ABSTRACT
Building and construction with concrete has become a global prerequisite for social progress (Idorn 2004), and, consequently, the quality and long-term durability of such materials are of major importance in modern concreting practice (Mehta 1991). Yet the full value of the polarising microscope for examination of concrete in thin sections, together with the use of the scanning electron microscope, has still to be fully realised as essential tools in engineering practice for the investigation of concrete and related materials.
