Revealing the temperature history in concrete after fire exposure by microscopic analysis

Concrete structures behave in most cases very well during a fire, after which it is often possible to repair or strengthen the structure to a certain level. This could result in important economic benefits, as costs for demolition and rebuilding can be avoided and the building can be reused faster. In this paper three methods for determining the maximum temperature to which a concrete structure was submitted during a fire are studied. Knowledge of the temperature distribution is necessary to assess the overall damage of a concrete structure. First, the physico-chemical transformations of heated concrete are investigated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Secondly, the features visible under the polarising and fluorescent microscope (PFM) are discussed. And third, the influence of heat on the colour of the aggregates is analysed.