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Imaging of two-dimensional unsaturated moisture flows in uncracked and cracked cement-based materials using electrical capacitance tomography

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Abstract

The development of visualizing tools to monitor unsaturated moisture flow in cement-based materials is of great importance, as most degradation processes in cement-based materials are connected to and take place in the presence moisture. This paper investigates the ability of electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) to image two-dimensional (2D) unsaturated moisture flow in cement-based materials. In ECT, the electrical permittivity distribution within an object is reconstructed based on measured capacitances between electrodes attached on the object’s surface. In a series of experiments, mortar specimens with and without discrete cracks were imaged with ECT during a 2D moisture ingress. The results show that ECT is able to monitor the evolution of the moisture flow, and to approximate the shape and position of the moisture front. These findings indicate that ECT is a viable method for monitoring and visualizing 2D unsaturated moisture flow in cement-based materials in the presence and absence of discrete cracks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, P.O.Box 1627, 70211, Kuopio, Finland

    Antti Voss, Niko Hänninen, Marko Vauhkonen & Aku Seppänen

  2. Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Mohammad Pour-Ghaz

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  1. Antti Voss
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  2. Niko Hänninen
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Correspondence to Antti Voss.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Academy of Finland (Projects 270174, 303801 and 273536, and the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Inverse modelling and imaging).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Voss, A., Hänninen, N., Pour-Ghaz, M. et al. Imaging of two-dimensional unsaturated moisture flows in uncracked and cracked cement-based materials using electrical capacitance tomography. Mater Struct 51, 68 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-018-1195-y

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