Spalling of concrete as studied by NMR

L. Pel, G.H.A. Heijden, van der, H.P. Huinink

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

During the past twenty years concrete has developed in both strength and durability. A downside to these improvements is the increased risk of explosive spalling in case of fire. Different factors such as heating rate, applied loading, permeability, and moisture saturation play an important role in spalling. One of the explanations for spalling is the pressure build up by evaporating moisture which is unable to escape. To study the moisture migration inside concrete during intense heating a dedicated Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) setup was built. With this setup one dimensional moisture profiles can be measured as function of time. For the magnetic field a 1.5 T medical scanner (Philips, Gyroscan) is used. The samples can be heated to temperatures up to 250 oC. Preliminary measurements on fired-clay brick and calcium-silicate brick have shown that during heating a receding drying front is observed. In the fired-clay brick the position of the drying front correlates with the position at which 100 oC is reached. However, in both the calcium-silicate brick and the concrete samples the drying front lags behind on the temperature. As a result water is superheated to a temperature above 100 oC, which could result in large pressures. Keywords: NMR concrete spalling moisture temperature
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Advances in Concrete through Science and Technology, 11-13 September 2006, Quebec City, Canada
EditorsJ. Marchand, B. Bissonnette, R. Gagné, M. Jolin
Place of PublicationBagneux
PublisherS.A.R.L.
Pages2006-08-02-
ISBN (Print)2-35158-003-6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2006
Eventconference; International Symposium on Advances in Concrete through Science and Technology ; 2 (Quebec) : 2006.09.11-13 -
Duration: 1 Jan 2006 → …

Publication series

NameRILEM proceedings
Volume51

Conference

Conferenceconference; International Symposium on Advances in Concrete through Science and Technology ; 2 (Quebec) : 2006.09.11-13
Period1/01/06 → …
OtherInternational Symposium on Advances in Concrete through Science and Technology ; 2 (Quebec) : 2006.09.11-13

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