Abstract
This paper focuses on the comparison between the ultrasonic wave reflection method and the widely known maturity method in their ability to evaluate compressive strength development of portland cement mortars. The experiments were conducted under laboratory conditions on cement mortars with different water-cement ratios (0.35, 0.5, 0.6) cured under different isothermal and non-isothermal conditions (15 °C, 25 °C, 35 °C, 15-35 °C). The results show that the application of the maturity method for accurate strength estimation requires the knowledge of the limiting strength of the mixture for the specific curing condition that is considered. It is not sufficient to base this estimation on the values of the limiting strength obtained from the calibration tests. The relationship between reflection loss and compressive strength was found to be independent of curing temperature. This finding is an important step towards establishing the wave reflection method as a non-destructive method for estimating early-age strength in cement-based materials.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 307-316 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Cement and Concrete Composites |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2006 |
Funding
The authors would like to thank Dr. Nicholas Carino for his comments on the work presented in this paper. The research was partly funded by the Infrastructure Technology Institute of Northwestern University and the Center for Advanced Cement-Based Materials at Northwestern University. Their financial support is gratefully acknowledged. This work was also supported by National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0408427.
Keywords
- Cement hydration
- Cement mortar
- Compressive strength
- Early-age properties
- Maturity method
- Nondestructive testing
- Ultrasonics
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Building and Construction
- General Materials Science