Title:
Prediction of Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) in Concrete
Author(s):
Yiching Lin, Chao-Peng Lai, and Tsong Yen
Publication:
Materials Journal
Volume:
100
Issue:
1
Appears on pages(s):
21-28
Keywords:
concrete; pulse velocity; water-cement ratio.
DOI:
10.14359/12459
Date:
1/1/2003
Abstract:
The objective of this paper is aimed at establishing mathematical models for predicting concrete pulse velocity. Experimental studies are carried out to evaluate the models. The specimen compositions vary widely in aggregate content and water-cement ratio (w/c). The influences of mixture proportions as well as the pulse velocities of cement paste, mortar, and aggregate on the concrete pulse velocity are analyzed. Variability study is also performed to assess the possible errors in pulse velocity prediction. The results of the studies show that the pulse velocity of hardened concrete can be predicted with errors less than 2.5%. In addition, changes in volume ratio of fine aggregate to total aggregate (S/A) have little influence on the pulse velocity for various w/cs. The pulse velocity of concrete decreases by increasing the volume of cement paste, especially for concrete with high w/cs. Error analysis reveals information about the distribution of coarse aggregate in concrete. With regular distribution of aggregate, the relative errors of the predicted pulse velocity in concrete are between + 1% and –1%.