Microwave Non-Destructive Inspection and Prediction of Modulus of Rupture and Modulus of Elasticity of Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECCs) Using Dual-Frequency Correlation

Abstract

This research article presents dual-frequency correlation models for predicting the growth of elasticity and flexural strength of engineered cementitious composites (ECCs) using microwave nondestructive inspection technique. Parallel measurements of microwave properties and mechanical properties of ECC specimens were firstly undertaken in the sense of cross-disciplinary experiments. Regression models were developed via means of nonlinear regression to the measured data. The purpose of the study is: (i) to monitor the flexural strength and elasticity growth; and (ii) to predict their mature values under the influence of different initial water contents, via microwave effective conductance at early ages. It has been demonstrated that both the modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) can be accurately modeled and correlated by microwave conductance using exponential functions. The moduli developed as a function of conductance whereas the regression coefficient exhibited a linear relation with water-to-binder ratio. These findings have highlighted the effectiveness of the microwave non-destructive technique in inspecting the variation of liquid phase morphology of ECCs. The dual-frequency correlation can be used for structural health monitoring, which is not only for prediction but also provides a means of verification.

Surface curing effect on reflection response of hardened cementitious mortar samples

“…Microwave non-destructive testing methods have shown great potential in recent years for structural health monitoring of CBMs [3][4][5][6][7][8] and ECCs [9][10][11][12][13] by establishing a link between their electromagnetic properties and physical, mechanical, and chemical properties. In studies [4,5], water-to-cement and sand-to-cement ratios, which are the two important factors affecting compressive and flexural strengths, within CBMs were determined by using microwave near-field open-ended waveguide measurements.…”

“…Hasar). and thus prediction of strength, modulus of rupture, and modulus of elasticity of ECCs were examined in recent studies [9][10][11][12].…”

Wave Dispersion Analysis of Fluid Conveying Nanocomposite Shell Reinforced by MWCNTs Considering the Effect of Waviness and Agglomeration Efficiency

“…Besides, this analysis can be helpful in designing, modeling and analyzing structure which are utilized in different systems. Also, in non-destructive tests and structural health monitoring, this analysis can be advantageous [45][46][47]. It is quite sufficient to motivate us to perform wave propagation analysis of structures especially reinforced composite structures.…”

Ultra-Resonance Microwave Defectoscopy of Metal Surfaces

“…Microwave reflectometry is a very useful tool in defect finding in many industrial and engineering applications [1]. It is used in different scenarios in non-destructive testing and imaging, for example, detection of faults in constructions [2] and composite materials [3], non-destructive testing of building structural integrity [4], biomaterials imaging [5], etc.…”