Issue 53

D. Wang et alii, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 53 (2020) 236-251; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.53.20 246 log N = a - b log A (3) where, a is a constant. There are many different definitions on the b-value of concrete. Here, the physical meaning of b-value [36] is defined as the degree of cracking on the plate surface under fire. The b-value is negatively correlated with the crack width and the proportion of large-amplitude signals in AE signals [citation suggested]. The b-value can be adopted to evaluate the degree of internal damage of concrete. Under the effects of various small defects and errors, our specimens exhibited complex mechanical behaviors in the tests. As a result, there might be a certain degree of dispersion in the event rate, energy rate and b-value at each measuring point. It would be one-sided and incomprehensive to analyze only one parameter at a single measuring point. To correlate AE signals with macroscopic phenomena, this paper decides to jointly analyze all three characteristic factors: event rate, energy rate and b-value. The analysis shows that the variation in the three characteristic factors can be split into several stages. For convenience, the entire process of room temperature loading and fire test was divided into the following five stages: (1) Room temperature stage I: the stage before any crack appeared on the specimen. This stage lasts from the start of the test to the completion of the first loading stage at room temperature. (2) Room temperature stage II: the stage of crack emergence and development. This stage lasts from the start of the second loading stage to the completion of the fifth loading stage at room temperature. (3) High temperature stage I: the stage of active AE signals. This stage lasts from the start of the fire test to 40min after ignition. (4) High temperature stage II: the stage of stable AE signals. This stage lasts from the moment the furnace temperature surpassed 900 °C to the end of the fire test. (5) Cooling stage: after the end of the fire test, the internal forces of the concrete plate were redistributed, and some sensors received AE signals. (a) 7-channel sensor (b) 8-channel sensor (c) 11-channel sensor (d) 12-channel sensor (e) 13-channel sensor (f) 15-channel sensor Figure 14: Variation in the event rate of S3 with time and furnace temperature. 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 Flameout 315min Ignition 105min 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 Event rate Mean furnace temperature Temperature (°C) Time (min) Event rate (each/min) 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 315min 105min 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 Event rate (each/min) Ignition Flameout Event rate Mean furnace temperature Temperature (°C) Time (min) 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500 315min 105min 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 Event rate (each/min) Ignition Flameout Event rate Mean furnace temperature Temperature (°C) Time (min) 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 315min 105min 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 Event rate (each/min) Ignition Flameout Event rate Mean furnace temperature Temperature (°C) Time (min) 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 315min 105min 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 Event rate (each/min) Ignition Flameout Event rate Mean furnace temperature Temperature (°C) Time (min) 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 315min 105min 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 Event rate (each/min) Ignition Flameout Event rate Mean furnace temperature Temperature (°C) Time (min)