Smyl, D. orcid.org/0000-0002-6730-5277, Hallaji, M., Seppanen, A. et al. (1 more author) (2016) Three-dimensional electrical impedance tomography to monitor unsaturated moisture ingress in cement-based materials. Transport in Porous Media, 115 (1). pp. 101-124. ISSN 0169-3913
Abstract
The development of tools to monitor unsaturated moisture flow in cement-based material is of great importance, as most degradation processes in cement-based materials take place in the presence of moisture. In this paper, the feasibility of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) to monitor three-dimensional (3D) moisture flow in mortar containing fine aggregates is investigated. In the experiments, EIT measurements are taken during moisture ingress in mortar, using electrodes attached on the outer surface of specimens. For EIT, the so-called difference imaging scheme is adopted to reconstruct the change of the 3D electrical conductivity distribution within a specimen caused by the ingress of water into mortar. To study the ability of EIT to detect differences in the rate of ingress, the experiment is performed using plain water and with water containing a viscosity-modifying agent yielding a slower flow rate. To corroborate EIT, X-ray computed tomography (CT) and simulations of unsaturated moisture flow are carried out. While X-ray CT shows contrast with respect to background only in highly saturated regions, EIT shows the conductivity change also in the regions of low degree of saturation. The results of EIT compare well with simulations of unsaturated moisture flow. Moreover, the EIT reconstructions show a clear difference between the cases of water without and with the viscosity-modifying agent and demonstrate the ability of EIT to distinguish between different flow rates.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Transport in Porous Media. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Concrete; Electrical impedance tomography; Unsaturated moisture transport; Electrical methods; X-ray computed tomography |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Civil and Structural Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 22 May 2019 11:19 |
Last Modified: | 24 May 2019 18:28 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Verlag |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s11242-016-0756-1 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:146269 |