Materials and Structures (2009) 42:15–24
DOI 10.1617/s11527-008-9363-0
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Hydration monitoring of cement-based materials
with resistivity and ultrasonic methods
Jie Zhang Æ Lei Qin Æ Zongjin Li
Received: 24 June 2007 / Accepted: 17 January 2008 / Published online: 12 March 2008
Ó RILEM 2008
Abstract Two test setups, the electrical resistivity
and ultrasonic techniques, were used to monitor the
hydration process of cement-based materials. In the
electrical resistivity method, a non-contacting device
was used. In the ultrasonic method, a wave was
transmitted and measured by the embedded piezo-
electric ultrasonic transducers, which had good
coupling with the surrounding materials. The focus
of the study was to detect the setting and hardening
behaviors of cement paste during the first 7 days of
hydration using the above techniques. Immediate
after placing the cement paste into the mould, the
measurement started and continued throughout the
hydration process. The obtained resistivity and ultra-
sonic data were used to interpret the hydration
process of the specimens. The correlation of two
techniques was also studied. The results illustrated
that both electrical resistivity and ultrasonic tech-
niques were effective to accurately monitor the
hydration of cement pastes. The resistivity method
was able to study both the chemical reaction and
physical change during hydration, while ultrasonic
method was sensitive to physical change of cement
only.
J. Zhang (&)
L. Qin
Z. Li
Department of Civil Engineering, The Hong Kong
University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay,
Kowloon, Hong Kong
e-mail: zhangjie@ust.hk
Keywords Electrical resistivity
Ultrasonic

Hydration
Cement
Non-destructive test (NDT)
1 Introduction
Chemical reaction between compound of hydraulic
cement and water yields ceramic products that
achieve the binding property after hardening. This
complex process or reaction between cement and
water is called hydration. The cement hydration
reaction varying in time involves the change from the
suspension state to the solid with pore state. Solid
hydration products form both at the surfaces of the
cement particles and in the pore solution by nucle-
ation and aggregation. As a result, the solid phase
becomes highly connected and the material trans-
forms from a viscous suspension of irregularly-
shaped cement particles into a porous elastic solid.
The connectivity of the solid phase is responsible for
the setting and hardening behaviours and load-
bearing capacity of cement. The pore structure has
significant implications for the transport property and
further the durability of cement-based materials.
The physical setting, strength gain and lifetime of
cements are accompanied by a series of mineralogical
and microstructural changes during the hydration.
Such hydration process has attracted a considerable
attention and has been studied by many methods, like
the commonly used Vicat needle, universal testing
16
machine, scanning electronic microscope (SEM),
X-ray diffraction (XRD) and so on. However, the
thus measured setting time and strength parameters
cannot directly show the materials and the micro-
structural changes in hydration process. For example,
the setting time defined by penetration values of
Vicat needles (ASTM C191) correspond to two
particular practical points, which are loosely defined
as the limit of handling and the beginning of
mechanical strength development, respectively. And
also the test’s accuracy depends largely on the skill
and experience of the person performing it [1]. SEM
and XRD need to stop the hydration process and do
the certain sample pretreatments. Such methods
cannot provide the continuous information about
hydration and moreover the sample will be influenced
by the drying and cutting preparation. Therefore,
alternative techniques, which are accurate and non-
destructive, are highly needed to monitor the hydra-
tion process of cement-based material. Thus, the
details about the complex hydration can be clarified.
During the last decade, non-destructive testing (NDT)
techniques have attracted increasing attention for the
characterization of the behavior of concrete at early
age. These techniques include electrical properties
measurements [2–5] and ultrasonic pulse velocity
(UPV) tests [6–9]. In this paper, the combinative
utilization of the non-contacting electrical resistivity
measurement and embedded piezoelectric ultrasonic
system will be presented and discussed. They concern
the continuous monitoring of the setting and harden-
ing of the fresh cement paste and have proper control
by reliable and more objective for the advanced
process technology.
In the electrical resistivity method, the electrical
conduction of cement-based media relies on ionic
conduction through water-filled pores. The factors
influencing electrical conduction for porous media
are mainly controlled by microstructure and liquid
solution conductivity. The research had shown that
electrical measurement can be applied to provide
useful information of the hydration process of the
cement-based materials. To overcome the contacting
problem between the sample with the electrodes
commonly used in the traditional measurement, a
non-contacting electrical resistivity device was
invented recently [10]. This approach performs like
a transformer and eliminates all the problems asso-
ciated with the contact between electrodes and
Materials and Structures (2009) 42:15–24
cement that exist in traditional resistivity measure-
ments. With this new method, accurate, reliable, and
re-producible results have obtained. It provides a base
for correctly interpreting the nature of the hydration
of cement-based materials.
By using the ultrasonic measurement, as the
hydration goes on, ultrasonic pulse propagation path
in the cement system switches from the liquid phase
to the solid phase. At early times the observed wave
involves essentially motion of the fluid phase while at
longer times it involves essentially motion of the
solid frame. The UPV reveals a significant increase
after the appearance of the connectivity of solid
phase, as already shown by Krautkraemer and
Krautkraemer [11] and Sayers and Dahlin [12].
Ultrasonic waves are therefore sensitive to the point
at which the solid phase becomes interconnected.
This point is of practical significance since the
connectivity of the solid phase is responsible for the
load bearing capacity of set cement. Because of its
non-destructive and reproducible benefits, ultrasonic
technique has been employed to monitor the hydra-
tion process. Different from the conventional
measurement using the surface contact commercial
ultrasonic transducers, in this study the embedded
home-made piezoelectric sensors are used. The
embedded ultrasonic system has several advantages.
First, the home-made cement sensors are water and
noise proof; second, it has good coupling with
cement-based matrix; third, sensing system is good
for in-situ measurement. Moreover, the new sensor is
inexpensive and suitable for any-scale structures [13].
The principle aim of this study is to use the
characterization of changes in the electrical resistivity
and UPV, respectively to follow cement hydration
and monitor the development of the microstructure at
early age.
2 Experimental
2.1 Non-contacting resistivity measurement
The electrical resistivity of the specimen was mea-
sured by a non-contacting electrical resistivity
measurement device, CCR-II (BCT, Hong Kong).
Its work mechanism is schematically shown in Fig. 1.
This system adopts a transformer principle and the
device has no electrode. There is no contacting with
Materials and Structures (2009) 42:15–24
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram
and equivalent circle of the
non-contacting electrical
resistivity measurement
device (CCR-II)
the specimen. Around 3,200 g cement paste mixture
was cast into the ring-shaped mould, with size
770 mm (perimeter) 9 55 mm (height) 9 42 mm
(width). Two thermocouples with accuracy of
±0.5°C were embedded into the sample to detect
the specimen’s temperature change during the whole
testing process. Based on the mutual inductance, the
wire-wound coil acted as the primary and the ring-
shaped cement specimen acted as the secondary coil
of the transformer. After an AC with 1 kHz fre-
quency sine wave was applied on the primary, a
toroidal current was inducted in the secondary. The
resulting parameter was pure resistivity which was
attributed to ion immigration in the pore solution.
This apparatus completely eliminated the problems
introduced by electrodes commonly occurred in
traditional methods, such as the polarization effect
and contact problems caused at the electrode–con-
crete interface. Therefore, this method can accurately
monitor the electrical resistivity of cement-based
materials. Data readings were taken over a period
from casting, usually about 10 min after the mixing,
to 7 days. The sampling interval was 1 min and
operation was continuous.
2.2 Embedded piezoelectric ultrasonic method
In this research, a new ultrasonic measurement
system, which uses home-made embedded piezoelec-
tric composites as the ultrasonic transducers, is
adopted (Fig. 2). The working principle is that the
piezo-composite vibrates when an electrical pulse is
applied on it, and then the ultrasonic wave propagates
along the direction of vibration. The ultrasonic waves
are received by other piezoelectric composites sensor,
working as receiver. Comparing with traditional
ultrasonic non-destructive methods, which have con-
ventional commercial ultrasonic transducers fixed on
the surfaces, the new method eliminates the coupling
and surface contacting problems and is inexpensive
17
Fig. 2 Schematic arrangement of the piezoelectric ultrasonic
measurement setup and cement paste container with transduc-
ers embedded
and effective for any-scale structures. For construc-
tion of a concrete structure, early-age performance
monitoring can be performed by the new system to
provide guidance for construction control. After the
concrete is cured and the strength is fully developed,
the system can be used to conduct structural health
monitoring to detect the damage accumulation or
even disaster evolving. It meets all the requirements
of concrete structure health monitoring from fresh
stage to hardened stage.
In this study, the transducers were fixed at the
bottom of a plastic box of 250 9 320 9 100 mm3 to
monitor the early-hydration of cement paste. Cement
paste was poured into the box and vibrated to remove
the entrapped air bubbles. An electrical pulse was first
generated by an Agilient 33120A functional generator.
After amplifying by a power amplifier, the input
electrical pulse excited the transmitter, and then
vibrated in its resonance modes, emitting ultrasonic
waves. A longitudinal ultrasonic wave was received by
the receiver through changing mechanical energy into
electrical energy. The voltage of the receiver could be
measured and recorded by the oscilloscope though a
pre-amplifier. The oscilloscope was a 12 bit Agilent
5462A one with a sampling frequency of 1 MHz.
After casting the fresh sample, the measurement was
18
immediately started. It should be pointed out that the
two setups may experience different temperatures due
to the different cross sections of the specimens.
Subsequently, the maturity transformation in two
setups may be influenced slightly. However, the
temperature developments in the two setups should
have the same trends.
2.3 Specimens (materials and mix proportion)
In this study, the cement-based specimen used was
ordinary Portland cement (OPC) paste with
0.4 water/cement ratio (w/c). The specimens for both
resistivity and ultrasonic tests were from the same
mixing batch and cast at the same time. The
specimens were covered by plastic lids and put to
environmental chamber with 100% humidity and
constant temperature for curing and testing. Testing
continues for 7 days without any breakage and
hydration cease. The traditional Vicat method was
also applied in this study to measure the setting times.
3 Result and discussion
3.1 Electrical resistivity result
Figure 3a, b show the bulk electrical resistivity
development with time up to 1 day (24 h) and 7 days
(168 h), respectively. The resistivity–time curve
begins with a small decline corresponding to the
dissolution of ions from cement into water. After
reaching the minimum point at half an hour after
mixing time, the resistivity of the specimen increases
a little for several minutes and then shows a nearly
level development at very low value and keeps this
level process for 3 h. In this flat stage, the initial
hydration products form in solution, which reduces
the ion concentration and allows additional ions from
cement particles dissolved. After 3 h of hydration, the
resistivity increases gradually due to the growth of
hydrates. This increase continues through the whole
test period.
From the plot of rate change of resistivity with time
shown in Fig. 4, the hydration process stages can be
easily identified. There are four stages can be divided
in the first 7 days hydration. In the first stage (stage I),
the differential of resistivity is below zero. This
negative value correlates with the initial decline of
Materials and Structures (2009) 42:15–24
resistivity. On first contact with water, the mobile ions
are rapidly released from the surface of each cement
grains; the pH values rise to over 12 within a few
minutes. This process is hydrolysis. Because of ion
dissolution, the conductivity of cement–water mixture
will increase and the resistivity decreases inversely.
After reaching the saturation, this initial hydrolysis
slows down quickly, which is corresponding to the
minimum point in the resistivity and also the zero
value of the differential resistivity. The first peak in
Fig. 4 is related to the first small increase of resistiv-
ity. Then, in the next 3 h, near zero values in
differential of resistivity indicate that the mixture is
relatively inactive which refers to a competition
between the dissolution and precipitation, identified
as a dynamic balance, or called competition period
[14] (stage II). The dissolving and consuming ions
compete to reach a balance. As the hydration contin-
ues, the thickness of the hydrate layer increases and
forms a barrier through which water must flow to
transport the free ions and through which ions must
diffuse to conduct the electricity. The resulting rapid
increase of differential resistivity corresponding to the
accelerated increase of resistivity is the third stage
(stage III), which is observed from 3 to 10 h. At about
10 h of hydration, the differential resistivity reaches
the maximum, showing the fastest increase of resis-
tivity. After that, a decelerated increase of resistivity
continues for longer than 7 days (stage IV). With
hydration degree increase, the resistivity of the sample
increases due to the growing solid phase and their
interconnection, which will block the way of trans-
portation of the ionic conductors in the pore solution.
Eventually, movement through the C–S–H layer
determines the rate of reaction and hydration becomes
diffusion controlled. The resistivity increases much
slowly. The resistivity and its differential develop-
ments detected in this study bear noticeable
resemblance to the conductivity evolution observed
by Sant et al. [15]. The dissolution, induction and
hardening periods were also reported in their work.
3.2 UPV result
Figure 5 shows the development of UPV in fresh
cement paste measured by the embedded piezoelectric
ultrasonic method. In the first three hours, the UPV
remains nearly constant around 1,500 m/s. This period
(period 1) is related to the stage I and II of cement
Materials and Structures (2009) 42:15–24 19

Fig. 3 Electrical resistivity (a) 3

development during the first
(a) 1 day and (b) 7 days of
hydration
2.5

Resistivity (Ω.m)
2

1.5

0.5
0.1 1 10 100
Time (h)

(b) 12

10

8
Resistivity (Ω.m)

0
0.1 1 10 100 1000
Time (h)

hydration in Fig. 4. It is considered the paste in this
period as an emulsion with dispersed solid particles
uniformly. In this measurement, it was observed that
the velocity started from about 1,550 m/s, and
decreased slightly before the rapid rise in velocity.
The average value of 1,500 m/s is very close to
1,490 m/s, the wave velocity in water. Based on the
property of emulsion-like cement paste in this stage,
the velocity value looks very reasonable. A period of
rapid increase (period 2) in the UPV, which corre-
sponds to the rapid development of hydration
products, appears after the flat velocity period. This
period started at the similar time as that of stage III in
Fig. 4. When a critical quantity of hydration product is
reached, the percolation of solid phase seems to occur
and UPV starts to increase. In this period, more and
more hydration products continues to be intersected,
stiffness or modulus of material increases rapidly. As a
result, the UPV increases notably. Period 3 in UPV
corresponds to period 4 in resisting measurement,
implying that the hydration process of cement pro-
ceeds into diffusion control and the hydration products
growing rate slows down. The UPV thereafter
increases only slightly. High hydration degree is
reached and further hydration becomes minimal. Thus,
the velocity development reaches the plateau.
20 Materials and Structures (2009) 42:15–24

Fig. 4 Rate of electrical 0.003

resistivity development
during the first 7 days of 0.002 I II III IV
hydration

Differential resistivity (Ω .m/h)

0.001

0
0.1 1 10 100 1000
-0.001

-0.002

-0.003

-0.004

-0.005
Time (h)

Fig. 5 Velocity 3500

development during the first
7 days of hydration 1 2 3
3000
velocity (m/s)

2500

2000

1500

1000
0.1 1 10 100 1000
Time (h)

3.3 Comparison 3.3.1 Stage I: dissolution stage (0–0.7 h)

If we put the plots of velocity, resistivity, differential
resistivity and temperature together and make a
comparison, we can find the curves’ characteristic
points correspond very well. Four stages of hydration
can be identified as shown in Fig. 6. Namely: the
dissolution stage (I), the competition stage (II), the
acceleration stage (III) and the deceleration stage
(IV). The physical and chemical meanings of these
stages are discussed in the following.
In stage I, upon mixing cement with water, ions are
rapidly released from the surface of the cement grains
and dissolve into the solution. Hydration reactions
start to take place. The electrical resistivity decreases
due to the increase of ionic concentrations and the
mobility of these ions, such as Ca2+, OH-. After the
initial solubilization, the formation of the solid hydra-
tion products occurs from the solution phase or at a
solid–solution interface. The two most important
Materials and Structures (2009) 42:15–24
Fig. 6 Velocity, resistivity, rate of resistivity and temperature
in resistivity test developments during the first 7 days of
hydration
components of Portland cements in this stage are
tricalcium aluminate (C3A) and tricalcium silicate
(C3S) (Abbreviation used in this paper: CaO = C,
SiO2 = S, Al2O3 = A, Ca(OH)2 = CH, H2O = H,
SO3 ¼ S) because their hydration reactions are the
initial driving force in building up chemical bonded
cementitious materials [16]. We assume no interaction
21
with the other clinker minerals exist in the following
hydration reactions. The hydration of C3S has the
following reactions involved [17] during the various
stages of hydration:
H
C3 S ! ‘‘C2 S’’+ Ca2þ + OH ð1Þ
H 
‘‘C2 S’’!2Ca2þ + H2 SiO2
4 + 2OH ð2Þ

2H2 SiO2 6
4 + 2OH ! Si2 O7 + 3H2 O ð3Þ
C3A is the most active phase of cement. The main
reactions which C3A goes through in the presence of
gypsum ðCSH 2 Þ are as follows:
 2 ! 6Ca2þ +2Al(OH)
C3 A + 6H + 3CSH 4

ð4Þ
+ 3SO2
4 + 4OH
 2 ) + 26H ! C6 AS
C3 A þ 3ðCSH 3 H32 (ettringite)
ð5Þ
C3A reacts with the sulphate ions in the solution
dissolved from the gypsum. The hydration product,
hexagonal crystals ettringite (AFt) as stubby rods,
starts to appear on the surface of cement grains.
As the water within the pore system becomes
saturated with the ions, the resistivity reaches the
minimum point, showing the end of the dissolution
period. Therefore, it may be well concluded that the
resistivity development during this stage is dominated
by the ions dissolution. There are also chemical
reaction occurrences and the products were detected
by Xiao [14].
In this stage, ultrasonic wave propagates through
the water-like viscous suspension. Previous study
[12] considered the system in this period as a
dispersion of solid particles in a liquid. Cement
particles are isolated from each other, while the
capillary pore water is connected. The observed
ultrasonic wave involves essentially motion of the
emulsion phase. The UVP remains constant at a very
low value close to the wave velocity in water.
3.3.2 Stage II: competition stage (0.7–3 h)
Studies show that at high dilutions a gel layer or
membrane forms over the surfaces of the grains soon
[18]. Short rods of ettringite are probably more
abundant near to the surfaces of the aluminate phase,
and appear to nucleate in the solution and on the outer
22
surface of a layer of gel. The ions in the solution are
readily absorbed by the formation of a thin layer of
hydration products. The initial hydration reaction
consumes a few ions so that the resistivity of the
specimen shows a small increase. This small increase
detected by the sensitive and accurate non-contacting
resistivity measurement is the first discovery on the
resistivity study of the fresh cement-based materials.
The initial hydrates form an envelope around the
unhydrated cement grains. These effects reduce the
ion concentration and meanwhile allow additional
ions from cement particles dissolved. Therefore, this
competition of consuming and releasing ions leads to
a dynamic balance in the resistivity–time curve and a
slow increase of the temperature curve as well.
In this stage, ultrasonic waves also propagate
through the viscous suspension. There is no obvious
change in UPV curve compared with the value in
stage I. UPV keeps very low, though a slight decrease
caused by an increasing tortousity of the pore solution
due to the formation of hydration products. This result
is similar as the previous studies [6, 8, 19]. There is no
significant change in UPV curve in stage I and II,
showing that the ultrasonic method is not sensitive at
the very beginning of the hydration because during
these two stages the chemical reaction plays an
important role in the cement hydration process.
3.3.3 Stage III: acceleration stage (3–10 h)
In stage III, the rate of cement hydration increases
sharply because of the growth of hydrates, leading to
hardening. In this stage, C3S reaction dominates
hydration. C–H continues to crystallize from solution
with the concomitant development of C–S–H
(C3S2H8) from the surface of C3S to form a coating
covering grain and the reaction of C3S proceeds
rapidly. During this period, which begins at about 3 h
and ends at about 10 h, some 30% of the cement
reacts [17]. It coincides with that of strong heat
evolution and is characterized by the rapid formation
of C–S–H, ettringite and CH. At the beginning of
stage III, the following reactions occur:
2C3 S + 11H ! C3 S2 H8 + 3CH ð6Þ
2C2 S + 9H ! C3 S2 H8 + CH ð7Þ
Studies show that the undried C–S–H has a filmy,
foil-like morphology. The C–S–H forms a thickening
Materials and Structures (2009) 42:15–24
layer around the cement grains which engulfs and
perhaps nucleates on the ettringite rods. The CH
forms massive crystals in the originally water-filled
space. Nucleation sites appear to be relatively few in
number, and the growing crystals may engulf some of
the smaller cement grains. Small isolated clusters of
solid substance are formed. These small isolated
clusters are the basis of the solid network. The solid
network continues to develop until it becomes
connected throughout the material. At this critical
time, a solid percolation formed, which is the start of
setting. As the hydration going on, more and more
hydrates form the solid network. The shells grow
outwards and those surrounding adjacent grains are
beginning to coalesce. At this stage, fracture through
the shells begins to supplant fracture between them. It
coincides with the maximum rate of heat evolution
and corresponds approximately to the completion of
setting. Thus, the stage III completes.
The structure of interconnected shells has been
considered to play an important part in determining
the mechanical and other properties, which thus
depend on the particle size distribution of the cement.
In this stage, the rapid increase of resistivity is related
to a relatively small but significantly decrease in the
number of ionic species. The pores inside the
specimen are likely to be filled with a highly
concentrated or colloidal solution, and the shells are
evidently sufficiently porous at this stage that ions
can readily migrate through them. The temperature in
the samples increases rapidly to reach the maximum
mainly due to the hydration of the tricalcium silicate
and the tricalcium aluminate. The UPV propagates
through the solid phase instead of through the liquid
phase; this fact leads to a steep increase in UPV
(Fig. 6). This critical degree of hydration, when the
system changes from a suspension of cement particles
in water into an interconnected solid phase, can be
considered as the percolation threshold [20]. From
Fig. 6, we find that the stage III superposes with the
period 2 in UPV curve, which begins at the time as
the minimum quantity of hydration products required
for a sharp climb of UPV is achieved. An increase is
found both in the resistivity development of the
hydrating specimen and in the UPV. As discussed
before, more and more cement grains continue to
become connected in this stage, and the percolation
of solid phase seems to occur in the early part of
stage III, after which shear waves can propagate. In
Materials and Structures (2009) 42:15–24
stage III, the water-saturated porous solid structure
becomes more and more connected as newly formed
hydration products fill in the pores. Due to this rapid
increase of connected solid, the ultrasonic pulse can
propagate through more connected solid volume;
thus, the UPV increases. The UPV is more sensitive
to detect the solid percolation threshold and setting
process of cement-based materials.
Two dots in Fig. 6 represent the initial and final
setting times measured by the standard Vicat method.
Setting refers to the stiffness change of the paste.
Setting corresponds to a noticeable formation of
hydration products. The beginning of solidification is
called the initial set. Further buildup of hydration
products is followed by start of the fully rigid state,
responsible for the strength of concrete, which is
known as the final set [21]. Setting times are
commonly defined arbitrarily by a Vicat needle. In
this apparatus, weighted needles of standard design
are allowed to sink into the paste, and initial and final
set defined as the times when the degree of penetra-
tion falls below specified levels. However, using this
method, setting times are loosely defined as the fixed
penetration values that do not fully reflect the
chemical and microstructural developments of the
cement hydration. The skill and experience of handler
also limit its accuracy and reproducibility. In this
study, the resistivity and ultrasonic methods have
been applied as the alternative methods for deter-
mining the setting behavior of cement-based
materials. In the stages derivation here, we can use
the start time of stage III as the initial setting and the
end time as the final setting.
3.3.4 Stage IV: deceleration stage (after 10 h)
As the hydration continues, the hydrates form a
thicker barrier which blocks the way of solution
exposure to the unhydrated cement particles. Finally,
ion diffusion through the C–S–H layer determines the
rate of reaction. The sample’s resistivity development
becomes ion diffusion controlled and shows a larger
value. A slight increase in the UPV is found after the
plateau is reached. As the volume of pores is
decreased by filling of hydration products, the UPV
levels off and approaches its asymptotic value in the
solid structure. The major connected solid frame is
formed, so the increase in UPV is limited and follows
the evolution of the total solid volume fraction.
23
4 Conclusions
The non-contacting resistivity device and the embed-
ded piezoelectric ultrasonic measurement used in this
study provide two alternative ways to accurately
monitor the hydration process of cement-based mate-
rials. The two systems are effective, accurate, non-
destructive and in-situ. By utilizing the critical points
on resistivity curve, four stages can be identified,
which are the dissolution stage, the competition stage,
the acceleration stage and the deceleration stage. Both
resistivity and UPV can detect the commencement of
acceleration period. This point corresponds to the
threshold of solid percolation.
The resistivity measurement reflects both chemical
and physical change in cement paste. It is sensitive to
the conductivity change of the pore solution. The
early-time decrease in resistivity results is due to the
ion dissolution from the cement to the water. The
resistivity plateau is caused by competition of ions,
and the resistivity increase with different rate results
from the increasing tortuosity of the pore structures.
Nevertheless, the ultrasonic results involve essen-
tially in physical change of cement paste, the motion
of the solid phase. It is sensitive to the point at which
the solid phase becomes interconnected.
Acknowledgement The financial support from Hong Kong
Research Grant Council under projected HKUST6272/03E is
greatly acknowledged.
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