Multiphysical Characterization for Predicting Compressive Strength of Portland Cement Concrete using Synthetic Aperture Radar, Ultrasonic Testing, and Rebound Hammer

Multiphysical Characterization for Predicting Compressive Strength of Portland Cement Concrete using Synthetic Aperture Radar, Ultrasonic Testing, and Rebound Hammer | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Multiphysical Characterization for Predicting Compressive Strength of Portland Cement Concrete using Synthetic Aperture Radar, Ultrasonic Testing, and Rebound Hammer Maryam Abazarsa, Tzuyang Yu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4720606/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Feb, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 15 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Portland cement concrete (PCC) is a versatile and widely used construction material renowned for its strength and durability. The mechanical properties of PCC, including compressive strength, flexural strength, and splitting tensile strength, play a pivotal role in ensuring the safety and sustainability of structures such as buildings, bridges, and dams. Traditionally, the determination of PCC's compressive strength involves destructive testing of standard-size concrete cylinders until they fail. While nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques are available for assessing these properties, they often require direct contact between the sensor and the concrete surface, making them less efficient and practical compared to remote sensing techniques. In this paper, we applied three NDE techniques for estimating the mechanical properties of concrete, including synthetic aperture radar (SAR), ultrasonic testing (UT), and a rebound hammer (RH). We manufactured a total of 48 laboratory concrete cylinders (diameter = 3", height = 6"). These cylinders were created with different water-to-cement ratios (0.4, 0.45, 0.5, and 0.55) with a mix design ratio of 1:2:3 for cement: sand: gravel (by mass). Before these cylinders were tested by destructive compression test, they were measured by three NDE techniques. A 10GHz SAR system, a 54kHz UT system, and a RH sensor were used to inspect those cylinders at different concrete ages (7, 14, 28, and 96 days). From our result, the performance ranking among three NDE techniques was individually UT, SAR, and RH. When combining two NDE techniques, SAR with UT delivered the best performance. Multiphysical NDE (SAR with UT) outperformed uniphysical NDE (UT with RH) on the prediction of compressive strength of concrete. This research demonstrates the promising potential of multiphysical NDE for other engineering problems. Physical sciences/Engineering/Civil engineering Physical sciences/Engineering/Electrical and electronic engineering Multiphysical characterization synthetic aperture radar compressive strength concrete cylinders ultrasonic pulse velocity rebound hammer Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Feb, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 07 Nov, 2024 Reviews received at journal 11 Oct, 2024 Reviews received at journal 30 Sep, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 30 Sep, 2024 Reviews received at journal 30 Sep, 2024 Reviews received at journal 21 Sep, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Sep, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 09 Sep, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 09 Sep, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Aug, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 25 Jul, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 20 Jul, 2024 Editor invited by journal 17 Jul, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 16 Jul, 2024 First submitted to journal 10 Jul, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4720606","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":335701811,"identity":"d382d26b-3735-45b9-906d-a96317f1823f","order_by":0,"name":"Maryam Abazarsa","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Massachusetts Lowell","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maryam","middleName":"","lastName":"Abazarsa","suffix":""},{"id":335701812,"identity":"87170faf-33d1-4676-b7b2-b0879b4ee649","order_by":1,"name":"Tzuyang Yu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA00lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBAC+wNQhsEBZiCzAMg6gFMxBLDBGAYH2BKAJClaJBt4DIjUwn/GTOLnjloGfomcb1I3DBjk+G4kELLljJlk75njDGwSudukcwwYjCUJamHsMZPgbTsG15K4gaAWZh4zyb9gLTnPQFrqCWth4zGT5m2rAWlhA2lJMCCohYet2Fq27QCQ8czYOsdAwnDmmQcEtPAf3njzbVsdAxt78sPbORU28nzHCdgCBCwSDAyH6xsgHAmCykGA+QMDQx1RKkfBKBgFo2CEAgAQHDtzb00LegAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of Massachusetts Lowell","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tzuyang","middleName":"","lastName":"Yu","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-07-10 21:02:11","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4720606/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4720606/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-83829-y","type":"published","date":"2025-02-19T15:57:45+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":77054747,"identity":"915b979a-cd73-4d3e-82bc-204c4a888bfd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-24 16:31:43","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2045171,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"paper20240715SciReportsrev.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4720606/v1_covered_8c5860b3-2e30-4b34-9eee-fc60b07e5908.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Multiphysical Characterization for Predicting Compressive Strength of Portland Cement Concrete using Synthetic Aperture Radar, Ultrasonic Testing, and Rebound Hammer","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Multiphysical characterization, synthetic aperture radar, compressive strength, concrete cylinders, ultrasonic pulse velocity, rebound hammer","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4720606/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4720606/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003ePortland cement concrete (PCC) is a versatile and widely used construction material renowned for its strength and durability. 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