Investigation of Self-Compacting Concrete Behavior under Axial Load by Acoustic Emission Method

Abstract

The acoustic emission (AE) method is a nondestructive test method used when monitoring the damage propagation by detecting high-frequency elastic waves produced by the refraction process. Self-compacting concrete (SCC) is a special type of concrete that does not require vibration, has excellent fluidity, and is resistant to segregation. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the functioning of the AE technique, which is frequently used in normal concrete, in the behavior of SCC. For this purpose, simultaneous monitoring of SCCs under uniaxial compression load was performed with the AE method. In the concrete production, CEM I 42.5 R cement was used as binder, and fly ash (FA) and marble powder (MP) were used as mineral additives. The mineral additives used in the mixture were replaced with cement at a rate of 20%. In addition to the compressive strength of SCCs, crack analysis, AE amplitude, AE energy, ringing counts, and cumulative count results were investigated as a result of AE measurements. With the AE parameters obtained as a result of the simultaneous measurement, the behavior of SCCs under uniaxial load was successfully monitored. It has been observed that the behavior of SCC using different mineral additives changes according to the mineral additive type. Although the differences in compressive strengths are small, it has been demonstrated that the AE method can be followed successfully in different concrete types and different contents and the behavioral differences are revealed.