Non-Destructive Characterization of Cement Materials Using Ultrasonic Method - Application to the Study of Carbonation

Abstract

The objective of this study is to realize a non-destructive characterization of cementitious materials using ultrasonic method. The motivation of our work is to show that the ultrasound can be applied not only in medical imaging but also in the assessment of construction materials, which is not widely known in this domain. In order to solve the problem, the ultrasonic velocity measurement was performed on the samples before and after carbonation of a standardized mortar at different periods. The results offer the possibility to determine the mechanical properties such as Young modulus E, shear modulus G and Poisson's ratio. This is an advantage for in-situ structures in comparison with destructive methods that require destroying the samples. The main contributions of this study are: 1) Ultrasonic occultation of cement materials is a reliable method with a small margin of error; 2) The values ​​of mechanical properties found by ultrasonic method are consistent with theoretical values ​​found in the literature; 3) The evolution of these mechanical properties is consistent with the densification of the microstructure during carbonation due to the formation of CaCO3.