The measurement of static vertical deflections on bridges continues to be a first-level technological challenge. These data are of great interest, especially for the case of long-term bridge monitoring; in fact, they are perhaps more valuable than any other measurable parameter. This is because material degradation processes and changes of the mechanical properties of the structure due to aging (for example creep and shrinkage in concrete bridges) have a direct impact on the exhibited static vertical deflections. This paper introduces and evaluates an approach to monitor displacements and rotations of structures using a novel laser and video-based displacement transducer (LVBDT). The proposed system combines the use of laser beams, LED lights, and a digital video camera, and was especially designed to capture static and slow-varying displacements. Contrary to other video-based approaches, the camera is located on the bridge, hence allowing to capture displacements at one location. Subsequently, the sensing approach and the procedure to estimate displacements and the rotations are described. Additionally, laboratory and in-service field testing carried out to validate the system are presented and discussed. The results demonstrate that the proposed sensing approach is robust, accurate, and reliable, and also inexpensive, which are essential for field implementation.

This paper shows the scientific possibilities of computed tomography for the study of concrete porosity. The enormous technological advances in computed tomography equipment used in materials research, with increasingly higher energy, better resolution and smaller pixel size will allow, in the near future, viewing pore sizes that are currently unthinkable, competing in resolution with the traditional techniques of mercury porosimetry and nitrogen adsorption. The challenge at that time (and to a lesser extent today) will be how to extract as much information as possible from the large amount of data provided by computed tomography equipment. In this article, through the study of six cubic specimens of 40 mm sides, different techniques of extraction and presentation of the information are shown, which help us to better understand the characterization of the morphology and distribution of the pores inside the concrete matrix. This information is essential to understand some of the macroscopic responses of the concrete.

This paper analyzes the pore morphology of two different concrete mixtures (plain and fiber-reinforced) under two different curing conditions, through the use of a CT scanner and post-processing software. Twelve cylinders of 45.2 mm in diameter and 50 mm in height were cast. Half of the specimens were kept in a humidity-controlled room, at 20 °C and 60% humidity, and the rest in a curing room, at 20 °C and 100% humidity. All the specimens were scanned at the age of 28 days, using a micro CT scanner. The results reveal that the presence of fibers substantially modifies the pore morphology in the way of increasing the volume of voids and the pore-size, reducing the shape factor of the voids and reorienting the voids toward a direction more aligned to the one showed by the fibers. In general, the curing conditions do no exhibit a great impact on the results.

The response ranges of three principal mechanical parameters were measured following cyclic compressive loading of three types of concrete specimen to a pre-defined number of cycles. Thus, compressive strength, compressive modulus of elasticity, and maximum compressive strain were studied in (i) plain, (ii) steel-fiber-reinforced, and (iii) polypropylene-fiber-reinforced high-performance concrete specimens. A specific procedure is presented for evaluating the residual values of the three mechanical parameters. The results revealed no significant variation in the mechanical properties of the concrete mixtures within the test range, and slight improvements in the mechanical responses were, in some cases, detected. In contrast, the scatter of the mechanical parameters significantly increased with the number of cycles. In addition, all the specimens were scanned by means of high resolution computed tomography, in order to visualize the microstructure and the internal damage (i.e., internal micro cracks). Consistent with the test results, the images revealed no observable internal damage caused by the cyclic loading.

In this paper, two concrete mixtures of plain concrete (PC) and steel fiber-reinforced high-performance concrete (SFRC) have been scanned in order to analyze the variation of the pore morphology during the first curing week. Six cylinders of 45.2-mm diameter 50-mm height were performed. All of the specimens were kept in a curing room at 20 °C and 100% humidity. A computed tomography (CT) scan was used to observe the internal voids of the mixtures, and the data were analyzed using digital image processing (DIP) software, which identified and isolated each individual void in addition to extracting all of their geometrical parameters. The results revealed that the SFRC specimens showed a greater porosity than the PC ones. Moreover, the porosity increased over time in the case of SFRC, while it remained almost constant in the case of PC. The porosity increased with the depth in all cases, and the lowest porosity was observed in the upper layer of the specimens, which is the one that was in contact with the air. The analysis of the results showed that the fibers provided additional stiffness to the cement paste, which was especially noticeable during this first curing week, resulting in an increasing of the volume of the voids and the pore size, as well as a reduction in the shape factor of the voids, among other effects.

Esta investigación se centra en analizar la relación que existe entre la orientación de las fibras y su densidad, por un lado, y la resistencia residual a tracción del hormigón reforzado, por otro. Para ello se fabricó una viga pared de hormigón reforzado con fibras metálicas, del que se extrajeron una serie de probetas prismáticas, de diferentes zonas. En primer lugar, todas las probetas fueron sometidas a un ensayo de tomografía axial computarizada (CT-Scan) para obtener la posición y orientación de sus fibras. A continuación, dichas probetas fueron sometidas al ensayo de flexión en tres puntos, de acuerdo a la normativa vigente, y se obtuvieron los valores de resistencia residual a tracción del hormigón (fR,i). In this paper, a study is conducted on the relationship between fibre orientation and fibre volume fraction and residual flexural tensile strength. In order to do this, one steel fibre reinforced concrete deep beam was casted. A set of prismatic specimens were extracted from different parts of this deep beam and with different orientations. First, all these specimens were subjected to a computed tomography (CT-Scan) study in which the fibre orientation and fibre volume fraction was determined. These specimens were then subjected to 3-point bending testing, in accordance with current standards, and the residual flexural tensile strengths values were obtained (fR,i).