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PETROG is an established tool for point-counting concrete materials from built structures, either in thin section or polished block, and has dictionaries both of constituent materials and the alteration processes which may be experienced by concrete in situ.

PETROG’s high-precision SteppingStage provides the basis for point counting in all situations, handling both polished block specimens and thin sections, from 1″ x 2″ (2.5cm x 5cm) mounts to 2″ x 3″ (5cm x 7.5cm) mounts, and allowing a pol stage to be rotated at all times.

The smallest addressable unit of the SteppingStage is 0.1 micron   and repeatable movement accuracy is of the order of 4   microns, providing the level of accuracy need to be able to  visit and then successfully re-visit up to 4000 points on a    polished block specimen.

PETROG’s image collection and analysis system allows the bulk of the point-count to be undertaken by viewing the computer’s monitor instead of through the eyepiece, relieving eye-strain for the operator and hence increasing both accuracy and efficiency in the whole process. Just as important, however, is that by tying the image back to the analysis undertaken and to the point on the specimen being described, PETROG provides the basis for QA and an audit trail

Point counting of concrete specimens in thin section is an invaluable tool for estimating the structural integrity of  concrete constructions and is indeed a statutory requirement in some places. PETROG’s unique Quality Assurance and audit trail are ideally suited to statutory work and to any work with a potential for litigious outcomes. The built-in redundancy in the naming and indexing used for data storage, the collection of images, and the identification of points on the thin-section specimen are all designed to minimize operator error and maximize the ability to trace back any analysis to its supporting data

Point-counting of constituents of cement and concrete can provide invaluable assistance to the production process and help to ensure consistency in production, as well as obviate some of the more common production faults which can give rise to the need for statutory analysis described above.

Once data acquisition is complete PETROG’s intelligent database enables any number of pre-determined analyses to be undertaken and reported almost instantaneously, as well as allowing new analyses to be built up to the user’s specification. Analysis of voids may be carried out separately from, or jointly with, analysis of the material phases, All reports can be provided either in digital form  suitable for export to other software (e.g. Excel) or in report-ready formatted files, such as Microsoft Word format documents, with embedded images at the user’s discrection.

ASTM C1356 (Cement Standards and Concrete Standards) covers protocols for point counting of clinker in polished block specimens and asserts that this technique is the most accurate and reliable analytical tool available for the task.  PETROG is the ideal tool for undertaking this analysis to meet the strict requirements of this and similar standards and protocols, in terms of data collection, data analysis, and reporting results.

To achieve satisfactory levels of confidence in the results, thousands of points may need to be counted on a single specimen.  PETROG is able to manage this detail and to simplify the process. If a point count is interrupted for any reason, then PETROG will remember the full status of the job until it can be resumed.

Morphological or textural analysis can be undertaken concurrently with modal analysis to provide a full and detailed summary of the material properties.  Material properties may be recorded in any required level of detail, because PETROG allows users to log additional information on e.g. structure, alteration, morphology. It stores any additional data in the same structured database, allowing all information to be retrieved and combined in any way desired.