Characterising fundamental properties of foam concrete with a non-destructive technique

Abstract

Lightweight foam concrete has been developing rapidly in construction industry due to its sustainability, excellent thermal insulation, excellent fire resistance and affordability. It is desired to assess the performance of the foam concrete structure on site instead of testing isolated specimen in laboratory condition, as the changes in site environment and different construction procedure will affect the testing result. For on-site testing of foam concrete, non-destructive methods are required to avoid damage to structures. Ultrasonic pulse velocity method (UPV) is one of the attractive methods used for onsite testing of concretes due to its benefits such as accurate results, high sampling..