Follow the strength of concrete in real time – wherever you are

Published 2022-12-07

For a long time, the Celsicom remote monitoring system could be used to remotely and in real time monitor concrete temperatures during casting. It has been possible to follow the initial increase in temperature due to the chemical reaction of the cement and the subsequent decrease in temperature as the concrete begins to fully cure.

The measurement itself is done in the same way as before. Thermocouple wires are embedded in a number of measurement points in the concrete and measurements are sent wirelessly to the cloud service. Ambient air temperature is also recorded.

What is so revolutionary?

The big news is that no base station is needed with the new yellow Celsicom Easy Connect boxes. Each box has its own SIM card that sends data directly to the cloud via the Telia Narrowband-IoT network. The result is much better coverage and seamless transmission of measurement data to the cloud service.

The user can also choose which concrete recipe is used. A curve for the temperature dependence of the cement reaction and a strength curve are retrieved from a database. Customer-specific recipes can also be entered into the database. Using this input data, Celsiview can then show the strength of the concrete at the current ambient air temperature.

No special calculation programs are needed

In other words, the person in charge of casting can see how far the curing process has progressed and the strength of the concrete at each measurement point, without using special calculation programs. Just take your phone out of your pocket and log on to Celsiview.

What is needed to monitor the strength of concrete on a mobile phone?

What is specifically needed besides the yellow concrete computer to follow the strength of concrete is an optional cloud service account for strength calculation. The cloud service cost, including data traffic, for logging concrete strength is SEK 59 per month for one measurement box.

Two wire sensors can be connected to each TC603. After logging in to the account (and after selecting the right concrete recipe in the cloud service), the strength curve is displayed directly on the mobile or computer.

The TC603 also has 1 built-in internal ambient temperature sensor.

How does a strength measurement work?

Do this after connecting your sensors to your Celsiview account and selecting the concrete recipe (the service requires the Strength Calculation option):

1. Cast the wire sensors into the concrete, for example one in the center of the concrete slab and one at the edge near the mold.

2. Connect the other end of the wire sensors to the pole screws on the TC603 and close the cover.

3. clear! Now the values are continuously transferred to the cloud service and you will be able to follow the strength curve on your phone or computer, wherever you are.

What are the main advantages of being able to monitor concrete strength remotely?

Simplicity – suddenly there is no need for complicated calculation programs. With Celsicom, you can simply log on to the Celsiview cloud service via your mobile or computer and instantly see the strength of the concrete at different measurement points.

Remote monitoring – you don’t have to be on site. It is sufficient to have access to a computer or a mobile phone with an internet connection to view the graphs. In addition, several people in the project can easily access the measurement data.

Better construction time management – no more traveling back and forth if you are responsible for several sites at the same time where concrete is being poured.

Integration into your own tools – via Celsicom’s API it is possible to integrate measurement data into your own project tools.

Example of temperature and strength curve in Celsiview