Construction and Building Materials 171 (2018) 511–520

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Construction and Building Materials

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Evaluation of concrete degradation depending on heating conditions

by ultrasonic pulse velocity
Euichul Hwang a, Gyuyong Kim a,⇑, Gyeongcheol Choe a, Minho Yoon a, Nenad Gucunski b, Jeongsoo Nam a
a
Department of Architectural Engineering, Chungnam National University, 99 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea
b
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08855-0909, USA

h i g h l i g h t s

Concrete of similar compressive strengths has different UPV depending on elastic modulus.

UPV can measure expansion of crack width in concrete by cooling.

UPV can decreases sharply during heating when thermal strain exceeds static fracture strain.

Proposed method is anticipated to allow integrity evaluation of concrete during heating.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: As the mechanical properties of concrete subjected to high-temperature heating decrease due to contin-
Received 29 November 2017 uous degradation, it is necessary to evaluate the integrity of concrete in real time. Hence, the degradation
Received in revised form 6 March 2018 monitoring (continuous integrity evaluation) of concrete subjected to high-temperature heating was
Accepted 21 March 2018
examined by employing ultrasonic pulse velocity. In this study, the mechanical properties and the ultra-
sonic pulse velocity in concrete subjected to high-temperature heating were evaluated for ordinary-
strength to ultra-high-strength concrete. To measure the ultrasonic pulse velocity in concrete during
Keywords:
high-temperature heating, transducers were contacted to the top and bottom surfaces of the concrete
Ultrasonic pulse velocity
Concrete
specimens using SUS bars. This enabled monitoring of concrete degradation due to heating. In a range
Cracks of 200–300 °C, it was confirmed that the thermal strain coincides with the static fracture strain at room
Degradation evaluation temperature. The cracks generated during heating and the expansion of the cracks after cooling were
High temperature clearly confirmed by continuous measurement of the ultrasonic pulse velocity. The cracks generated at
Heating condition temperatures up to 300 °C had little effect on the decrease in compressive strength. However, it was con-
firmed that the elastic modulus continuously decreased, because the cracks generated during heating and
expanded after cooling led to strain increase at the peak stresses. Therefore, the evaluation method pro-
posed in this study is anticipated to allow the integrity evaluation of concrete at high temperature
heating.
Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction degraded due to exposure to high temperatures needs to be

The mechanical properties of concrete degrade when it is
exposed to high temperature due to the physical and chemical
changes in the constituent materials. In addition, since the internal
structure of high-strength concrete is dense due to a considerable
amount of binder content, it is likely to undergo spalling [1], and its
mechanical properties will significantly degrade when exposed to
high temperatures [2–4]. Therefore, the integrity of concrete
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: gyuyongkim@cnu.ac.kr (G. Kim).
evaluated.
The ultrasonic pulse velocity method was employed to evaluate
the integrity of concrete subjected to high-temperature heating.
The method has a number of advantages, such as low influence
on the structure tested, a simple evaluation procedure, and the
ability to evaluate the changes in the internal structure of concrete.
Previous studies on the integrity evaluation of concrete have
proposed equations to estimate the compressive strength of con-
crete and criteria for evaluating the integrity by measuring the
ultrasonic pulse velocity in concrete [5–7]. In addition, Yang
et al. [8] proposed an equation for estimating the compressive
strength of concrete exposed to high temperatures, considering

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.03.178
0950-0618/Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
512 E. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 171 (2018) 511–520

various design compressive strengths of concrete. Similarly, Bene- Table 1

detti [9] and Lie et al. [10] evaluated the residual mechanical prop- Experimental plan.

erties and the integrity of concrete exposed to fire condition. In fck Heating method Heating Test item
recent years, ultrasonic pulse characteristics such as propagation temp.
time and amplitude have been used to evaluate the degradation (°C)

of concrete. Shah [11,12] studied the harmonic wave generation 30 Heating to target temp. 100
Stress–strain
on loading in concrete specimens of standard size and of 150 mm at 1 °C/min 200
Residual compressive
70 300 strength
cubic size. Moreover, [13] investigated cracks in concrete struc- 400
Residual elastic modulus
tures using the interaction of ultrasonic pulse. In these studies, 110 500
Thermal strain
the ultrasonic pulse velocity and the mechanical properties of con- 600
Water vapor pressure
crete were evaluated after concrete degradation has already pro- 700
Permeability

Ultrasonic pulse velocity
gressed. However, since concrete is being continuously degraded
(before, during, after
during high-temperature heating, it is necessary to evaluate the heating)
integrity of concrete during the heating. Also, in order to clarify Temp. maintaining after 100
Ultrasonic pulse velocity
the correlation between the ultrasonic pulse velocity and mechan- heating to target temp. 200 during heating
ical properties of concrete, it is necessary to evaluate it both during at 1 °C/min 300

and after the degradation has progressed.

In this study, the ultrasonic pulse velocity in concrete was mea-
sured before, during, and after the heating process by a portable
ultrasonic non-destructive digital indication tester (PUNDIT) for
30, 70 and 110 MPa concrete specimens as shown in Fig. 1. In addi-
tion, the relationship between the ultrasonic pulse velocity and the
mechanical properties of concrete exposed to high-temperature
was investigated.
2. Experiment
2.1. Experimental plan
the concrete specimens before, during, and after heating were
determined.
2.2. Mix proportion and material
Table 2 presents the mix proportions of the concrete. Water-to-
binder ratios of 0.55, 0.33, and 0.19 were used, and cylindrical
specimens of £100  200 mm dimensions were employed. And
Table 3 presents the physical properties of the materials used in
concrete fabrication.

Table 1 presents the experimental plan of this study. The con-
crete specimens with design compressive strengths of 30, 70, and
110 MPa were heated to target temperatures of 100, 200, 300,
400, 500, 600, and 700 °C at a heating rate of 1 °C/min. The
stress–strain relationship, residual compressive strength, residual
elastic modulus, thermal strain, water vapor pressure, permeabil-
ity of the concrete specimens, and the ultrasonic pulse velocity in
2.3. Preparation of specimens
Concrete cylindrical specimens of a 100-mm diameter and
200 mm height were fabricated for high-temperature heating in
accordance with ASTM C192-Making and Curing Concrete Test
Specimens in the Laboratory. The specimens were cured in water
for seven days after demolding, and subsequently, cured in a

Fig. 1. Outline of this study.

 E. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 171 (2018) 511–520 513

Table 2
Mix proportion of concrete.

fck W/B (%) Slump-flow (mm) Air (%) S/a2 (%) Unit weight3 (kg/m3)
W C SF BFS S G
30 55.0 1801 4 45 185 336 0 0 797 956
70 33.0 650 ± 50 2 165 475 25 0 755 905
110 19.0 160 589 126 126 618 741
1
Slump (mm).
2
S/a: the ratio of the fine aggregate volume to the total aggregate volume.
3
W: Water, C: Cement, SF: Silica fume, BFS: Blast furnace slag powder, S: Fine aggregate, G: Coarse aggregate.

Table 3 data logger. The installed electric furnace was used to heat the con-
Physical properties of used material. crete specimens. A heat transfer heating method, wherein the heat
Material Physical properties is transferred by heating the force jigs located at the top and bot-
Cement OPC (density: 3.15 g/cm3, specific surface area: 3200
tom of the furnace, was employed. The temperature of the electric
cm2/g) furnace was controlled through the temperature data of the spec-
Blast furnace slag Density: 2.97 g/cm3, specific surface area: 6,000–7000 imen generated by a thermocouple. A heating rate of 1 °C/min was
powder cm2/g employed [14] to maintain the temperature difference between
Silica fume Density: 2.57 g/cm3, specific surface area: 200,000 cm2/g
the interior and outer surface of the specimen within 5 °C, as
Fine aggregate Sea sand (density: 2.65 g/cm3, absorption: 1.00%)
Coarse aggregate Crushed granitic aggregate (size: 20 mm, density: 2.62 shown in Fig. 3 [2,15].
g/cm3, absorption: 0.8%)
Super plasticizer Polycarboxylic-based super plasticizer
2.4.2. Evaluation of thermal strain and mechanical properties
The thermal strain of the concrete specimens during high-
temperature heating was calculated using Eq. (1), after measuring
constant temperature and humidity chamber at a temperature in a the strain of the heating jig using the upper LVDT, and the strains
range of 20 ± 3 °C and relative humidity (RH) in a range of 50 ± 5% of the jig and specimen simultaneously using the lower LVDT, as
up to the material age of 300 days. In addition, since the top part of shown in Fig. 2(b).
the mold for manufacturing concrete specimens is open, the sur-
face of poured concrete is unleveled. Therefore, a concrete grinder DLC ¼ DL2  DL1 ð1Þ
must be used to even out the top and bottom surfaces of the con-
crete specimen before conducting the heating experiment. where

DLC : Thermal strain of concrete (mm)

2.4. Test method
2.4.1. Loading and heating
Fig. 2 shows the device used to conduct the loading and heating
experiments. The machine was constructed by installing an electric
heating furnace on a universal testing machine (UTM) with a
capacity of 2000 kN. In order to prevent strain and damage of the
LVDT due to high temperature, a Ø10 mm quartz pipe was passed
through the £15 mm spaces at the top and bottom centers of the
force jig. LVDTs were installed at both ends of the quartz pipe to
measure the strain in the specimen at the outside of the furnace.
The maximum capacity of the LVDT was 5 mm, and the strain
recording during the testing was performed every second using a
DL2 : Strain measured using the upper LVDT (mm)
DL1 : Strain measured using the lower LVDT (mm)
In addition, the mechanical properties were measured after
cooling of the specimens to room temperature in accordance with
ASTM C39-Standard Test Method for Compressive Strength of
Cylindrical Concrete Specimens.
2.4.3. Evaluation of water vapor pressure and permeability
To measure the pressure of the water vapor generated in the
concrete subjected to high-temperature heating, a pipe for dis-
charging the water vapor to the surroundings was employed. The
pipe was made of SUS-304 material with excellent heat resistance
properties [16].
The permeability of the concrete specimens cooled after the
heating was calculated by evaluating the amount of permeation
per second in accordance with ISO 8841:1991 standard – Dense,

(a) Heating machine (b) Strain measurement

Fig. 2. Heating machine and method of strain measurement. Fig. 3. Heating method in this study.
514 E. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 171 (2018) 511–520
shaped refractory products-determination of permeability to gases
[17]. Permeability was calculated using Eq. (2).
2P2 hc . transmitted through the SUS bar as a result of heating, the ultra-
K¼  ð2Þ
P21  P22 A sonic pulse velocity was measured in the SUS bar subjected to
where
K : Permeability (cm/s)
P1: Loading pressure (MPa)
P2: Atmospheric pressure (MPa)
h: Thickness of the concrete specimen (cm)
. : Quantity of airflow (cm3/s)
A: Area of airflow (cm2)
c : Weight of unit volume of gas (air: 1.205  106 kgf/cm3)
2.4.4. Evaluation of ultrasonic pulse velocity
Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the method for measuring the ultrasonic
pulse velocity. The ultrasonic pulse velocity in a concrete specimen
was measured before, during, and after heating, when the speci-
men was cooled. Before and after heating, the ultrasonic pulse
velocity was measured in accordance with ASTM C597-Standard
Test Method for Pulse Velocity through Concrete.
Since there are no commercial devices to measure the ultra-
sonic pulse velocity in concrete subjected to high-temperature
heating, a method was devised to measure the ultrasonic pulse
velocity from outside the heating furnace using the existing PUN-
DIT equipment. To transmit ultrasonic pulses into the concrete
specimen located inside the heating furnace, the transducers and
concrete were connected using bar-type SUS-316 of a £25 diame-
ter. SUS-316 is a material with high strength and good corrosion
resistance under high-temperature conditions. Furthermore, to
prevent damaging of the transducers due to the heat, the contact
Fig. 4. Evaluation method of ultrasonic pulse velocity (Before and after heating).
surface connecting the SUS bar and the transducers was continu-
ously cooled to maintain a temperature of 60 °C or lower.
Furthermore, to investigate changes in the ultrasonic pulse
high-temperature heating, as shown in Fig. 6. The ultrasonic pulse
velocity of the SUS bar remained unchanged for a heating temper-
ature range up to approximately 380 °C. Moreover, the ultrasonic
pulse velocity of the SUS bar cooled after heating at a temperature
of 700 °C was confirmed to match the ultrasonic pulse velocity of
the SUS bar before the heating. Hence, the high temperature heat-
ing did not affect the ultrasonic pulse transmitted through the SUS
bar.
The ultrasonic pulse velocity was measured using a PUNDIT
comprised of a pair of transducers with a nominal frequency of
54 kHz and a precision of 0.1 ls. The ultrasonic pulse velocity
was calculated using Eq. (3).
L
V¼ ð3Þ
T
where
V : Ultrasonic wave velocity (km/s)
T: Ultrasonic wave propagation time (ms)
L: Length of the concrete specimen (mm)
The time required for the ultrasonic wave to propagate through
a concrete specimen varies depending on the internal state of the
concrete. When the concrete integrity is maintained, the path
through which the ultrasonic pulse reaches the opposite side of
the specimen is shorter, and thus, the propagation time is less.
When the concrete specimen is subjected to a high temperature,
the path of ultrasonic waves becomes longer, due to the cracks
or pores generated inside and outside the concrete, as shown in
Fig. 1. Therefore, the ultrasonic pulse velocity decreases. The ultra-
sonic pulse velocity depends on the dynamic elastic modulus, Pois-
son’s ratio, and density of the propagated medium. Malhotra and
Carino [18] reported that the elasticity of concrete significantly
declines and the ultrasonic pulse velocity of concrete decreases,
if the heating temperature is high.
3. Experimental results and discussion
3.1. Mechanical properties of concrete after heating
Fig. 7 shows the stress–strain curve of concrete cooled after
heating. Regardless of the compressive strength of concrete, a
higher heating temperature led to a decrease in the peak stress
of concrete, and a rapid increase in the strain at the peak stress.
The concrete specimens of 70 and 110 MPa exhibited brittle
fracture behavior, compared to the 30 MPa specimens, in the range
from room temperature to 300 °C. In addition, a higher compres-
sive strength concrete resulted in a higher strain at the peak stress,
due to the thermal decomposition of the cement hydrate at high
temperatures, and due to micro-cracks in concrete.
Fig. 8 shows the residual compressive strength ratio of concrete
cooled after heating. At 100 °C, the residual compressive strengths
of 30, 70, and 110 MPa concrete decreased. This shows that a
higher compressive strength of concrete led to a more reduction
in the compressive strength. However, at 200 °C, the residual com-
pressive strengths of 30, 70, and 110 MPa increased again. Above
300 °C, the residual compressive strength ratio tended to decrease
continuously, regardless of the compressive strength of concrete.
In particular, at 700 °C, the residual compressive strengths of 30,
70, and 110 MPa specimens were below about 30% of the compres-
sive strengths at room temperature.
 E. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 171 (2018) 511–520
Fig. 5. Evaluation method of ultrasonic pulse velocity (During heating).
Fig. 6. Ultrasonic pulse velocity of SUS bar during heating and cooled after heating.
Fig. 9 shows the residual elastic modulus ratio of concrete
cooled after heating. Unlike the residual compressive strength,
the residual elastic modulus tended to decrease with an increase
in the heating temperature, regardless of the compressive strength
of concrete. The residual elastic modulus decreased sharply above
300 °C.
The first effect of heating on concrete is the evaporation of free
water within at 100–200 °C. During the time it takes to reach 250
°C, unevaporated water and water of hydration are lost [19,20].
This can be confirmed in the DTA/TGA and XRD results of cement
paste [20,21] Moreover, concrete is not particularly affected phys-
ically at temperatures below 300 °C.
Previous studies reported drastic chemical and physical
changes occurring in concrete at temperatures above 300 °C, which
515
is consistent with the decrease in compressive strength and elastic
modulus of concrete at high temperatures.
3.2. Ultrasonic pulse velocity of concrete after heating
Fig. 10 shows the relationship between the measured and esti-
mated values from the ultrasonic pulse velocity of the compressive
strength of concrete subjected to high temperature. The ultrasonic
pulse velocity at room temperature was similar, regardless of the
compressive strength of concrete. As the compressive strength of
concrete decreased during heating, the ultrasonic pulse velocity
of concrete decreased too.
In addition, the measured compressive strength and the com-
pressive strength of concrete calculated by Eq. (4) proposed by
Yang et al. [8] were compared.
F c ¼ 1:03015V p  0:06344 ð4Þ
where
F c : Ratio of comp. strength of concrete
V p : Ratio of ultrasonic pulse velocity
For a 30 MPa specimen, the estimated compressive strength
was lower than the measured compressive strength. For a 70
MPa specimen, the estimated and measured compressive strengths
were similar. Finally, for a 110 MPa specimen, the estimated com-
pressive strength was higher than the measured compressive
strength. It is considered that because the internal structure of con-
crete changes depending on the amount of binder and aggregate of
concrete, heating and cooling conditions.
Among them, the phenomenon that the ultrasonic pulse veloc-
ity is different in a similar range of residual compressive strength
of concrete is confirmed, as shown in Fig. 11. Typically, 30 MPa
concrete exposed at room temperature and 200 °C, and 70 and
110 MPa concrete exposed at 500 °C show similar residual com-
pressive strength ranges, but the stress–strain curve relationships
516 E. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 171 (2018) 511–520

(a) 30MPa (b) 70MPa (c) 110MPa

Fig. 7. Compressive stress–strain curve of concrete cooled after heating.

Fig. 8. Residual compressive strength of concrete cooled after heating. Fig. 10. Relationship between measured and estimated values of compressive
strength of concrete by ultrasonic pulse velocity.

are different. The lower the ultrasonic pulse velocity of concrete,

the lower the slope of the stress–strain curves. In other words, it
is considered that the elastic modulus of concrete is lowered due
to the degradation of concrete exposed to a high temperature,
and the ultrasonic pulse velocity is lowered. The decrease in the
elastic modulus of concrete is considered to be influenced by the
occurrence of residual strain in concrete cooled after heating, as
shown in Fig. 12. The thermal strain of concrete caused by high
temperature that could not be recovered from cooling is defined
as residual strain. Physical/chemical changes and defects in inter-
nal structure (cracks, pores, etc.) occur in concrete on heating.
Therefore, the thermal strain and residual strain of concrete
become larger as heating temperature increases. The concrete
exposed to 700 °C was found to exhibit the residual strain of about
0.0024, although the thermal strain was recovered during cooling.
It was confirmed that the residual strain of concrete was higher as
the heating temperature was higher.

3.3. Ultrasonic pulse velocity of concrete during heating

Fig. 13 shows the ultrasonic pulse velocity of concrete during

Fig. 9. Residual elastic modulus of concrete cooled after heating.
heating and after cooling. With regard to the ultrasonic pulse
 E. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 171 (2018) 511–520 517

Fig. 13. Ultrasonic pulse velocity of concrete during heating and cooled.

velocities were observed for each heating temperature, because

the ultrasonic pulse generated by the PUNDIT cannot distinguish
the internal structure of concrete that had the different design
compressive strengths.
Unlike the ultrasonic pulse velocity in concrete cooled after
heating, the ultrasonic pulse velocity measured during the high-
temperature heating did not change significantly up to 300 °C.
However, the ultrasonic pulse velocity tended to reduce once it
was exceeding 300 °C. In addition, it was confirmed that a higher
compressive strength of concrete resulted in a higher reduction
in the ultrasonic pulse velocity as the temperature increased.
Fig. 11. Relationship between stress–strain curve and ultrasonic pulse velocity of
concrete cooled after heating.
This is considered to be relevant for the measured compressive
strength of concrete exposed to high temperatures, which
decreased at 100 °C and increased at 200 °C, as shown in Fig. 14.
Previous studies explained that the cause of this phenomenon is
the thermal expansion stress generated in concrete due to heating
[22,23].

Fig. 12. Strain behavior of concrete cooled after heating (70 MPa).

velocity in concrete cooled after heating, a higher heating temper-

ature tended to reduce the ultrasonic pulse velocity, regardless of
the compressive strength of concrete. Similar ultrasonic pulse Fig. 14. Compressive strength of concrete at high temperature [22].
518 E. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 171 (2018) 511–520
Moreover, as mentioned previously, the residual compressive
strength of concrete decreases after a 300 °C temperature; how-
ever, the residual elastic modulus of concrete decreases starting
at 100 °C. After a 300 °C temperature, the residual compressive
strength decreases sharply and the thermal strain becomes larger
than the static fracture strain (0.0025–0.0030), as shown in
Fig. 15. In addition, the decrease in the elastic modulus is due to
the plastic strain stemming from to the thermal strain in the con-
crete after 100 °C, and it can be considered that the degradation of
concrete begins to occur. The degradation of concrete occurs due to
the plastic strain; however, the effect on the residual compressive
strength is negligible. The degradation of concrete that occurred
before reaching the static fracture strain was not reflected in the
Fig. 15. Thermal strain, water vapor pressure and permeability of concrete with
temperature.
ultrasonic pulse velocity during the high temperature heating.
Instead, the ultrasonic pulse velocity reduced after reaching the
static fracture strain.
The thermal strain of concrete increases with an increase in the
heating temperature and reaches the static fracture strain of con-
crete at a 300 °C temperature. When the thermal strain is smaller
than the static fracture strain, it is confirmed that the water vapor
pressure of concrete increases, while the increase in the permeabil-
ity is insignificant. Though the degradation of concrete occurs due
to the thermal strain in the range from room temperature to
300 °C, it is still in the range of plastic strain. In the range above
300 °C, the thermal strain is more than the static fracture strain
of the concrete, the water vapor pressure is discharged, and the
permeability is approximately 100 times higher than that at the
room temperature. This is because the thermal strain becomes
larger than the static fracture strain at a 300 °C or more, resulting
in a rapid increase in the development of micro-cracks in concrete.
Moreover, a close relationship exists with the phenomenon,
wherein the ultrasonic pulse velocity of concrete rapidly decreases
after 300 °C.
In addition, the cross sections of the concrete specimens cooled
after heating up to 700 °C were checked as showed in Fig. 16.
Cracks were generated in the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) of
the aggregate and paste, and inside the aggregate. Crack bridges
were also observed between the cracks. The number of internal
cracks formed may vary according to the compressive strength of
concrete. However, concrete specimens manufactured with the
same materials are expected to show identical crack formations
from high temperature heating. It is considered that the mechani-
cal properties of concrete degraded and the ultrasonic pulse veloc-
ity decreased because of the internal cracks developed by the high
temperature heating.
Although the ultrasonic pulse velocity decreased in the concrete
specimens subjected to high temperature, due to the micro-cracks,
it did not decrease during heating up to 300 °C. It was the case
because the width of micro-cracks was reduced via the thermal
expansion due to heating. The ultrasonic pulse velocity measured
in the concrete specimens cooled after heating significantly
decreased, because the width of micro-cracks in the concrete spec-
imens increased due to cooling. Furthermore, a higher heating
temperature led to a higher reduction in the ultrasonic pulse veloc-
ity after cooling.
It was confirmed that this difference in the ultrasonic pulse
velocity was different from the results of residual and high-
temperature compressive strength of concrete, as shown in Figs. 8
and 14. It was found that, although the width of the micro-cracks
in concrete was increased by cooling, the residual and high-
temperature compressive strengths of concrete remained similar
[22]. However, the ultrasonic pulse velocity, significantly varied
due to a high temperature heating and cooling after heating.
Because the influence of micro-cracks generated by the heating
on the residual and high-temperature compressive strength of con-
crete was insignificant, it was making it possible to measure the
changes in micro-cracks of the concrete subjected to the tempera-
ture using the ultrasonic pulse velocity.
Also, the ultrasonic pulse velocity in concrete, while the heating
temperature is maintained after heating, was examined, as shown
in Fig. 17. While the heating temperature was maintained, the
ultrasonic pulse velocity in concrete decreased, except for the case
when temperature was 100 °C. It was confirmed that the concrete
degradation continued while the temperature was maintained,
even though the decrease in the ultrasonic pulse velocity was
insignificant, compared to the high-temperature heating
conditions.
 E. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 171 (2018) 511–520
Fig. 16. Cross section of concrete cooled after heating (700 °C).
Fig. 17. Ultrasonic pulse velocity of concrete maintaining temperature.
4. Conclusion
The ultrasonic pulse velocities in the concrete specimens sub-
jected to high-temperature heating for a long duration were con-
tinuously measured by tightly connecting the transducers of a
519
PUNDIT to the upper and lower surfaces of the concrete specimens
using SUS bars, and by cooling the connecting parts to prevent any
heat transfer. The heating of the materials and the connection of
different substances did not lead to a significant change in the
transmitted ultrasonic pulse while monitoring the concrete degra-
dation. Therefore, using the above experimental method, the fol-
lowing conclusions were obtained.
1. Concrete exposed to a high temperature retains the residual
strain after cooling. The higher the heating temperature, the
greater the residual strain becomes. This means that there is
deterioration of the internal structure of concrete, that leads
to a decrease in elastic modulus. Even if the concrete has a sim-
ilar residual compressive strength, the residual elastic modulus
differs according to the heating temperature. Thus, it is con-
firmed that the elastic modulus and ultrasonic pulse velocity
of concrete are considered to be closely related.
2. In the temperature range of 200–300° C, where the thermal
strain of concrete starts to exceed the static fracture strain
(0.0025–0.003), the emission of water vapor pressure sharply
increases. The residual and high temperature compressive
strength of concrete at temperatures up to 300 °C were similar
to the compressive strength at room temperature. Also, the
ultrasonic pulse velocity of concrete during heating up to 300°
C was similar to the ultrasonic pulse velocity at room tempera-
ture. However, the ultrasonic pulse velocity of concrete cooled
after heating is significantly lower, since the cracks generated
by heating are expanded. This is consistent with the decrease
of elastic modulus of concrete. It was confirmed that ultrasonic
pulse velocity was affected by the crack width that form in con-
crete during heating.
3. The width of cracks in concrete due to a high-temperature heat-
ing increases after cooling. Heating to a higher temperature
resulted in larger crack widths after cooling. This phenomenon
was clearly observed through a decrease in the ultrasonic pulse
velocity after cooling. It is possible to monitor the defects inside
the concrete, because there is a high correlation between the
increase in crack width and the decrease in ultrasonic pulse
velocity.
520 E. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 171 (2018) 511–520
4. Although the accuracy of estimating the compressive strength
via the ultrasonic pulse velocity is low, it is possible to diagnose
presence of defects in concrete through a relative reduction in
the ultrasonic pulse velocity, continuously measured in a con-
crete specimen subjected to high-temperature heating. Hence,
the ultrasonic pulse velocity makes possible a continuous eval-
uation of the degradation of concrete specimens, also the eval-
uation method proposed in this study is anticipated to allow the
integrity evaluation of concrete at high temperature heating. In
addition, in the future, it will be necessary to improve the
equipment to evaluate the integrity of concrete exposed to high
temperature.
Conflict of interests
There are no conflicts of interest to declare.
Acknowledgement
This work (NRF-2015R1A2A2A01007705) was supported by
Mid-career Researcher Program through NRF grant funded by the
MEST.
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