Monitoring Fresh State Behavior of Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composites (FRCCs) : A Non-Destructive, Non-Intrusive and Full Field Image Based Technique

The results obtained from many previous studies highlight the need for further investigation of the strong connection existing between fresh state and hardened state performance of fiber reinforced concrete. A comprehensive experimental study was conducted to better understand the behavior of FRCCs in the fresh state. The differences in terms of fresh state performance were identified by evaluating the results of mini-slump flow, mold flow and dynamic segregation resistance. The results of the experimental study were obtained i) by using conventional measurement techniques, ii) by applying Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) analysis on the captured images. PIV is a non-contact deformation measurement method, which measures surface displacements and strains using digital image analysis. The results of this study showed that PIV analysis can give detailed information (when compared to conventional methods) about the fresh state behavior of cement-based materials, especially when distinguishing between very similar materials are needed. It was also figured out that PIV can be employed to evaluate material flow throughout casting, dynamic segregation resistance of fibers by carefully analyzing vector profiles, full field strain distributions and fiber blocking regions.