Comparative Study of Acoustic Emission and Scanning Electron Microscope to Evaluate Fracture Process Zone in Concrete Beams

Abstract

This paper deals with two aspects of characterization of the fracture process zone (FPZ) in concrete beams. A comparative study is done between acoustic emission (AE) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) to understand the microlevel aspect of the FPZ in concrete beams. SEM analysis, is mainly based on the preparation and analyzing samples which are considered as being a very important part (poor preparation techniques can lead to erroneous diagnosis of the concrete study). On the other hand, an AE is a localized and quick release of strain energy in a stressed material. The released energy causes stress waves, which propagate through the specimen. These waves can be detected at the specimen surface and analyzed to evaluate the magnitude and the nature of damage. The results obtained from the two experimental studies have shown that there is a small divergence between experimental results (SEM and AE). This may be related to some details during the sample analysis.