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Accurate strength prediction models of ordinary concrete using early-age complex permittivity

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Abstract

Early determination of correct cement dosage for concrete mixes and prediction of their compressive strengths are very valuable in construction industry. This article presents a few compressive-strength prediction models for ordinary concrete using early-age measurements of relative complex permittivity. Both the dielectric constant and loss factor of the first-seven-day concrete with four types of mix proportions were measured for building the mathematical models composed of exponential functions at 6 GHz, whereas the measured dielectric data at 28 d were used for model validations. The proposed models not only have high regression accuracy with R2-values of greater than 0.97 but also the low prediction errors of within 10%, which significantly outperform the existing models of the same kind. Through Cole–Cole plot analysis, this article reveals an interesting finding that a minimum loss factor was located at 3 GHz regardless of the age of concrete, which would be useful for wireless network design and planning inside a building. The average loss tangents of various concrete mixes have also been verified to have the same value (~ 0.33) regardless of concrete age, which explains the confidence in use of early-age dielectric properties. Moreover, this article also initiates a precise prediction method of using loss factor and dielectric constant simultaneously in a 3-dimensional plot, wherein no explicit mathematical model is required.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51978353) and the NSFC-Shandong Province Joint Key Project (Grant No. U2006223).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Collaborative Innovation Center of Engineering Construction and Safety in Shandong Blue Economic Zone, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, 266033, China

    Song Gao

  2. School of Civil Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, 266033, China

    Song Gao, Aiqi Cui, Jianlin Luo, Lingling Wang, Mingliang Ma & Zijian Liao

  3. Intelligent Civionics Laboratory, School of Computer Science and Engineering, Huizhou University, Guangdong, 516007, China

    Kwok L. Chung

  4. Structural Engineering Department, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Dakahlia, 35516, Egypt

    Mohamed Ghannam

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  1. Song Gao
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Contributions

SG: Funding acquisition and methodology. KLC: Conceptualization, manuscript writing and revision. AC: Revision and model validation. MG: Visualization and revision. JL: Checking and editing. LW: Data acquisition and modelling. MM: Data verification and modelling. ZL: Concrete mixing and measurement.

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Correspondence to Kwok L. Chung.

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Gao, S., Chung, K.L., Cui, A. et al. Accurate strength prediction models of ordinary concrete using early-age complex permittivity. Mater Struct 54, 172 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-021-01765-z

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