TY - INPR A1 - Malz, Sebastian A1 - Sindersberger, Dirk A1 - Monkman, Gareth J. A1 - Steffens, Oliver A1 - Kusterle, Wolfgang T1 - Determination of the Water Content within Tunnel Linings to Assess Fire Safety T2 - SSRN Electronic Journal N2 - Fires in tunnels are known to lead to explosive spalling of the tunnel linings, mainly due to rapid expansion of water as a result of vaporization in the concrete. In order to determine water content and assess fire safety within tunnel linings a novel measurement system has been developed. The development process includes the calibration of the sensor system via both direct and indirect approaches. This work compares both calibration methods and shows the differences that can occur due to measurement uncertainty. This work presents the measured water content within the Inntal tunnel, Austria as a representative tunnel from a total of four investigated tunnels. The obtained water content is compared to that found in the literature, and recommendations for practical work in terms of fire safety is given. KW - tunnel inner lining KW - water content KW - moisture sensor KW - moisture measurement KW - Fire safety KW - concrete spalling Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4390700 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sakoparnig, Marlene A1 - Galan, Isabel A1 - Kusterle, Wolfgang A1 - Lindlar, Benedikt A1 - Koraimann, Günther A1 - Angerer, Thomas A1 - Steindl, Florian Roman A1 - Briendl, Lukas G. A1 - Jehle, Sebastian A1 - Flotzinger, Johannes A1 - Juhart, Joachim A1 - Mittermayr, Florian T1 - On the significance of accelerator enriched layers in wet-mix shotcrete JF - Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology N2 - The application process, which gives shotcrete its name is a robust and established method, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. Since then, the spraying process has been significantly enhanced. However, during the last decades no major technical changes have been made. In this study the wet - mix shotcrete process including the dosing of accelerator was investigated. For this, we monitored the concrete and accelerator pressure with 5 sensors in the pumps and pipes, and analysed the accelerator distribution in the hardened shotcrete matrix. The recorded pressure fluctuations clearly indicated that the pumping of the concrete with a double-piston pump led to flow pulsations. The pressure along the accelerator pipes, controlled by a peristaltic pump, was not steady either. However, the accelerator flow pulsation had a higher frequency than that of the concrete flow. This misalignment led to changes in the accelerator to concrete ratio during the spraying process. The impact of these incongruent concrete and accelerator flows on the resulting hardened shotcrete was visually analysed with the use of 0.02 % uranin as fluorescent tracer added to the accelerator. The tracer distribution showed that changes in the accelerator/concrete ratio led to the formation of ‘accelerator layers’, layers with higher accelerator concentrations in the hardened shotcrete. These layers show differences in chemistry, mineralogy and open porosity compared to the rest of the shotcrete matrix. The presence of accelerator enriched layers can have detrimental effects on the shotcrete properties, especially affecting the durability and mechanical performance. In consequence, we recommend a revision of the shotcrete process to eliminate these inhomogeneities. KW - Inhomogeneities KW - Pulsation KW - Concrete pumping KW - Layering KW - Accelerator KW - Shotcrete Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tust.2022.104764 VL - 131 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Elsevier ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Steindl, Florian R. A1 - Mittermayr, Florian A1 - Sakoparnig, Marlene A1 - Juhart, Joachim A1 - Briendl, Lukas G. A1 - Lindlar, Benedikt A1 - Ukrainczyk, Neven A1 - Dietzel, Martin A1 - Kusterle, Wolfgang A1 - Galan, Isabel T1 - On the porosity of low-clinker shotcrete and accelerated pastes JF - Construction and Building Materials N2 - Although the number and size of interconnected pores have been identified as the most important aspects of concrete microstructure, comprehensive datasets on shotcrete porosity and pore size distributions are still scarce and their key controls are poorly investigated. In this study we investigate the effects of the spraying process, setting accelerator addition and mix design on the microstructure of real-scale dry- and wet-mix shotcrete and hand-mixed and sprayed accelerated pastes. A newly proposed deconvolution analysis of the pore size distributions, measured by mercury intrusion porosimetry, offers increased precision in determining the critical and median pore diameter parameters. In total >50 samples were analysed. Results show that the dry-mix shotcrete exhibits a shift towards coarser pore sizes (∼100–1 μm) than wet-mix shotcrete. Combinations of different supplementary cementitious materials are favourable for producing wet-mix shotcretes with refined pore structures. The addition of setting accelerators, up to 10 wt-% of binder mass, and the spraying process cause systematic variations in the pore volume and pore structure of (sprayed) paste and shotcrete. KW - Porosity KW - Shotcrete KW - Mercury Intrusion KW - Durability KW - SCMs Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.130461 SN - 0950-0618 VL - 368 PB - Elsevier CY - 14 ER -