Early-Age Cement Paste Temperature Development Monitoring Using Infrared Thermography and Thermo-Sensors

Infrared thermography is an advanced technique usually applied for the assessment of thermal losses through different elements of the building envelope, or as a method for detection of damage (cracks) in reinforced concrete elements, such as bridges. Use of this method for the investigation of temperature development during early cement hydration is still an evolving area of research. For the purpose of verifying the reliability of the method, two types of cubic samples of different heights were prepared using a cement-based paste, with 20% of cement (by mass) replaced with fly ash. Temperature development was measured in two ways: using infrared thermography and thermo-sensors embedded in the samples. Additionally, the obtained results were modeled using the asymmetric Gaussian function. Peak temperatures in the middle of each sample were higher than the peak temperatures measured on the sample surface, with differences ranging between 2 °C and 4 °C. Differences between the temperature measurements of the thermo-sensors placed on the surface of the sample and thermal camera were lower than 2 °C. Very good compliance of the results was obtained for both the camera and the surface sensors measurements, as well as for the modeling coefficients.

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