Acoustic Emission and Physicomechanical Properties of Concrete under Sulfate Attack

Abstract

This study investigates the acoustic emission (AE) and physicomechanical properties of concrete under three sulfate attack conditions: continuous immersion, wetting–drying cycles, and cyclic loading coupled with wetting–drying cycles. The characteristics of AE absolute energy during the concrete compression process were statistically analyzed by the histogram method and maximum likelihood (ML) method. The results from this study showed that the concrete specimens experienced two stages: an enhancement stage and a subsequent deterioration stage. Both wetting–drying cycles and cyclic loading accelerated the sulfate attack process. The probability density distribution of AE absolute energy satisfied a power law, and the distribution exponent was related to the degree of sulfate attack. The filling of expansion products during the enhancement stage led to the ML curves displaying a good plateau with lower exponents. Conversely, the cracking occurring during the deterioration stage created upturned ML curves with higher exponents. The results indicate that the exponent can accurately characterize the degree of concrete degradation under sulfate attack.