Assessment of Fire-Damaged Mortar Using Digital Image Process

The objective of this work is to develop a user-friendly software, called an "image color intensity analyzer", and study its application to the relationship between surface color changes and different elevated temperatures of fire-damaged mortar specimens. Images of tested specimens were captured using an ordinary digital camera before being uploaded to a personal computer. Thereafter, the analyzer calculates the intensities of the color components in different color spaces. The relationship between elevated temperatures as well as changes to the color components in different color spaces is studied. This study shows that the intensities calculated from the square root of one-third of the sum of the square of red, green, and blue for sand are useful in determining the highest temperature of the fire-damaged mortar. Results also indicate that the analyzer can quantify color changes of fire-damaged mortar handily and directly.