Ultrasound Non-Destructive Characterization of Early Hydration of Cement Pastes: The Effects of Water-Cement Ratio and Curing Temperature

A newly developed ultrasound method that acquires at the same time both reflected and transmitted P-waves, at different angles, using two immersion transducers of 0.5 MHz central frequency, is described in this present study. This non-destructive method allows calculating the longitudinal and transverse velocities, and thus, the Young modulus, so that its evolutions is followed in time domain. The closely correlation between the evolution in time domain of those calculated parameters and hydration properties of cement based materials was used to characterize the effects of different water-cement ratio and curing temperatures on early age hydration behaviour of cement pastes. To do so, cement samples were prepared by mixing Portland cement and freshwater. Results indicates that lower water to cement ratio reduces the workability and increases the Young modulus of resulted cement medium. Also, both ultrasound velocities and Young modulus values increases linearly with increasing curing temperature.