Fracture behavior and damage evaluation of polyvinyl alcohol fiber concrete using acoustic emission technique

The failure mechanism and damage evolution of corroded and uncorroded polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber concrete specimens were studied using the three bending tests that were monitored through the acoustic emission (AE) technique. First, the bending strength of the specimen was determined. Second, AE characteristic parameters of the damage to PVA fiber concrete during the whole loading process were obtained. The reason for the bending strength decline and the damage mechanism for the corroded PVA fiber concrete were investigated according to the AE characteristic parameter related figures for uncorroded and corroded PVA fiber concretes. Finally, two AE evaluation methods were proposed to determine their ability to assess the damage levels in the PVA fiber concrete specimens. Moreover, the results obtained using both methods are discussed. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.