Monitoring the fracture behavior of epoxy resin repaired fiber reinforced concrete specimens by acoustic emission

In this study, fracture experiments on fiber reinforced concrete beams are conducted. The aim is to examine the level of restoration in the different types of fiber reinforced concrete specimens by means of acoustic emission (AE) technique. The concrete specimens have been reinforced with three different types of metal fibers by means of shape and geometry and were tested in four-point bending. Consequently, they were repaired by means of suitable epoxy agent and mechanically loaded again. The repair has been conducted with epoxy resin injection to the main macrocrack that has been developed during the four-point bending. This work discusses the passive monitoring of fracture in repaired with epoxy resin fiber reinforced concrete specimens and shows that AE parameters provide good insight of the microstructure and characterize the level of restoration which is important especially when other NDE techniques cannot be used because of construction limitations.

Automated summary

This study conducted fracture experiments on fiber reinforced concrete beams to examine the level of restoration using acoustic emission (AE) technique. The specimens were repaired with epoxy resin injection to main macrocracks, showing good insight of microstructure and restoration level.