The Application of a New Technique to Determine the Beginning of the Setting Time for Cement-Based Materials

The Application of a New Technique to Determine the Beginning of the Setting Time for Cement-Based Materials

en

Waves, in general, can be characterised as a physical phenomenon. Mechanical waves occur in the environment, which is composed of particles between which there is a bond. In this material, the forced oscillation of one particle is progressively transferred to the other particles, with environmental particles not moving in the space but only oscillating around equilibrium positions and they are simultaneously deforming. The oscillation progresses at a certain speed from its source at some points, either in the plane or in space. In order to analyse the change of mechanical waves passing through fine-grained cement-based composite material during setting and hardening, a suitable experimental technique is needed. The main aim of this paper is a description of the non-destructive method, which will be used mainly to monitor the signal amplitude change during the setting and hardening of cement-based materials. The measuring set was composed for this purpose from the equipment of the Brno University of Technology. The form for the testing of composites is made in the same size as the Vicat’s ring. The own measurement of the signal will be done on the DAKEL XEDO acoustic analyser. The main advantage of the method is its non-destructive character. The first results show the obtained results could be used to determine the initial setting time of the cement-based composites.

Waves, in general, can be characterised as a physical phenomenon. Mechanical waves occur in the environment, which is composed of particles between which there is a bond. In this material, the forced oscillation of one particle is progressively transferred to the other particles, with environmental particles not moving in the space but only oscillating around equilibrium positions and they are simultaneously deforming. The oscillation progresses at a certain speed from its source at some points, either in the plane or in space. In order to analyse the change of mechanical waves passing through fine-grained cement-based composite material during setting and hardening, a suitable experimental technique is needed. The main aim of this paper is a description of the non-destructive method, which will be used mainly to monitor the signal amplitude change during the setting and hardening of cement-based materials. The measuring set was composed for this purpose from the equipment of the Brno University of Technology. The form for the testing of composites is made in the same size as the Vicat’s ring. The own measurement of the signal will be done on the DAKEL XEDO acoustic analyser. The main advantage of the method is its non-destructive character. The first results show the obtained results could be used to determine the initial setting time of the cement-based composites.