Characterization of dissipation losses in cement paste with diffuse ultrasound

The objective of this study is to quantify the dissipation losses in cement paste using diffuse ultrasound, and then to relate these results to the corresponding values measured with a coherent ultrasound procedure. The results show a linear dependency on frequency for this energy dissipation (intrinsic absorption), and exhibit a reasonable correlation between the dissipation losses and the amount of cement paste present in a sample. In addition, there is good agreement between the air content predicted with diffuse ultrasound, and that directly measured with a standard optical technique.