NDT application and would be the future direction for defect detection, as the advantages of each physical wave are picked out whereas the weaknesses are mitigated. This paper discusses the fundamental mechanisms and the current applications of using mechanical and electromagnetic waves for defect detection, with the goal of providing the physical knowledge and the perspectives of developing the NDT applications with these two types of waves. Typical mechanical-wave-based NDT methods such as acoustic emission, ultrasonic technique, and impact-echo method are reviewed. In addition, NDT methods using electromagnetic wave, which include optical fiber sensing technique, laser speckle interferometry and laser reflection technique are discussed. Advantages and disadvantages of these methods are outlined. In particular, we focus on a recent NDT method called acoustic-laser technique, which utilizes both the mechanical and electromagnetic waves. The basic principles and some important experimental data recorded by the acoustic-laser technique are described and its future development in the field of defect detection in civil infrastructure is presented.

Experimental evaluation on the effectiveness of acoustic-laser technique towards the FRP-bonded concrete system

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) is essential for the detection of defects in the externally bonded fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) concrete, especially such bonded system can be readily found in strengthened and retrofitted structures nowadays. Among all the current NDE methods, acoustic-laser technique is a non-contact methodology with a high applicability to detect near-surface defect in composite structures, which is very suitable to be used for detecting defect in FRP retrofitted and strengthened concrete structures. The methodology is based on the acoustic excitation on the target surface and the measurement of its vibration using laser beam. To our best knowledge, no comprehensive study has been conducted to examine how the acoustic location and other related parameters affect the measurement sensitivity. In fact, several operational parameters affecting the performance of the test system are discussed here including (i) distance between the acoustic source and the object, (ii) sound pressure level (SPL), (iii) angle of the laser beam incidence and (iv) angle of the acoustic incidence. Here, we perform a series of parametric studies against these four operational parameters. Based on our experimental measurements, all parameters show significant effects on the measurement sensitivity of the acoustic-laser technique. Recommendations on an optimal range of each concerned parameter are provided.

Use of laser reflection technique for defect detection in CFRP-concrete systems

This paper presents a new laser reflection technique which can identify the near-surface defects in concrete structures bonded with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). In this study, a laser beam is used to illuminate the surface of CFRP-concrete panel, and the pattern of the laser reflection is recorded by a high resolution digital camera. Under the laser illumination, the surface of the tested object is heated and expanded. The surface expansion can be identified through observing the expanding reflection pattern. Based on our experimental observation, the defect region exhibits much greater expansion of laser reflection pattern than that in intact region. Results also indicate that both the defect area and the defect depth can influence the change of reflection pattern. In view of the measurement principle of the laser reflection technique, it is expected that the application can be further extended to the areas like CFRP-wood structures, CFRP-masonry structures and CFRP-steel structures.

Defect visualization in FRP-bonded concrete by using high speed camera and motion magnification technique

High speed camera has the unique capacity of recording fast-moving objects. By using the video processing technique (e.g. motion magnification), the small motions recorded by the high speed camera can be visualized. Combined use of video camera and motion magnification technique is strongly encouraged to inspect the structures from a distant scene of interest, due to the commonplace availability, operational convenience, and cost-efficiency. This paper presents a non-contact method to evaluate the defect in FRP-bonded concrete structural element based on the surface motion analysis of high speed video. In this study, an instant air pressure is used to initiate the vibration of FRP-bonded concrete and cause the distinct vibration for the interfacial defects. The entire structural surface under the air pressure is recorded by a high-speed camera and the surface motion in video is amplified by motion magnification processing technique. The experimental results demonstrate that motion in the interfacial defect region can be visualized in the high-speed video with motion magnification. This validates the effectiveness of the new NDT method for defect detection in the whole composites structural member. The use of high-speed camera and motion magnification technique has the advantages of remote detection, efficient inspection, and sensitive measurement, which would be beneficial to structural health monitoring.

Tomography reconstruction methods for damage diagnosis of wood structure in construction field

The structural integrity of wood building element plays a critical role in the public safety, which requires effective methods for diagnosis of internal damage inside the wood body. Conventionally, the non-destructive testing (NDT) methods such as X-ray computed tomography, thermography, radar imaging reconstruction method, ultrasonic tomography, nuclear magnetic imaging techniques, and sonic tomography have been used to obtain the information about the internal structure of wood. In this paper, the applications, advantages and disadvantages of these traditional tomography methods are reviewed. Additionally, the present article gives an overview of recently developed tomography approach that relies on the use of mechanical and electromagnetic waves for assessing the structural integrity of wood buildings. This developed tomography reconstruction method is believed to provide a more accurate, reliable, and comprehensive assessment of wood structural integrity