Investigation of corrosion resistance and mechanical properties of self-compacting concretes with acoustic emission method

Corrosion of steel reinforcement often causes damage and deterioration in reinforced concrete structures. Monitoring reinforcement corrosion is an important aspect to assess the durability and remaining service life of structures, especially in marine environments. Non-destructive testing methods used in monitoring methods have been developed as critical methods to assess damage levels within concrete without external damage based on its physical characterization. In this thesis study, the Acoustic Emission (AE) method, one of the non-destructive methods, was chosen. AE method; It helps us monitor damage propagation and characterize damage by detecting high-frequency elastic waves produced by the fraction itself. In the concrete design, the Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) type, which has a low void ratio and is increasingly common today, was selected. While designing SCC, CEM I 42.5 R cement was used as binder, Fly Ash (FA) and Marble Powder (MP) as mineral additives, Stone Dust (SD) as filler material, and hyperplasticizer as chemical additive. In addition to a series produced only with cement, which does not contain minerals, a total of 7 series of SCC were produced by using 2 different mineral additives in 3 different ratios. First, fresh state experiments were carried out and the flow and transition abilities of the produced series were measured. Water absorption, porosity, ultrasonic pulse velocity, capillary water absorption, accelerated chlorine permeability, electrical resistivity, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and accelerated corrosion tests were applied in hardened SCC experiments. With the AE method, simultaneous measurements were taken during both the compressive and splitting tensile strength tests and the accelerated corrosion test on the reinforced series. As a result of the experiment, both crack analysis and crack formation monitoring were carried out, and differences in SCC behavior due to the effect of mineral layers were observed. The reliability of the AE parameters was demonstrated by comparing them with the load data obtained from the compressive and splitting tensile strength tests and the flow data obtained from the accelerated corrosion test.