This study estimates the strength of a special mixture of high-strength concrete (HSC) with admixtures for use in a nuclear power plant (NPP). Nuclear power plant structures need a HSC with some additional qualities to operate the safe options. For this purpose, the experimented concrete was specially designed to fulfill the required qualities of NPP. For gaining these desirable qualities, it needs to monitor the concrete strength development process. Here, the PZT materials were used as sensors to acquire data by measuring the electromechanical impedance (EMI), and then cross correlation (CC) was calculated to look at changes according to strength development. Data were measured for 28 days, and over this period concrete can gain up to 96% of its design strength. This technique is based on a single sensor. After casting concrete, the PZT material starts vibrating as an actuator to produce vibrations. At the same time, it also works as a sensor to measure the dynamic response of the structure to the vibrations. With strength development, the resonant frequencies of the EMI start changing. To estimate the strength development, a fuzzy logic tool was used to analyze the parameters, allowing for us to estimate and predict the concrete strength. For cross-checking, the estimated strength was compared with the actual strength of concrete; this was determined by examining cuboid cores taken from specimens during experiments at the 1st, 3rd, 7th, 14th, and 28th days. According to the results, this approach of strength estimation and monitoring the strength development is useful for forecasting the stability of structures.

Recently, the early-age strength prediction for RC (reinforced concrete) structures has been an important topic in the construction industry, relating to project-time reduction and structural safety. To address this, numerous destructive and NDTs (non-destructive tests) are applied to monitor the early-age strength development of concrete. This study elaborates on the NDT techniques of ultrasonic wave propagation and concrete maturity for the estimation of compressive strength development. The results of these comparative estimation approaches comprise the concrete maturity method, penetration resistance test, and an ultrasonic wave analysis. There is variation of the phase transition in the concrete paste with the changing of boundary limitations of the material in accordance with curing time, so with the formation of phase-transition changes, changes in the velocities of ultrasonic waves occur. As the process of hydration takes place, the maturity method produces a maturity index using the time-feature reflection on the strength-development process of the concrete. Embedded smart temperature sensors (SmartRock) and PZT (piezoelectric) sensors were used for the data acquisition of hydration temperature history and wave propagation. This study suggests a novel relationship between wave propagation, penetration tests, and hydration temperature, and creates a method that relies on the responses of resonant frequency changes with the change of boundary conditions caused by the strength-gain of the concrete specimen. Calculating the changes of these features provides a pattern for estimating concrete strength. The results for the specimens were validated by comparing the strength results with the penetration resistance test by a universal testing machine (UTM). An algorithm used to relate the concrete maturity and ultrasonic wave propagation to the concrete compressive strength. This study leads to a method of acquiring data for forecasting in-situ early-age strength of concrete, used for secure construction of concrete structures, that is fast, cost effective, and comprehensive for SHM (structural health monitoring).

Concrete strength and factors affecting its development during early concrete curing are important research topics. Avoiding uncertain incidents during construction and in service life of structures requires an appropriate monitoring system. Therefore, numerous techniques are used to monitor the health of a structure. This paper presents a nondestructive testing technique for monitoring the strength development of concrete at early curing ages. Dispersed carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were used with cementitious materials and piezoelectric (PZT) material, a PZT ceramic, owing to their properties of intra electromechanical effects and sensitivity to measure the electromechanical impedance (EMI) signatures and relevant properties related to concrete strength, such as the elastic modulus, displacement, acceleration, strength, and loading effects. Concrete compressive strength, hydration temperature, mixture ratio, and variation in data obtained from the impedance signatures using fuzzy logic were utilized in the comparative result prediction method for concrete strength. These results were calculated using a fuzzy logic-based model considering the maturity method, universal testing machine (UTM) data, and analyzed EMI data. In the study, for data acquisition, a hybrid PZT–CNT sensor and a temperature sensor (Smart Rock) were embedded in the concrete to obtain the hydration temperature history to utilize the concrete maturity method and provide data on the EMI signatures. The dynamic changes in the medium caused during the phase in the concrete strengthening process were analyzed to predict the strength development process of concrete at early curing ages. Because different parameters are considered while calculating the concrete strength, which is related to its mechanical properties, the proposed novel method considers that changes in the boundary condition occurring in the concrete paste modify the resonant frequency response of the structure. Thus, relating and analyzing this feature can help predict the concrete strength. A comprehensive comparison of the results calculated using the proposed module, maturity method, and cylindrical specimens tested using the UTM proved that it is a cost-effective and fast technique to estimate concrete strength to ensure a safe construction of reinforced cement concrete infrastructures.