Electrical resistivity measurement of concrete

Concrete electrical resistivity can be obtained by applying a current into the concrete and measuring the response voltage. There are different methods for measuring concrete resistivity.

Concrete electrical resistance can be measured by applying a current using two electrodes attached to the ends of a uniform cross-section specimen. Electrical resistivity is obtained from the equation:

This method suffers from the disadvantage that contact resistance can significantly add to the measured resistance causing inaccuracy. Conductive gels are used to improve the contact of the electrodes with the sample.

The problem of contact resistance can be overcome by using four electrodes. The two end electrodes are used to inject current as before, but the voltage is measured between the two inner electrodes. The effective length of the sample being measured is the distance between the two inner electrodes. Modern voltage meters draw very little current so there is no significant current through the voltage electrodes and hence no voltage drop across the contact resistances.

In this method a transformer is used to measure resistivity without any direct contact with the specimen. The transformer consists of a primary coil which energises the circuit with an AC voltage and a secondary which is formed by a toroid of the concrete sample. The current in the sample is detected by a current coil wound around a section of the toroid (a current transformer). This method is good for measuring the setting properties of concrete, its hydration and strength. Wet concrete has a resistivity of around 1 Ω-m which progressively increases as the cement sets.

On-site electrical resistivity of concrete is commonly measured using four probes in a Wenner array. The reason for using four probes is the same as in the laboratory method - to overcome contact errors. In this method four equally spaced probes are applied to the specimen in a line. The two outer probes induce the current to the specimen and the two inner electrodes measure the resulting potential drop. The probes are all applied to the same surface of the specimen and the method is consequently suitable for measuring the resistivity of bulk concrete in situ.

The resistivity is given by:

The presence of rebars disturbs electrical resistivity measurement as they conduct current much better than the surrounding concrete. This is particularly the case when the concrete cover depth is less than 30 mm. In order to minimize the effect, placing the electrodes above a rebar is usually avoided, or if unavoidable, then they are placed perpendicular to the rebar.

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Wikipedia