This paper presents the results of investigations into the effect of freeze-thaw cycling on the failure of fibre-cement boards and on the changes taking place in their structure. Fibre-cement board specimens were subjected to one and ten freeze-thaw cycles and then investigated under three-point bending by means of the acoustic emission method. An artificial neural network was employed to analyse the results yielded by the acoustic emission method. The investigations conclusively proved that freeze-thaw cycling had an effect on the failure of fibre-cement boards, as indicated mainly by the fall in the number of acoustic emission (AE) events recognized as accompanying the breaking of fibres during the three-point bending of the specimens. SEM examinations were carried out to gain better insight into the changes taking place in the structure of the tested boards. Interesting results with significance for building practice were obtained.
Keywords: SEM; acoustic emission; artificial neural networks; fibre-cement boards; non-destructive testing.