Method and apparatus for determining the quality of fresh concrete or the like

The invention concerns method and an apparatus for analyzing the quality and quantity of bubbles or droplets of a dispersed phase in a construction material. The method may be used on construction materials before or during curing of the material, while in a non-solid state with the dispersed phase being entrapped therein. The inventive analyzing includes the steps of: applying a first side of an at least partially transparent plate in contact with a sample of said construction material to make a surface of said sample visible through said transparent plate; illuminating said surface of said sample through said plate from an opposite second side of said plate with at least one light source; providing a photosensitive sensor on said second side of said plate for receiving light reflected from said sample through said transparent plate, receiving from said photosensitive sensor electrical signals corresponding to said received reflected light and rendering from said electrical signals a visual representation of said surface of said sample using an imaging device; analyzing said visual representation with a computer system, by identifying bubbles or droplets of said dispersed phase from the surface of the sample by a spatial illumination encoding of the sample; and by determining the size and location of identified bubbles or droplets of said dispersed phase.Finally, an indication of the quality of said construction material is computed, based on the size and distribution of the identified bubbles or droplets of said dispersed phase in said sample.

Patent family as of 21.7.2026
DE602020025401 D1, EP4078148 A1, EP4078148 B1, EP4078148 C0, US12366527 BB, US2022381687 AA, WO21123503 A1