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Characterization of progressive microcracking

in Portland cement mortar using nonlinear
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Article in NDT & E International March 2008

DOI: 10.1016/j.ndteint.2007.08.009

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 ARTICLE IN PRESS

NDT&E International 41 (2008) 112118

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Characterization of progressive microcracking in Portland cement

mortar using nonlinear ultrasonics
X.J. Chena,c, J.-Y. Kima, K.E. Kurtisa, J. Qub, C.W. Shenc, L.J. Jacobsa,b,
a
School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0355, USA
b
Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0405, USA
c
School of Transportation, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Received 16 April 2007; received in revised form 28 July 2007; accepted 31 August 2007
Available online 14 September 2007

Abstract

This paper presents the successful application of a nonlinear ultrasonic technique, nonlinear wave modulation spectroscopy (NWMS)
to quantitatively track the evolution of microcracks in Portland cement mortar samples. The damage type considered in this study is
microcracking due to alkalisilica reaction (ASR), a deleterious reaction occurring in concrete structures around the world. Nonlinear
ultrasonic measurements are conducted on six different mortar specimens that are monitored from their initial, intact state up to their
fully damaged state. The objective of this research is to determine the sensitivity and suitability of NWMS to quantitatively track this
damage state throughout an entire life-cycle and to nondestructively identify the initiation time and the extent of microcracking in these
mortar specimens. The nonlinear ultrasonic measurements are made with standard laboratory equipment, and the inherent high
attenuation of cement-based materials is overcome with a procedure that uses the sideband energy instead of measuring peak amplitudes.
The results show that the NWMS method can track the progressive damage in mortar, demonstrating the feasibility of using this
nonlinear ultrasonic technique to quantitatively assess the deterioration of cement-based materials.
r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Nonlinear acoustic technique; Microcrack detection; Cement-based materials; Alkalisilica reaction

1. Introduction waves difcult in this material. Due to their complex

Nonlinear ultrasonic techniques have proven to be useful
for material diagnostics and damage detection for various
material systems [18]. However, the development of a
quantitative nondestructive evaluation procedure to track
and quantify damage in cement-based materials, such as
paste, mortar, and concrete, is still a challenging problem.
First, cement-based materials have a complex structure,
which is highly heterogeneous on multiple length scales due
to the nature of its constituents (cement, sand, aggregates,
etc.) and their dimensions, geometry, properties, and
distribution. Second, there is a high level of attenuation
intrinsic in ultrasonic waves propagating in cement-based
materials, making any measurements using ultrasonic
Corresponding author. School of Civil & Environmental Engineering,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0355, USA.
E-mail address: laurence.jacobs@ce.gatech.edu (L.J. Jacobs).
structure and multiple constituents with different mechan-
ical properties, cement-based materials are inherently
nonlinear. In general, when such materials are damaged,
they become even more nonlinear, which means that
nonlinear ultrasonic methods are promising candidate
tools for the quantitative detection of damage in this
material.
With the progress of damage (e.g., microcracking), the
linear acoustic properties of a cement-based material such
as attenuation and wave speed will change and these
changes can be measured and used to correlate with the
degree of material damage. However, recent results of
attenuation measurements in cement mortars experiencing
expansion and microcracking due to the alkalisilica
reaction (ASR) show that both attenuation and wave
speed change less than 10% in a nonmonotonic manner,
exhibiting several increases and decreases as the damage
progresses [9]. Even though this result can be explained in

0963-8695/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ndteint.2007.08.009
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
X.J. Chen et al. / NDT&E International 41 (2008) 112118
terms of the chemomechanical events that occur in the
material at different stages of the damage process, it is
difcult to use these results to develop a quantitative
technique to characterize ASR damage.
The objective of this research is to quantify the
accumulation of ASR damage, specically microcracking,
in Portland cement mortars using nonlinear ultrasonic
methods. In most of the existing published literature,
nonlinear ultrasonic techniques were used to simply
distinguish damaged samples from undamaged ones.
Furthermore, in most cases the materials were homoge-
neous and had relatively simple microstructures (mostly
metals), for which ultrasonic measurements are well-
standardized. There are limited reports of applications of
these nonlinear ultrasonic methods to characterize material
damage during the process of a complete damage cycle,
and for materials with highly complex microstructures.
In general, the acoustic (ultrasonic) properties of a
material are greatly inuenced by the presence of micro-
defects, which are called the soft portions of a material.
Not only are their elastic properties different from those of
the dominant portions, but these soft portions are also
load-dependent, hysteretic and nonlinear. Therefore, the
presence of microcracks inevitably results in amplitude-
dependent (nonlinear) manifestations. This research ap-
plies a nonlinear ultrasonic technique, nonlinear wave
modulation spectroscopy (NWMS) to quantitatively mea-
sure the accumulation of microcracks.
To examine the viability and effectiveness of this NWMS
method through progressive ASR damage, mortars are
prepared with a known alkali-reactive cherty aggregate and
are exposed to aggressive conditions to induce damage due
to ASR. The product of the ASR is a potentially expansive
gel, which in the presence of moisture, can generate
pressures in excess of the materials tensile strength, leading
to cracking (for a review of the chemistry of ASR and
associated damage mechanisms, see [10,11]). Over time,
with continued exposure to aggressive conditions, the
microcracking and aggregate/paste debonding increases,
until a network of cracks is formed throughout the
material. NWMS measurements are made on samples
exposed to aggressive environments and are compared to
those stored in benign conditions.
It is important to note that the progression of ASR
damage is also quantied by measuring an expansion
percentage (strain) following procedures described in
ASTM C 1260 [12]. These expansion results are then used
as an independent benchmark of the amount of damage for
the nonlinear ultrasonic results.
2. Nonlinearity parameter
NWMS is an NDE technique for detecting damage in
materials. The physical principle behind NWMS is the
well-known fact that imperfect interfaces and cracks
produce a large amount of nonlinearity due to nonlinear
motions [13,14], i.e., elastic contact and/or openingclosing
113
of two interfaces. In NWMS, the distributed cracks and the
nite-sized interfaces between phases are excited by
relatively high amplitude, low frequency (f1) vibration to
induce their nonlinear motion. In the meantime, a high
frequency (f2) probing ultrasonic wave is sent through the
material. The NWMS procedure measures the degree of
nonlinear interaction between these low and high frequency
acoustic waves in the form of outputs at the combination
of frequencies (f27f1), in addition to the linear outputs at
f1 and f2.
The low frequency vibration may be introduced in
samples by a continuous excitation [3] with, for example, a
shaker or a piezoceramic transducer. A more eld-
adaptable NWMSthe impactmodulation method [4]
creates the low frequency excitation by tapping the sample
with an impact hammer and modulation is achieved
through a resonant vibration of the sample. In the
impactmodulation method, high frequency probing ultra-
sonic waves propagate through the material and interact
with the relatively high amplitude, low frequency modulat-
ing waves, which are created with an impact excitation of
the natural modes of vibration of the structure. This results
in the modulation of the probing (propagating) signal with
readily recognizable sidebands, the magnitudes of which
are directly related to the extent of microcracks [4]. The
expected location of the sidebands is the probing frequency
plus and minus the frequency of the modulating wave
(f27f1). The nonlinearity of the material can then be
evaluated with the modulation amplitude. The peaks of the
sidebands frequency are usually easily determined since
the specimen vibrates at its natural frequencies, thus
providing an efcient excitation.
In metallic materials with low attenuation, multiple
modulation peaks are clearly seen around the high
frequency excitation [4], and thus it is possible to reliably
measure the amplitudes of certain peaks. However, this
may not be possible in cement-based materials with high
attenuation (or in thin samples with a high density of
natural frequencies). This research uses the energy of the
sideband (integration in the power spectrum) instead of the
amplitudes of the modulation peaks as a quantitative
measure of nonlinearity; it will be demonstrated that this
sideband energy is reliable for cement mortars with the
proposed measurement setup.
The modulation mechanism has not been quantitatively
analyzed yet, but it is generally accepted that the amplitude
of the modulation (sideband) is linearly proportional to the
amplitude of the samples vibration, the amplitude of the
ultrasonic probing wave, and the amount of damage [4].
Letting E1 and E2 be the energies of the impact and the
probing (propagating) acoustic wave, respectively, the
modulation (sideband) energy Em is proportional to E1
and E2 [4]:
E m D
E 1 E 2 , (1)
where D is a nonlinearity parameter related to the damage
and thus can be used to quantify the damage. Here,
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114 X.J. Chen et al. / NDT&E International 41 (2008) 112118

keeping E2 constant, the nonlinearity parameter D is
estimated by taking the ratio between the modulation
energy and the impact energy, i.e.,
DE m =E 1 .
3. Experiments
3.1. Samples and generation of ASR damage
ASR damage in cement-based materials can be attrib-
uted (at the microstructural level) to the reaction of certain
siliceous minerals present in some aggregate with the
strongly alkaline pore solution, inherently present in
Portland cement-based materials. The product of the
reaction is an alkalisilica gel which tends to form in a
rim surrounding reactive aggregates. In the presence of
water, the gel product swells, leading to expansion and,
when the tensile capacity of the paste or aggregate is
exceeded, cracking. This expansion and cracking can
compromise the mechanical properties, durability, and
serviceability of affected structures.
ASR has been identied in dams, bridges, and pave-
ments, among other structures, around the world [10,11].
As such, accelerated laboratory tests have been developed
to screen potentially reactive aggregate and aggregate/
cement combinations. The accelerated mortar bar test [12]
is perhaps the most commonly used accelerated test for
ASR. Results are typically available within 16 days;
however, interest exists in developing even more rapid
screening for ASR. Thus, this research has potential
applications for ultra-accelerated lab testing, in addition
to eld monitoring and condition assessment.
This research examines two groups of mortar bar
samples, with three bars prepared for each group, for a
total of six bars. The mortar bars, measured 1-in.  1-in.
square and 10-in. in length (25.4  25.4  254 mm), were
made with water: cement: sand at a ratio of 1:2.16:4.85 by
weight as specied in ASTM C 1260 [12], which describes
an accelerated mortar bar test for assessing reactivity of
aggregates. In order to induce microcracks in the samples,
alkali-reactive cherty sand was used as the aggregate. The
sand consisted of a 50/50 blend of aggregate retained on
Nos. 30 and 50 sieves, giving a maximum diameter of the
sand as 0.0464 in. (1.18 mm). After curing for 7 days at
100% RH at 22 1C, an initial set of nonlinear acoustic
measurements was performed on all six specimens. Then,
(2)
two of the three specimens from one set (referred to as
specimens S01 and S02) were cured at ambient conditions
for an additional 100 days before being soaked in a 1 N
NaOH solution in an 80 1C oven, following ASTM C 1260,
to gradually induce ASR microcracking, while two of the
three specimens from the second set (referred to as
specimens T01 and T02) were only cured for an additional
10 days before being exposed to the same 1 N NaOH
solution at 80 1C. Note that each set had a control
specimen (S03 and T03) that was aged but not exposed
to the 1 N NaOH solution. A summary of the samples and
tests are given in Tables 1 and 2, and the ASR expansion is
measured following ASTM C 1260 and will be used to
benchmark the nonlinear ultrasonic results.
3.2. Ultrasonic measurement setup and procedure
Fig. 1 shows the schematic of the NWMS experimental
setup. A narrowband ultrasonic transducer (Panametrics
X1021 50 kHz) coupled by vacuum grease to one end of the
specimen produces the probing ultrasonic waves, while a
second broadband ultrasonic transducer (Ultran RD100
100 kHz) coupled to the opposite end receives this
transmitted (probing) ultrasonic wave. A continuous
sinusoidal wave with a frequency of 39 kHz (input
amplitude of 15 Vpp) from a wave generator (Wavetek
185) is input into the narrowband transducer to produce
the probing wave. The 39 kHz frequency is selected because
it is low enough to not be completely attenuated over its
254 mm propagation distance, yet high enough to be well
Table 2
Specimen ages at expansion and nonlinear measurements
Samples Age at expansion and nonlinear measurements
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th
S0103 102d 108d 115d 123d 129d 136d 142d
T0103 11d 17d 23d

Table 1
Summary of samples and measured expansion

Samples Age at start of Damage condition Expansion (%)

tests
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

S01 100d Gradually damaged 0.026 0.047 0.166 0.253 0.414 0.491 0.559
S02 0.022 0.045 0.114 0.190 0.330 0.412 0.489
S03 Intact 0.005 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006
T01 10d Gradually damaged 0.014 0.068 0.192
T02 0.020 0.079 0.204
T03 Intact 0.006 0.008 0.008
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X.J. Chen et al. / NDT&E International 41 (2008) 112118 115

separated from the upper limit of the modulated excitation upon impact with a hammer; the ends are close to a
frequency band in the power spectrum. The transducers clampedclamped boundary condition. The sample and
and the sample are tightly pressed together by a xture xture are vibration-isolated on a thick rubber base. An
such that the sample will not slip at the transducers faces instrumented hammer (PCB 086C05) is used to create the

Preamplifier
Data acquisition:

#1 #2 Trig

Sample Transmitter
Function
generator
Receiver
low pass filter Accelerometer

Preamplifier

Fig. 1. Measurement setup for nonlinear modulation technique.

Fig. 2. (a) A typical vibration signal from the accelerometer and (b) its spectra at different impact strengths.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
116 X.J. Chen et al. / NDT&E International 41 (2008) 112118

modulation frequency and to trigger the data acquisition
system, while an accelerometer (PCB 309A) is attached to
the opposite side of the hammer to record the low
frequency (vibration) modulation signal. The vibration
signal is low-pass ltered at 15 kHz, and then recorded by
an oscilloscope (Tektronix TDS 5034). The two recorded
time-domain signals (one from the accelerometer and the
other one from the ultrasonic transducer) are fast Fourier
transformed (FFT) to calculate the energies of both the
impact and the sideband.

Fig. 3. (a) A typical probing ultrasonic signal from the ultrasonic receiver and (b) its power spectra for different impact strengths.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
X.J. Chen et al. / NDT&E International 41 (2008) 112118 117

The nonlinear modulation frequency spectra are ana-

lyzed with the following procedure, illustrated in Figs. 2 0.035
Sample S01 5th ASR: 0.414%
and 3 for actual experimental signals: 7th ASR: 0.559%
0.03

Normalized energy of sideband

 Dene the frequency bands of: (1) the low frequency
0.025
vibration that contains all dominant resonance modes; 6th ASR: 0.491%
and (2) the sidebands from the modulation around the 0.02
4th ASR: 0.253%

probing high frequency peak.

 Integrate the power spectra in the frequency bands 0.015
specied above. This work uses the spectrum of 3rd ASR: 0.166%

vibration (measured by the accelerometer) as the energy 0.01

2nd ASR: 0.047%
input instead of the low frequency band spectrum
measured by the ultrasonic transducer. Since the 0.005
Non ASR Damage
vibration excited by the impact is perpendicular to the 1st ASR: 0.026%

direction of the probing ultrasonic transmission wave, 0

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
the signal obtained from the accelerometer is an
Normalized energy of impact
accurate representation of the energy of the impact.
 The impact energy E1 and sideband energy Em are
measured and calculated for increasing values of impact 0.03
Sample S02
strength (simply tap the hammer harder on the sample) 6th ASR: 0.412%
7th ASR: 0.489%
while keeping the amplitude of the high frequency 0.025
Normalized energy of sideband
probing waves through the bar constant. One impact is
selected and used to normalize the other results. 0.02
 Finally, the slope (proportional to the nonlinearity 5th ASR: 0.330%

parameter, D) is calculated from the plot of E1 versus Em.

0.015 4th ASR: 0.190%

3rd ASR:0.114%
0.01
4. Results and discussion
2nd ASR: 0.045%

Measurements are performed on the two groups of 0.005

samples (S0 and T0 samples), which were aged for
different periods (days) prior to exposure to the aggressive
conditions, as described in Table 2.
Consider the NWMS results. Fig. 4 shows the relation-
ship between the normalized impact energy and the
normalized sideband energy for samples S01 and S02, as
both progress from an undamaged state through increasing
expansion due to exposure to ASTM C 1260 conditions.
The gures show that the normalized sideband energy
increases linearly with the normalized impact energy, as is
predicted by Eq. (1). It should be noted that the
modulation nonlinearities for the two samples are quite
close in their absolute values. It is postulated that the
difference in absolute values in the nonlinearity between
these two samples is due to the difference in the rate of
progressive damage in each sample. Furthermore, their
slopesthe modulation nonlinearity parameter, D
increase signicantly with the progress of the ASR damage
(the independently measured expansion ranged from
0.1% to 0.56% as presented in Table 1 and Fig. 4).
Note that the slope is an indirect measure of damage that
can also be used as an indicator of the density of
microcracks.
A similar increase of nonlinearity for samples T01 and
T02 is shown in Fig. 5. Note that the T0 specimens began
their exposure to the aggressive environment after 10 days,
as compared to 100 days for the S0 specimens. The greater
Non ASR Damage
1st ASR: 0.022%
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Normalized energy of impact
Fig. 4. (a) Change of nonlinearity parameter D during expansion and
progressive damage (measured as expansion, %) for sample S01 and
(b) change of nonlinearity parameter D during expansion and progressive
damage (measured as expansion, %) for sample S02.
expansion measured in the exposed T0 samples at interval 3
(i.e., 13 days of exposure), relative to the expansion of the
exposed S0 at the same interval (and 15 days exposure), is
expected due to the increased impermeability and strength
of the older S0 samples upon exposure. This more rapid
damage evolution in the younger sample group is also
apparent in Fig. 6.
Fig. 6 shows a summary of the increase of the
nonlinearity parameter D for all four of the exposed
samples during the damage process. Generally, an increase
in the slope coincides with expansion. This suggests that
the nonlinear parameters are sensitive to the changes in
microstructures (e.g., ASR gel product formation, aggre-
gate/paste debonding, cracking in the aggregate and paste)
occurring with the ongoing expansive ASR. Further
research is necessary, however, to fully interpret the
changes in slope with expansion with respect to the
features of the accumulated damage.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
118 X.J. Chen et al. / NDT&E International 41 (2008) 112118

0.03 parameters is observed during the progression of ASR

Sample T01&T02
T01: 0.192%
damage.
Finally, this research suggests that damage to cement-
Normalized energy of sideband

0.025
T02: 0.204% based materials by ASR may be quantied by nonlinear
0.02
ultrasonic techniques. In the laboratory, such information is
valuable for screening potentially reactive materials; these
T02: 0.079% methods could be the basis for more rapid materials testing,
0.015
in addition to eld monitoring. Further study to relate
T01: 0.068%
observed increases in acoustic nonlinearity to the chemo-
0.01 T01: 0.014%
mechanical progress of ASR damage will be performed to
T02:0.020% better understand the relationships between the nonlinearity
0.005 T01:INTACT parameters and the manifestations of damage.
T02: INTACT
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Acknowledgment
Normalized energy of impact
This work is partially supported by the Georgia Depart-
Fig. 5. Change of nonlinearity parameter D during ASR damage process ment of Transportation (Project 0612); the opinions
for sample T01 and T02, with expansion measurements for each sample at expressed here do not necessarily reect those of the sponsor.
each measurement interval noted as percentages.

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