Neutron Radiography and Tomography of the Drying Process of Screed Samples

Abstract

The moisture content of screed samples is an essential parameter in the construction industry, since the screed must dry to a certain level of moisture content to be ready for covering. This paper introduces neutron radiography (NR) and neutron tomography (NT) as new, non-destructive techniques for analysing the drying characteristics of screed. Our NR analyses evaluate the results of the established methods while offering much higher spatial resolution of 200 μm, thereby facilitating a two- and three-dimensional understanding of screed’s drying behaviour. Because of NR’s exceptionally high sensitivity regarding the total cross section of hydrogen the precise moisture content of screed samples is obtainable, resulting in new observations. The current methods to measure moisture content comprise the ‘calcium carbide method’, the ‘Darr method’, and electrical sensor systems.

Keywords

• neutron imaging
• screed
• Darr method
• calcium carbide method
• drying behaviour
• radiography