AE Applied to Fresh Concrete

The increase of performance requirements for contemporary cement-based media and structures calls for better control of the material processes. Acoustic emission (AE) is one of the non-invasive techniques that can provide information on the internal condition of the material. This includes the time of crack occurrence, the location as well as the fracture mode. In addition, it can offer valuable insight on the initial, crucial period of curing and hardening that has serious impact on the performance and durability of concrete. The present chapter aims to review the background, offer the reader a basic overview of the application of the technique on fresh cement-based material and at the same time give some new directions for testing of concrete.