Use of acoustic emission analysis to evaluate the self-healing capability of concrete

K. Van Tittelboom, N. De Belie, F. Lehmann, C. U. Grosse

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

It has been estimated that, in Europe, 50% of the annual construction budget is spent on refurbishment and remediation of the existing structures [1]. Therefore, self-healing of concrete structures, which are very sensitive to cracking, would be highly desirable. In this research, encapsulated healing agents were embedded in the concrete matrix in order to obtain self-healing properties. Upon crack appearance, the capsules break and the healing agent is released, resulting in crack repair. The efficiency of this crack healing technique was evaluated by using acoustic emission (AE) analysis. Breakage of the capsules was proven as events with an energy higher than the energy related to concrete cracking were noticed. Upon reloading of beams with untreated cracks, fewer emissions were detected compared to beams with healed cracks. From this study it was shown that AE is a suitable technique to evaluate self-healing of cracks in concrete.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationNondestructive Testing of Materials and Structures :Proceedings of NDTMS-2011, Istanbul, Turkey,May 15-18, 2011
EditorsOral Buyukozturk
Pages51-57
Number of pages7
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012

Publication series

NameRILEM Bookseries
Volume6
ISSN (Print)2211-0844
ISSN (Electronic)2211-0852

Keywords

  • Acoustic emission analysis
  • Concrete
  • Cracking
  • Polyurethane
  • Self-healing

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