TY - JOUR A1 - Strangfeld, Christoph A1 - Klewe, Tim T1 - Comparison of the Calcium Carbide Method and Darr Drying to Quantify the Amount of Chemically Bound Water in Early Age Concrete N2 - Hydration is the exothermic reaction between anhydrous cement and water, which forms the solid cement matrix of concrete. Being able to evaluate the hydration is of high interest for the use of both conventional and more climate-friendly building materials. The experimental monitoring is based on temperature or moisture measurements. The first needs adiabatic conditions, which can only be achieved in laboratory. The latter is often measured comparing the weight of the material sample before and after oven drying, which is time-consuming. This study investigates the moisture content of two cement-based and two calcium sulphate based mixtures for the first 90 days by using the calcium carbide method and oven drying at 40 °C and 105 °C (Darr method). Thereby, the amount of chemically bound water is determined to derive the degree of hydration. The calcium carbide measurements highly coincide with oven drying at 40 °C. The calcium carbide method is therefore evaluated as a suitable alternative to the time-consuming Darr drying. The prompt results are seen as a remarkable advantage and can be obtained easily in laboratory as well as in the field. KW - Concrete KW - Hydration KW - Material moisture KW - Calcium carbide method KW - Bound water KW - Darr method KW - Oven drying KW - Chemisorption KW - Physisorption PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-564519 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15238422 VL - 15 IS - 23 SP - 1 EP - 16 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-56451 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Klimek, André A1 - Stelzner, Ludwig A1 - Hothan, Sascha A1 - Rogge, Andreas T1 - Fire induced concrete spalling in combination with size effects N2 - The size effect has its origin in fracture mechanics and describes the formation as well as propagation of cracks in brittle and solid materials in dependence of the specimen size. However, the size effect in concrete spalling describes the damage behaviour on a macroscopic scale for different sized specimens in case of fire. Concrete spalling is a very complex and yet not fully understood phenomenon. To reduce the effort of fire tests to analyse the spalling behaviour of concrete mixtures, this study investigates the susceptibility to spalling for six different concrete mixtures and three specimen sizes. The sizes were divided in full scale slabs (1.8 m x 1.2 m x 0.3 m), intermediate scale cuboids (0.6 m x 0.6 m x 0.3 m) and small scale cylinders (Ø0.15 m x 0.3 m). For this purpose, a novel test set-up was built to test six intermediate scale or twelve small scale specimens simultaneously to ensure a similar heating regime for every specimen. All specimens were fire exposed on one side and remained unrestrained. A size effect occurred for four of the six concrete mixtures. Compared to the full scale specimens the spalling was reduced significantly for all smaller specimen sizes. Additionally, spalling did not occur for the small scale specimens. The results show that the specimen size is an essential parameter to investigate the susceptibility to spalling of a concrete mixture. For future investigations the testing conditions must be adjusted for the intermediate scale specimens to recreate the conditions of the slabs. KW - Concrete KW - Spalling KW - Size effect KW - Fire test PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-559231 DO - https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-022-02051-2 VL - 55 IS - 8 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-55923 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Thiele, Marc A1 - Pirskawetz, Stephan T1 - Analysis of damage evolution in concrete under fatigue loading by acoustic emission and ultrasonic testing N2 - The fatigue process of concrete under compressive cyclic loading is still not completely explored. The corresponding damage processes within the material structure are especially not entirely investigated. The application of acoustic measurement methods enables a better insight into the processes of the fatigue in concrete. Normal strength concrete was investigated under compressive cyclic loading with regard to the fatigue process by using acoustic methods in combination with other nondestructive measurement methods. Acoustic emission and ultrasonic signal measurements were applied together with measurements of strains, elastic modulus, and static strength. It was possible to determine the anisotropic character of the fatigue damage caused by uniaxial loading based on the ultrasonic measurements. Furthermore, it was observed that the fatigue damage seems to consist not exclusively of load parallel oriented crack structures. Rather, crack structures perpendicular to the load as well as local compacting are likely components of the fatigue damage. Additionally, the ultrasonic velocity appears to be a good indicator for fatigue damage beside the elastic modulus. It can be concluded that acoustic methods allow an observation of the fatigue process in concrete and a better understanding, especially in combination with further measurement methods. KW - Concrete KW - Fatigue KW - Damage evolution KW - Ultrasonic testing KW - Acoustic emission PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-541891 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15010341 SN - 1996-1944 VL - 15 IS - 1 SP - 341 EP - 355 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-54189 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weise, Frank A1 - von Werder, Julia A1 - Manninger, Tanja A1 - Maier, Bärbel A1 - Fladt, Matthias A1 - Simon, Sebastian A1 - Gardei, Andre A1 - Höhnel, Desirée A1 - Pirskawetz, Stephan A1 - Meng, Birgit T1 - A multiscale and multimethod approach to assess and mitigate concrete damage due to alkali-silica reaction N2 - Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is a chemical reaction within concrete which can lead over time to cracking and spalling. Due to the complexity of the problem, it still causes damage to concrete constructions worldwide. The publication aims to illustrate the interdisciplinary research of the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) within the last 20 years, considering all aspects of ASR topics from the macro to the micro level. First, methods for characterization and assessment of ASR risks and reaction products used at BAM are explained and classified in the international context. Subsequently the added value of the research approach by combining different, preferably nondestructive, methods across all scales is explained using specific examples from a variety of research projects. Aspects covered range from the development of new test-setups to assess aggregate reactivity, to analysis of microstructure and reaction products using microscopical, spectroscopical and X-ray methods, to the development of a testing methodology for existing concrete pavements including in-depth analysis of the visual damage indicator and the de-icing salt input using innovative testing techniques. Finally, research regarding a novel avoidance strategy that makes use of internal hydrophobization of the concrete mix is presented. KW - Mitigation strategies KW - Concrete KW - Damage analysis KW - Alkali silica reaction KW - Road pavement KW - Accelerated testing KW - Non-destructive testing KW - Microstructure PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:101:1-2022052515100075090235 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202101346 SN - 1527-2648 VL - 24 IS - 6 SP - 1 EP - 36 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-54951 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Diewald, F. A1 - Epple, Niklas A1 - Kraenkel, T. A1 - Gehlen, C. A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Impact of External Mechanical Loads on Coda Waves in Concrete N2 - During their life span, concrete structures interact with many kinds of external mechanical loads. Most of these loads are considered in advance and result in reversible deformations. Nevertheless, some of the loads cause irreversible, sometimes unnoticed changes below the macroscopic scale depending on the type and dimension of the impact. As the functionality of concrete structures is often relevant to safety and society, their condition must be known and, therefore, assessed on a regular basis. Out of the spectrum of non-destructive monitoring methods, Coda Wave Interferometry using embedded ultrasonic sensors is one particularly sensitive technique to evaluate changes to heterogeneous media. However, there are various influences on Coda waves in concrete, and the interpretation of their superimposed effect is ambiguous. In this study, we quantify the relations of uniaxial compression and uniaxial tension on Coda waves propagating in normal concrete. We found that both the signal correlation of ultrasonic signals as well as their velocity variation directly reflect the stress change in concrete structures in a laboratory environment. For the linear elastic range up to 30% of the strength, we calculated a velocity variation of −0.97‰/MPa for compression and 0.33%/MPa for tension using linear regression. In addition, these parameters revealed even weak irreversible changes after removal of the load. Furthermore, we show the time-dependent effects of shrinkage and creep on Coda waves by providing the development of the signal parameters over time during half a year together with creep recovery. Our observations showed that time-dependent material changes must be taken into account for any comparison of ultrasonic signals that are far apart in time. The study’s results demonstrate how Coda Wave Interferometry is capable of monitoring stress changes and detecting even small-size microstructural changes. By indicating the stated relations and their separation from further impacts, e.g., temperature and moisture, we anticipate our study to contribute to the qualification of Coda Wave Interferometry for its application as an early-warning system for concrete structures. KW - Ultrasound KW - Coda Wave Interferometry (CWI) KW - Mechanical Load KW - Microstructure KW - Concrete PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-556878 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15165482 SN - 1996-1944 VL - 15 IS - 16 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-55687 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, T. A1 - Sens-Schönfelder, C. A1 - Epple, Niklas A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Imaging of Small-Scale Heterogeneity and Absorption Using Adjoint Envelope Tomography: Results From Laboratory Experiments N2 - To complement the information provided by deterministic seismic imaging at length scales above a certain resolution limit we present the first application of adjoint envelope tomography (AET) to experimental data. AET uses the full envelopes of seismic records including scattered coda waves to obtain information about the distribution of absorption and small-scale heterogeneity which provide complementary information about the investigated medium. Being below the resolution limit this small-scale structure cannot be resolved by conventional tomography but still affects wave propagation by attenuating ballistic waves and generating scattered waves. Using ultrasound data from embedded sensors in a meter-sized concrete specimen we image the distribution of absorption and heterogeneity expressed by the intrinsic quality factor Q−1 and the fluctuation strength ɛ that characterizes the strength of the heterogeneity. The forward problem is solved by modeling the 2-D multiple nonisotropic scattering in an acoustic medium with spatially variable heterogeneity and attenuation using the Monte-Carlo method. Gradients for the model updates are obtained by convolution with the back-propagated envelope misfit using the adjoint formalism in analogy to full waveform inversion. We use a late coda time window to invert for absorption and an earlier time window to infer the distribution of heterogeneity. The results successfully locate an area of salt oncrete with increased scattering and concentric anomalies of intrinsic attenuation. The resolution test shows that the recovered anomalies constitute reasonable representations of internal structure of the specimen. KW - Ultrasound KW - Scattering KW - Tomography KW - Concrete KW - Heterogeneity PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-563163 DO - https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JB024972 SN - 2169-9313 VL - 127 IS - 11 SP - 1 EP - 21 PB - American Geophysical Union AN - OPUS4-56316 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Prabhakara, Prathik A1 - Mielentz, Frank A1 - Stolpe, Heiko A1 - Behrens, Matthias A1 - Lay, Vera A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Validation of novel ultrasonic phased array borehole probe by using simulation and measurement N2 - Low-frequency ultrasonic testing is a well-established non-destructive testing (NDT) method in civil engineering for material characterization and the localization of cracks, reinforcing bars and delamination. A novel ultrasonic borehole probe is developed for in situ quality assurance of sealing structures in radioactive waste repositories using existing research boreholes. The aim is to examine the sealing structures made of salt concrete for any possible cracks and delamination and to localize built-in components. A prototype has been developed using 12 individual horizontal dry point contact (DPC) shear wave transducers separated by equidistant transmitter/receiver arrays. The probe is equipped with a commercially available portable ultrasonic flaw detector used in the NDT civil engineering industry. To increase the sound pressure generated, the number of transducers in the novel probe is increased to 32 transducers. In addition, the timed excitation of each transducer directs a focused beam of sound to a specific angle and distance based on the previously calculated delay time. This narrows the sensitivity of test volume and improves the signal-to-noise ratio of the received signals. In this paper, the newly designed phased array borehole probe is validated by beam computation in the CIVA software and experimental investigations on a half-cylindrical test specimen to investigate the directional characteristics. In combination with geophysical reconstruction methods, it is expected that an optimised radiation pattern of the probe will improve the signal quality and thus increase the reliability of the imaging results. This is an important consideration for the construction of safe sealing structures for the safe disposal of radioactive or toxic waste. KW - Ultrasound KW - Phased array KW - Concrete KW - Borehole PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-565722 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/s22249823 SN - 1424-8220 VL - 22 IS - 24 SP - 1 EP - 16 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-56572 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jablonka, Kevin Maik A1 - Ai, Qianxiang A1 - Al-Feghali, Alexander A1 - Badhwar, Shruti A1 - Bocarsly, Joshua D. A1 - Bran, Andres M. A1 - Bringuier, Stefan A1 - Brinson, L. Catherine A1 - Choudhary, Kamal A1 - Circi, Defne A1 - Cox, Sam A1 - de Jong, Wibe A. A1 - Evans, Matthew L. A1 - Gastellu, Nicolas A1 - Genzling, Jerome A1 - Gil, María Victoria A1 - Gupta, Ankur K. A1 - Hong, Zhi A1 - Imran, Alishba A1 - Kruschwitz, Sabine A1 - Labarre, Anne A1 - Lála, Jakub A1 - Liu, Tao A1 - Ma, Steven A1 - Majumdar, Sauradeep A1 - Merz, Garrett W. A1 - Moitessier, Nicolas A1 - Moubarak, Elias A1 - Mouriño, Beatriz A1 - Pelkie, Brenden A1 - Pieler, Michael A1 - Ramos, Mayk Caldas A1 - Ranković, Bojana A1 - Rodriques, Samuel G. A1 - Sanders, Jacob N. A1 - Schwaller, Philippe A1 - Schwarting, Marcus A1 - Shi, Jiale A1 - Smit, Berend A1 - Smith, Ben E. A1 - Van Herck, Joren A1 - Völker, Christoph A1 - Ward, Logan A1 - Warren, Sean A1 - Weiser, Benjamin A1 - Zhang, Sylvester A1 - Zhang, Xiaoqi A1 - Zia, Ghezal Ahmad Jan A1 - Scourtas, Aristana A1 - Schmidt, K. J. A1 - Foster, Ian A1 - White, Andrew D. A1 - Blaiszik, Ben T1 - 14 examples of how LLMs can transform materials science and chemistry: a reflection on a large language model hackathon N2 - Large-language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4 caught the interest of many scientists. Recent studies suggested that these models could be useful in chemistry and materials science. To explore these possibilities, we organized a hackathon. This article chronicles the projects built as part of this hackathon. Participants employed LLMs for various applications, including predicting properties of molecules and materials, designing novel interfaces for tools, extracting knowledge from unstructured data, and developing new educational applications. The diverse topics and the fact that working prototypes could be generated in less than two days highlight that LLMs will profoundly impact the future of our fields. The rich collection of ideas and projects also indicates that the applications of LLMs are not limited to materials science and chemistry but offer potential benefits to a wide range of scientific disciplines. KW - Large Language model KW - Hackathon KW - Concrete KW - Prediction KW - Inverse Design KW - Orchestration PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-589961 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d3dd00113j VL - 2 IS - 5 SP - 1233 EP - 1250 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-58996 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sigrüner, M. A1 - Hüsken, Götz A1 - Pirskawetz, Stephan A1 - Herz, J. A1 - Muscat, D. A1 - Strübbe, N. T1 - Pull-out behavior of polymer fibers in concrete N2 - The bond between polymer fibers and the surrounding cementitious matrix is essential for the development of concrete reinforcement. The single fiber pull-out test (SFPT) is the standard characterization technique for testing the bond strength. However, the different phases of debonding cannot be distinguished by the SFPT. This study investigates the debonding of different polymer fibers from the surrounding cementitious matrix with a modified SFPT and proposes methods to change the SFPT setup to generate more valuable information on the debonding mechanism. The SFPT was equipped with linear variable differential transformers (LVDT), digital image correlation (DIC) and acoustic emission (AE) analysis. The results demonstrate that the modified SFPT allows a better understanding of the different phases of debonding during fiber pull-out. Furthermore, bond strength values calculated by different methods reveal that the chemical bond of the investigated polymers is not different as reported by previous studies. Deformation measurements performed using LVDTs and DIC are suitable measuring techniques to characterize the debonding mechanism in SFPT. A correlation between recorded AE and debonding phases was not found. KW - Polymer Fibres KW - Concrete KW - Pull-Out Behaviour KW - Debonding Mechanism PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-582918 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/pol.20230264 SN - 2642-4169 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Wiley Periodicals, LLC. AN - OPUS4-58291 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grohmann, Maria A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Buske, S. A1 - Büttner, C. T1 - Application of Elastic P-SV Reverse Time Migration to Synthetic Ultrasonic Echo Data from Concrete Members N2 - The ultrasonic echo technique is frequently used in non-destructive testing (NDT) of concrete structures for thickness measurements, geometry determinations as well as localization of built-in components. To improve ultrasonic imaging of complex structures in concrete, we transferred a geophysical imaging technique, the reverse time migration (RTM), to NDT in civil engineering. In contrast to the conventionally used synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT) algorithms, RTM is a wavefield continuation method in time and uses the full wave equation. Thus, RTM can handle complicated wave propagations in any direction without dip limitation. In this paper, we focused on the application and evaluation of a two-dimensional (2D) elastic RTM algorithm considering compressional waves, vertically polarized shear waves, and Rayleigh waves. We tested the elastic RTM routine on synthetic ultrasonic echo data generated with a 2D concrete model consisting of several steps and circular air inclusions. As these complex structures can often be found in real-world NDT use cases, their imaging is especially important. By using elastic RTM, we were able to clearly reproduce vertical reflectors and lower edges of circular air voids inside our numerical concrete model. Such structures cannot be imaged with conventional SAFT algorithms. Furthermore, the used elastic RTM approach also yielded a better reconstruction of a horizontal reflector and upper boundaries of circular air inclusions. Our encouraging results demonstrate that elastic RTM has the potential to significantly improve the imaging of complex concrete structures and, thus, is a step forward for detailed, high-quality ultrasonic NDT in civil engineering. KW - Concrete KW - Ultrasound KW - Imaging KW - Reverse time migration KW - Elastic PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-580680 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10921-023-00962-w SN - 0195-9298 VL - 42 IS - 3 SP - 1 EP - 18 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-58068 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rabe, U. A1 - Pudovikov, S. A1 - Herrmann, H.-G. A1 - Wiggenhauser, H. A1 - Prabhakara, Prathik A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Using the Corner Reflection for Depth Evaluation of Surface Breaking Cracks in Concrete by Ultrasound N2 - The corner echo is a well-known effect in ultrasonic testing, which allows detection of surface breaking cracks with predominantly perpendicular orientation to the surface as, for example, corrosion cracks in metal pipes or shafts. This echo is formed by two planes, the surface of the crack and the surface which the crack breaks. It can also be classified as a half-skip method, since a reflection of the pulse occurs on the backwall before the reflection at the defect takes place. In combination with the diffraction from the crack tip, the corner echo also allows crack sizing. As shown in this paper, the corner reflection can be used in civil engineering for nondestructive inspection of concrete. Commercially available low frequency ultrasonic arrays with dry point contact sources generate SH transversal waves with sufficient divergence of the sound field in order to detect corner reflections. Ultrasonic line-scans and area-scans were acquired with a linear array on flat concrete specimens, and the data were reconstructed by the Synthetic aperture focusing technique. If the angles and the area of reconstruction are chosen accordingly, the corner echo reflection can be distinguished from other ultrasonic information. The corner echo can thus be used as a method for deciding whether a crack is a partial-depth crack or a full-depth crack and thus for obtaining a statement about crack depth. This paper presents corresponding experimental results obtained on concrete specimens with artificial test defects and cracks induced under controlled conditions. KW - Ultrasound KW - Crack depth KW - Concrete KW - Corner echo PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-574631 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10921-023-00956-8 SN - 0195-9298 VL - 42 IS - 2 SP - 1 EP - 19 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-57463 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stohl, Leonie A1 - Manninger, Tanja A1 - von Werder, Julia A1 - Dehn, F. A1 - Gorbushina, Anna A1 - Meng, Birgit T1 - Bioreceptivity of concrete - A review N2 - Materials that support natural biodiversity on their surfaces can compensate for human activities that have a negative impact on nature and thus contribute to a carbon-neutral and nature-positive world. Specifically designing bioreceptive materials which favor the growth of biofilms on their surface is an approach complementing conventional, macroscopic green façades. But what exactly characterizes a bioreceptive substrate and how do biofilm and substrate interact? How and why does a spontaneous colonization and the formation of biofilms take place? What are biofilms and how can they be established in a laboratory setting? How can this existing knowledge be transferred to the artificial stone concrete so that this material can be tuned to increase (or decrease) its bioreceptivity? This review paper aims at summarizing the existing state of knowledge on bioreceptive concrete and pointing out inconsistencies and contradictions which can only be removed by more interdisciplinary research in the field. KW - Bioreceptivity KW - Biofilm KW - Green facades KW - Developing building materials KW - Surface interactions KW - Concrete PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-581685 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2023.107201 SN - 2352-7102 VL - 76 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Elsevier AN - OPUS4-58168 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kruschwitz, Sabine A1 - Munsch, Sarah Mandy A1 - Telong, Melissa A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram A1 - Bintz, Thilo A1 - Fladt, Matthias A1 - Stelzner, Ludwig T1 - The NMR core analyzing TOMograph: A multi-functional tool for non-destructive testing of building materials N2 - NMR is becoming increasingly popular for the investigation of building materials as it is a non-invasive technology that does not require any sample preparation nor causes damage to the material. Depending on the specific application it can offer insights into properties like porosity and spatial saturation degree as well as pore structure. Moreover it enables the determination of moisture transport properties and the (re-)distribution of internal moisture into different reservoirs or chemical phases upon damage and curing. However, as yet most investigations were carried out using devices originally either designed for geophysical applications or the analysis of rather homogeneous small scale (< 10 mL) samples. This paper describes the capabilities of an NMR tomograph, which has been specifically optimized for the investigation of larger, heterogeneous building material samples (diameters of up to 72 mm, length of up to 700 mm) with a high flexibility due to interchangeable coils allowing for a high SNR and short echo times (50 - 80 m s). KW - Fire spalling KW - Moisture transport KW - Concrete KW - Cement hydration KW - Sensitivity KW - Supplementary cementitous materials KW - Frost salt attack PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-573755 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mrl.2023.03.004 SN - 2097-0048 VL - 3 IS - 3 SP - 207 EP - 219 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-57375 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mundra, S. A1 - Samson, G. A1 - Masi, G. A1 - Achenbach, R. A1 - Bastidas, D. M. A1 - Bernal, S. A. A1 - Bignozzi, M. C. A1 - Criado, M. A1 - Cyr, M. A1 - Gartner, N. A1 - von Greve-Dierfeld, S. A1 - Legat, A. A1 - Nikoonasab, Ali A1 - Provis, J. L. A1 - Raupach, M. A1 - Gluth, Gregor T1 - Application of electrochemical methods for studying steel corrosion in alkali-activated materials N2 - Alkali-activated materials (AAMs) are binders that can complement and partially substitute the current use of conventional cement. However, the present knowledge about how AAMs protect steel reinforcement in concrete elements is incomplete, and uncertainties exist regarding the application of electrochemical methods to investigate this issue. The present review by EFC WP11-Task Force ‘Corrosion of steel in alkali-activated materials’ demonstrates that important differences exist between AAMs and Portland cement, and between different classes of AAMs, which are mainly caused by differing pore solution compositions, and which affect the outcomes of electrochemical measurements. The high sulfide concentrations in blast furnace slag-based AAMs lead to distinct anodic polarisation curves, unusually low open circuit potentials, and low polarisation resistances, which might be incorrectly interpreted as indicating active corrosion of steel reinforcement. No systematic study of the influence of the steel–concrete interface on the susceptibility of steel to corrosion in AAMs is available. Less common electrochemical methods present an opportunity for future progress in the field. KW - Alkali-activated materials KW - Reinforcement corrosion KW - Steel corrrosion KW - Electrochemical methods KW - Concrete PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-572241 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/maco.202313743 SN - 1521-4176 VL - 74 IS - 7 SP - 988 EP - 1008 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-57224 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Krüger, Miriam E. A1 - Hilbig, Harald A1 - Stelzner, Ludwig A1 - Machner, Alisa T1 - Effect of the chemical composition of synthetic alkali-silica gels on their structure, swelling behavior and water uptake N2 - For alkali-silica reaction (ASR) gels, the relationship between swelling expansion, structure and chemical composition, particularly the effect of aluminum, remains unknown. This study investigates the structure, swelling expansion and associated water uptake of synthetic ASR gels with various Al/Si (0–0.1) and Ca/Si (0.1–0.4) ratios. The results show that aluminum incorporated into the gel structure reduces the overall swelling expansion and the leaching of silicate species during the swelling test. Moreover, they revealed that water in the Al-ASR gels is more tightly bound, reducing the overall water uptake compared to the Al-free ASR gels. Additionally, there is a linear correlation between the maximal swelling results and the ASR gel composition. However, no direct correlation emerged between the amount of water uptake and the free swelling of the ASR gels, which indicates that other factors, like the type of water bonding and pore size of the gels, are decisive for the swelling mechanism. KW - Concrete KW - Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) KW - Durability KW - 1H NMR relaxometry KW - 29Si NMR KW - 27Al NMR KW - FTIR KW - Al-ASR gel KW - Swelling test PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-624268 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2024.107596 VL - 184 SP - 1 EP - 18 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-62426 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Klimek, André A1 - Stelzner, Ludwig A1 - Hothan, Sascha A1 - Zehfuß, Jochen T1 - Influence of thermal strain on concrete spalling N2 - Understanding the susceptibility to spalling of concrete members in case of fire is important to evaluate the residual load-bearing capacity. The investigations of the spalling phenomenon of a concrete mixture using real scale members are necessary but expensive to carry out. Reducing the specimen size leads to an increase of boundary effects that can result in a reduced spalling or absence of spalling. In this study, fire tests were carried out on unrestrained, single-sided exposed, cuboid shaped specimens (0.6 m x 0.6 m x 0.29 m) as well as unrestrained and steel ring restrained cylindrical specimens (Ø = 0.47 m, h = 0.29 m), which induce different boundary conditions. These fire tests were carried out on two ordinary concrete mixtures. The two mixtures differ only in the type of aggregates (quartz gravel and basalt grit) and were used to investigate the influence of the thermal expansion of the aggregate on the spalling behaviour of the concrete. The results show a significant increase of the spalling depth due to the restrained thermal expansion achieved by the applied steel rings. Additionally, the type of aggregate has a direct influence on the spalling behaviour of a concrete mixture. The reduction of the boundary effects by the steel rings recreate the test conditions in the centre of a large concrete member. Thus, this type of specimen is suitable to determine the susceptibility to spalling of a material (screening-tests) as preliminary investigations to full scale fire tests. KW - Spalling KW - Concrete KW - Fire test KW - Restraint KW - Screening test PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-593350 DO - https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-023-02274-x VL - 57 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-59335 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Timofeev, Juri A1 - Azari, H. A1 - Satyanarayana, R. T1 - Controlled Creating of Delaminations in Concrete for Nondestructive Testing N2 - Locating and sizing delaminations is a common inspection task in the maintenance and quality control of construction and rehabilitation. Their detection is an important area of application of nondestructive testing in civil engineering (NDT-CE). To improve this application, NDT test systems and test solutions must be compared, for which specimens containing well-defined delaminations are needed to serve as a reference. Currently, there are no widely accepted procedures available for creating such flaws locally and reproducibly. This study presents procedures for creating artificial delaminations repeatably and as close as possible to natural delaminations. To produce the discontinuities only substances were used which can occur in concrete components and do not affect the application of NDT-CE methods. Ultrasonic pulse-echo (UPE) was used to test the flaws in the specimens. The delaminations were created by applying expansive mortar in prepared through holes. Three specimens with two delaminations each were built and tested using UPE. KW - Concrete KW - Reference KW - Delamination KW - Test specimen KW - Non-destructive testing PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-595201 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10921-023-01044-7 SN - 0195-9298 VL - 43 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-59520 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Koerdt, Andrea A1 - Gerengi, Husnu A1 - Kaya, Ertugrul A1 - M. Solomon, Moses A1 - Snape, Matthew T1 - Advances in the Mitigation of Microbiologically Influenced Concrete Corrosion: A Snapshot N2 - Concrete, a versatile construction material, faces pervasive deterioration due to microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) in various applications, including sewer systems, marine engineering, and buildings. MIC is initiated by microbial activities such as involving sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB), etc., producing corrosive substances like sulfuric acid. This process significantly impacts structures, causing economic losses and environmental concerns. Despite over a century of research, MIC remains a debated issue, lacking standardized assessment methods. Microorganisms contribute to concrete degradation through physical and chemical means. In the oil and gas industry, SRB and SOB activities may adversely affect concrete in offshore platforms. MIC challenges also arise in cooling water systems and civil infrastructures, impacting concrete surfaces. Sewer systems experience biogenic corrosion, primarily driven by SRB activities, leading to concrete deterioration. Mitigation traditionally involves the use of biocides and surface coatings, but their long-term effectiveness and environmental impact are questionable. Nowadays, it is important to design more eco-friendly mitigation products. The microbial-influenced carbonate precipitation is one of the green techniques and involves incorporating beneficial bacteria with antibacterial activity into cementitious materials to prevent the growth and the formation of a community that contains species that are pathogenic or may be responsible for MIC. These innovative strategies present promising avenues for addressing MIC challenges and preserving the integrity of concrete structures. This review provides a snapshot of the MIC in various areas and mitigation measures, excluding underlying mechanisms and broader influencing factors. KW - MIC KW - Corrosion KW - Concrete KW - Environment PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-619218 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17235846 VL - 17 IS - 23 SP - 1 EP - 19 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-61921 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gluth, Gregor A1 - Bernal, S. A. T1 - RILEM TC CUC: Carbon dioxide uptake by concrete during and after service life – Opening Letter N2 - The ability of cement to chemically bind CO2 in a carbonation reaction enables the material to act as a carbon sink, which could partly account for offsetting the CO2 emissions associated with cement production. In response to the many open questions in this context, the RILEM Technical Committee CUC was created in May 2024. The focus of the TC will be to facilitate discussions regarding the current approaches to estimate the CO2 uptake by cementitious materials (concrete and other construction products) during and after service life. This Opening Letter presents aspects of the motivation to establish the TC, a brief overview of the state of the art in the field, the scheduled work programme, and the anticipated impact of the TC outputs. Though it is not intended to be an exhaustive discussion of the challenges to be addressed, from what is summarized in this letter, it is clear that work is required to base estimates of CO2 uptake by cementitious materials on a data set that is as extensive, accurate and forward-looking as possible. It is anticipated that the inclusion of interdisciplinary perspectives and data from academia and industry will enable progress in the field. KW - Cement KW - Concrete KW - Recarbonation KW - Carbon dioxide uptake KW - Carbonation rate PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-623724 DO - https://doi.org/10.21809/rilemtechlett.2024.208 SN - 2518-0231 VL - 9 SP - 61 EP - 67 PB - RILEM AN - OPUS4-62372 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bernal, S. A. A1 - Dhandapani, Y. A1 - Elakneswaran, Y. A1 - Gluth, Gregor A1 - Gruyaert, E. A1 - Juenger, M. C. G. A1 - Lothenbach, B. A1 - Olonade, K. A. A1 - Sakoparnig, M. A1 - Shi, Z. A1 - Thiel, C. A1 - Van den Heede, P. A1 - Vanoutrive, H. A1 - von Greve-Dierfeld, S. A1 - De Belie, N. A1 - Provis, J. L. T1 - Report of RILEM TC 281-CCC: A critical review of the standardised testing methods to determine carbonation resistance of concrete N2 - The chemical reaction between CO2 and a blended Portland cement concrete, referred to as carbonation, can lead to reduced performance, particularly when concrete is exposed to elevated levels of CO2 (i.e., accelerated carbonation conditions). When slight changes in concrete mix designs or testing conditions are adopted, conflicting carbonation results are often reported. The RILEM TC 281-CCC ‘Carbonation of Concrete with Supplementary Cementitious Materials’ has conducted a critical analysis of the standardised testing methodologies that are currently applied to determine carbonation resistance of concrete in different regions. There are at least 17 different standards or recommendations being actively used for this purpose, with significant differences in sample curing, pre-conditioning, carbonation exposure conditions, and methods used for determination of carbonation depth after exposure. These differences strongly influence the carbonation depths recorded and the carbonation coefficient values calculated. Considering the importance of accurately determining carbonation potential of concrete, not just for predicting their durability performance, but also for determining the amount of CO2 that concrete can re-absorb during or after its service life, it is imperative to recognise the applicability and limitations of the results obtained from different tests. This will enable researchers and practitioners to adopt the most appropriate testing methodologies to evaluate carbonation resistance, depending on the purpose of the conclusions derived from such testing (e. g. materials selection, service life prediction, CO2 capture potential). KW - Concrete KW - Cement KW - Carbonation KW - Testing KW - Standards PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-609364 DO - https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-024-02424-9 VL - 57 SP - 1 EP - 31 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-60936 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -