Using scanned images to estimate salt formation on the surface of cement composites

Introduction. An engineering method is proposed for assessing salt formation on the surface of cement composites exposed to adverse operating conditions. The technique is based on the histogram method used to determine the dominant brightness of the half-tone image of scanned cement composites. The criterion for ranking composites is a relative dimensionless value –– a metric obtained by comparing the brightness of a grayscale image with the brightness level of white. Materials and methods. We selected three types of compositions of composites in the amount of 21 items; each of them contains three samples –– a control sample and samples exposed to high humidity and positive temperatures for 15 and 45 days. Each composition is represented by a scanned raster image of the sample surface. The images are further subjected to digital processing using a software program written in the C++ programming language and the OpenCV technical vision library. This allows you to use the available methods and classes to develop algorithms to solve the problem in question and to convert a full-color RGB image to a grayscale image. Such images are used to analyze histograms, which determine the dominant level of brightness to determine the numerical metric for quantifying the salt formation on the surface of cement composite samples on the basis of their scanned images. Results. A description of the software algorithm, used to detect salt formation on the surface of cement composite specimens that have passed performance tests under high humidity conditions at positive temperatures, is presented. The method of ranking cement composite samples using the values of their dominant brightness relative to the brightness of control samples is shown. The comparative analysis of the study is presented in the form of numerical data and explanatory diagrams. Conclusions. Software modeling is employed to demonstrate the expediency of the methodology for the assessment of salt formation on the surface of cement composites and other building materials prone to salt formation.