A Cost-Effective Micro-controller Based System for EMM-ARM Tests in Cement Paste

Abstract

The EMM-ARM (Elasticity Modulus Measurement through Ambient Response Method) methodology consists in using ambient vibration tests to monitor the E-modulus evolution of cement-based materials during hydration, right after casting. The dissemination of this methodology may have been hindered by the costs and proprietary platforms associated to the original test system. This work reports the development of a cost-effective and open-source test system to perform EMM-ARM tests, comprised of a data-acquisition system, accelerometer, and post-processing software. The development was supported by the Arduino prototyping platform and the Python program languages, both open-source resources. Being conceived to be an open-source hardware (OSH), full details are given on how to fully replicate the system. Validation was performed by comparing E-modulus estimates obtained from the proposed system and an original system used in previous works. The proposed system is shown to have a satisfactory performance to execute EMM-ARM tests, while being easily replicable, at a considerably lower cost, and offering high potential for further developments and customization due to its open-source nature.