Electrical Resistance Tomography for Assessing Water Movement in Cracked Cementitious Mixtures

Civil and Environmental Engineering, Ehime University, Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan

^* Corresponding author: kkawaai@cee.ehime-u.ac.jp

Abstract

Electrical resistance tomography (ERT) has been studied for visualizing variations of conductivity in concrete specimens. In recent years, unsaturated water flow through pores formed in concrete has been intensively examined though ERT systems to visualize the permeation front that gradually changes with elapsed time. This study examines water movement through internal cracks which are typically not observed on the surface of mortar or concrete specimens via ERT systems. The results indicate the gradual increase of saturated region owing to the ingress of water through cracked surface up to 120 hours. And, the region with higher conductivity estimated in uncracked parts is evidently in good agreement with higher moisture content measured by moisture meter on the split surface. In addition, the presence of crack in concrete specimen subjected to water ingress is clearly visualized via ERT images owing to rapid water movement in cracked zones. This study has provided the important insight that the ingress and the movement of water through pores and cracks formed in cementitious mixtures could be assessed via electrical measurements.