Burnt Building Material Carbonation Evaluation Using Primary Color Analysis

When exposed to events such as fires or elevated temperatures, carbonation is an eventual outcome in cementitious building materials and can compromise the structural integrity of the material. Monitoring the pH levels in cement-based materials using color dyes, such as phenolphthalein, can offer in...

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Main Authors: Ali Alhakim, Shen-En Chen, Nicole L. Braxtan, Brett Tempest, Qiang Sun, Wala’a Almakhadmeh, Yuchun Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:CivilEng
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4109/6/2/29
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author Ali Alhakim
Shen-En Chen
Nicole L. Braxtan
Brett Tempest
Qiang Sun
Wala’a Almakhadmeh
Yuchun Zhang
author_facet Ali Alhakim
Shen-En Chen
Nicole L. Braxtan
Brett Tempest
Qiang Sun
Wala’a Almakhadmeh
Yuchun Zhang
author_sort Ali Alhakim
collection DOAJ
description When exposed to events such as fires or elevated temperatures, carbonation is an eventual outcome in cementitious building materials and can compromise the structural integrity of the material. Monitoring the pH levels in cement-based materials using color dyes, such as phenolphthalein, can offer insights into their chemical stability and the potential for early aging. These chemicals are traditionally used to detect carbonation depth in concrete, and recently, it has been suggested that they be applied to the concrete surface to determine the pH levels and the associated changes within these materials after heat treatment. This study utilizes image processing techniques to analyze the extent of fire damage by evaluating the primary color changes induced by phenolphthalein in cemented clay-based building materials. The primary color analysis can reduce the complexity in image processing, and while analyzing the color changes, it is found that the CMYK color model is superior to the RGB model for the cemented clay brick samples analyzed. The objective of this study is to develop rapid image processing techniques to automate the detection of carbonation in heat-treated cementitious materials. This study highlighted significant color transformations across different temperature exposures, providing valuable insights into the carbonation processes in burnt building materials. This study also identified the temperature range limitation (100 °C to 400 °C) of phenolphthalein indicators, which was not previously identified, and suggested the need for more robust carbonation indicators.
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spelling doaj-art-9a61b1d62c6f47d7a511a00ced9ff5b72025-08-20T02:24:21ZengMDPI AGCivilEng2673-41092025-05-01622910.3390/civileng6020029Burnt Building Material Carbonation Evaluation Using Primary Color AnalysisAli Alhakim0Shen-En Chen1Nicole L. Braxtan2Brett Tempest3Qiang Sun4Wala’a Almakhadmeh5Yuchun Zhang6Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USAGeological Research Institute for Coal Green Mining, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, ChinaDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USAFaculty of Geoscience and Environmental Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 611756, ChinaWhen exposed to events such as fires or elevated temperatures, carbonation is an eventual outcome in cementitious building materials and can compromise the structural integrity of the material. Monitoring the pH levels in cement-based materials using color dyes, such as phenolphthalein, can offer insights into their chemical stability and the potential for early aging. These chemicals are traditionally used to detect carbonation depth in concrete, and recently, it has been suggested that they be applied to the concrete surface to determine the pH levels and the associated changes within these materials after heat treatment. This study utilizes image processing techniques to analyze the extent of fire damage by evaluating the primary color changes induced by phenolphthalein in cemented clay-based building materials. The primary color analysis can reduce the complexity in image processing, and while analyzing the color changes, it is found that the CMYK color model is superior to the RGB model for the cemented clay brick samples analyzed. The objective of this study is to develop rapid image processing techniques to automate the detection of carbonation in heat-treated cementitious materials. This study highlighted significant color transformations across different temperature exposures, providing valuable insights into the carbonation processes in burnt building materials. This study also identified the temperature range limitation (100 °C to 400 °C) of phenolphthalein indicators, which was not previously identified, and suggested the need for more robust carbonation indicators.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4109/6/2/29fire damagebuilding materialscarbonationpHprimary color analysisphenolphthalein
spellingShingle Ali Alhakim
Shen-En Chen
Nicole L. Braxtan
Brett Tempest
Qiang Sun
Wala’a Almakhadmeh
Yuchun Zhang
Burnt Building Material Carbonation Evaluation Using Primary Color Analysis
CivilEng
fire damage
building materials
carbonation
pH
primary color analysis
phenolphthalein
title Burnt Building Material Carbonation Evaluation Using Primary Color Analysis
title_full Burnt Building Material Carbonation Evaluation Using Primary Color Analysis
title_fullStr Burnt Building Material Carbonation Evaluation Using Primary Color Analysis
title_full_unstemmed Burnt Building Material Carbonation Evaluation Using Primary Color Analysis
title_short Burnt Building Material Carbonation Evaluation Using Primary Color Analysis
title_sort burnt building material carbonation evaluation using primary color analysis
topic fire damage
building materials
carbonation
pH
primary color analysis
phenolphthalein
url https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4109/6/2/29
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AT bretttempest burntbuildingmaterialcarbonationevaluationusingprimarycoloranalysis
AT qiangsun burntbuildingmaterialcarbonationevaluationusingprimarycoloranalysis
AT walaaalmakhadmeh burntbuildingmaterialcarbonationevaluationusingprimarycoloranalysis
AT yuchunzhang burntbuildingmaterialcarbonationevaluationusingprimarycoloranalysis