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Unilateral thermal exposure of concrete building components induces moisture transport processes that have a significant influence on the spalling behaviour of dense high-strength concrete (HSC). These transport processes are based on evaporation and condensation mechanisms of liquid and gaseous water in the pores as well as the chemically bound water within the concrete. The low permeability of HSC and the formation of a saturated zone within building components (also known as a moisture clog) leads to high water-vapour pressures, which contributes to explosive spalling. The formation of these pressures has already been verified by means of pore-pressure measurement techniques. In addition, the redistribution of the moisture within concrete specimens subject to unilateral thermal exposure has been demonstrated on fractured surfaces. Investigations by means of the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry technique and neutron radiography have shown one-dimensional changes in moisture distribution during thermal exposure.
However, none of these methods has been able to depict the moisture distribution in three dimensions (3D), so the link between pore size, concrete micro-structure and moisture content is missing. The research project presented in this paper aims to fill this gap by developing a new multi-level test methodology to characterise non-destructively the temporal course of spatial moisture distribution during unilateral thermal exposure. The procedure used during this programme included the collection of X-ray 3D-computed tomography (CT) measurements using a miniaturised specimen subjected to in-situ thermal exposure and the comparison of those CT results with the results of one-dimensional NMR-relaxometry before and after the heating process.
In the first step, a mobile heating device was developed, built and tested. To simulate a unilaterally-heated construction component, a cylindrical specimen made of HSC (Ø = 40 mm, L = 100 mm) was cast into an impermeable glass ceramic shell. The ceramic shell ensured a one-dimensional moisture flux and limited the thermal expansion of the concrete. An additional high-temperature wool (HTW) insulating shell ensured a one-dimensional heat flux. The heating device, which operated using infrared radiation (IR), allowed the unilateral heating of the specimens up to 300 °C using variable heating regimes.
In the second step, the mobile heating device was integrated into the CT-scanner, which enabled the collection of measurements before, during and after heating. By subtraction of successive 3D-CT images, X-ray attenuation differences could be resolved three-dimensionally in the specimen and interpreted as changes in the moisture content.
Initial results show that this test methodology can monitor the 3D changes of moisture content inside the specimen during thermal exposure. It enables the researcher to visualise areas with moisture accumulation as well as dehydrated areas inside the specimen. Comparative one-dimensional NMR-relaxometry measurements confirm the results of the CT image analysis.
It is known that the spalling risk of dense, high-strength concretes (HSC) can be reduced by the addition of polypropylene (PP) fibres and, in particular, PP-fibres that have been pre-treated using electron irradiation. It is presumed that the enhanced reduction in spalling resulting from electron irradiation pre-treatment of the fibres can be attributed to enhanced penetration of the molten fibre material into the micro-cracks around the fibres, due to their significantly decreased viscosity. So far there has been no experimental evidence for this. Against this background, this paper gives a com-parative analysis of the mode of action of PP-fibres with and without pre-treatment using multi-scale test methodology.
Initially, fire tests on small-scale building components with accompanying damage monitoring veri-fied that the amount of PP-fibres can be halved by using pre-treated PP-fibres without reducing the fire performance of HSC. Detailed investigations of PP-fibres carried out in a completed research project funded by DFG (the German Research Foundation) using digital scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry measurements (DSC/TG) as well as viscometer measurements showed that the pre-treatment has no significant influence on the melting temperature of the PP-fibres. However, a drastic reduction of the melt viscosity due to the electron irradiation was detectable. Additional dila-tation tests showed that the expansion behaviour of both fibre types and their melts do not differ significantly [1]. Rather, both fibre types generate high pressures when their thermal expansion is hindered. Further detailed investigations by means of continuous heating tests with a low heating rate were carried out on separately produced concrete cylinders. These tests showed that the pre-treatment of the PP-fibres causes earlier dehydration in conjunction with stagnation of thermal expansion of the concrete cylinders (temperature reduction from 180 °C to 170 °C). This is accompanied by in-creased acoustic emission activity during the thermal expansion tests. This leads to the assumption that the pre-treatment of PP-fibres results in earlier micro-crack development. However, it was not possible to confirm this assumption by microscopic examination of drilling cores with a diameter of 30 mm exposed to defined temperatures in the range between 150°C and 300°C. Microscopic obser-vations and additional X-ray 3D computed tomography (3D-CT) scans on miniaturised drilling cores exposed to temperature cycles showed a similar networking of fibre beds by means of micro-cracks in HSC for both fibre types. However, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and wavelength disper-sive X-ray spectroscopy revealed fundamental differences in the penetration capacity of the fibre melts of the two fibre types. The increased penetration of the pre-treated PP-fibre melt revealed in these tests, confirms the initial working hypothesis.
Although concrete itself is not a combustible material, concrete mixtures with high density, such has high-performance concretes (HPCs), are susceptible to significant damage during fires due to explosive spalling. Past research has shown that the inclusion of polymer fibers in high density concrete can significantly mitigate fire damage due to the contribution of the fibers to increased permeability levels at high temperature. This allows vapor pressures caused by the evaporation of internal water during fire to escape from the material without causing significant spalling. Recent microscopic investigations have also shown that the addition of polypropylene (PP) fibers to high-density HPC with a high amount of fine-aggregate has a considerable influence on the nature and character of crack formation due to autogenous shrinkage. Initial cracks, which originate from the fiber beds, undergo further expansion and propagation when concrete is subjected to thermal exposure in excess of 170 °C. It is thus of interest to determine whether the resulting cracks join the adjacent fiber beds and therefore contribute to a significant increase in the permeability of the concrete, which is directly correlated to lower pore pressures and reduced spalling during fire.
In this study, X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) was applied to provide a clear demonstration of the interaction between polymer fibers and cracking during thermal exposure. For this purpose, two concrete samples containing different polymer fiber types were subjected to incremental application of a defined thermal exposure. CT images were acquired before and after each thermal exposure and powerful image processing tools were used to segment the various material components, such as polymer fibers, cracks, aggregates and cement matrix, in each image. This enabled a detailed analysis of crack formation and propagation as well as the visualization and quantification of polymer fiber characteristics within the concrete. This paper will provide a description of the distribution and orientation characteristics of the polymer fibers within each sample obtained through the CT-based analysis. Using these results, the impact of fiber distribution and orientation characteristics on actual cracking geometries have been measured and visualized. This paper will also provide recommendations for further optimization of the selected materials and propose improved methods for future CT-based analysis techniques.
The water-transport characteristics of concrete have a major impact on its resistance to damaging chemical processes such as Alkali-Silica-Reaction (ASR). Water transport in samples of damaged and undamaged concrete was measured using in-situ CT. The resulting measurements of water-front movement relative to time and the change in 3D-moisture distribution within the samples, are needed for calibration and validation of water-transport numerical models.
This presentation includes the results of a number of case studies of concrete properties using computed tomography (CT) in combination with various in-situ testing techniques, including those of mechanical loading, water transport, and fire. The results of these case studies demonstrate the potential of CT as an approach for obtaining unique, quantitative data about the structure of materials. This data can serve as the basis for calibrating and validating a new generation of numerical models that have a stronger foundation in micromechanical theory. This will contribute to the development of more accurate and versatile simulation approaches for concrete and other building materials.