Ultrasonic wave propagation in thermally treated concrete up to 400 ºC

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Abstract The ultrasonic pulse velocity, obtained by ultrasonic non-destructive testing, has been applied to evaluate the concrete integrity. The attenuation parameters have shown more sensitivity to damage detection in the microstructure of concrete since they consider the entire ultrasonic waveform. However, it is still necessary to evaluate the sensitivity of those parameters to thermally damaged concrete. This work aims to assess the behavior and the sensitivity of the following ultrasonic parameters: pulse and group velocities, maximum amplitude, total energy, accumulated energy, and time instants corresponding to 25%, 50%, and 75% of the energy, in detecting changes due to thermal degradation of the concrete. A sample of 39 cylindrical concrete specimens with 100 mm in diameter and 300 mm in length and C25 strength class was used. The sample was distributed into 5 groups heated between 20 and 400 ºC until the internal temperature of the specimens became homogeneous. The groups were cooled inside a muffle furnace until reaching 150 ºC. Subsequently, they were exposed to the ambient temperature and humidity of the laboratory environment for, at least, 24 hours prior to the tests of mass loss, ultrasound, and compressive strength. The results show that the ultrasonic parameters are sensitive to the thermal degradation of the concrete. The pulse velocity, the accumulated energy, and the time instants corresponding to percentages of the energy decrease monotonically as the temperature increases. The group velocity shows significant dispersions, while the maximum amplitude and the total energy increase at 200 ºC. The results led to the conclusion that the pulse velocity is the least sensitive parameter, while the time instants corresponding to 25%, 50%, and 75% of the energy are the most sensitive parameters in detecting changes due to thermal degradation of the concrete.