STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: Each month, or every other month, a student will provide a 1-page illustrated abstract of the research they are currently conducting. This is a wonderful opportunity for the student, for our International Society for Concrete Pavements (ISCP) Members, and for the transferring and sharing technology/research through our concrete paving industry.
The ISCP “STUDENT RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT” for December 2022 is Jesús Castro Pérez, a Ph.D. student in civil engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Urbana, USA).
BIO:
Jesús Castro Pérez earned a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 2016 from the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (Mexico). He worked as an engineer for a company that develops technologies for the nondestructive evaluation of concrete structures. He earned a Master of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso, and his thesis focused on intelligent compaction. He has also been an intern at one of the top material consulting companies in the country. He is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with Prof. Jeffery Roesler. His research is focused on monitoring fresh concrete properties with air-coupled sensors.
TITLE:
Estimation of setting time in roller-compacted concrete using non-destructive testing
The estimation of setting time in concrete used in pavement systems is important to obtain an optimal concrete structure. The start of construction activities like saw-cutting of joints, surface finishing treatments, and other procedures, which play an important role in improving the overall quality and durability of concrete pavements, can be directly or indirectly influenced by the concrete setting time. Standard setting time monitoring consists of laboratory tests that evaluate paste or mortar samples. However, Roller-compacted concrete (RCC) is characterized by a concrete mix design with a low paste content, which makes traditional setting time measurement not practical in the field. RCC, by design, aims to provide the necessary paste volume to fill the voids left by a matrix of interlocked aggregates instead of providing a medium that fully covers each aggregate and transfers loads. Currently, there is no standard or direct method to measure the setting time in RCC that isn’t empirically based.
Different ultrasound-based nondestructive techniques have been shown capable of identifying and monitoring changes in the concrete transformation from a fresh state into a solid state. An air-coupled ultrasound test setup (Figure 1) is used to monitor changes in the energy transferred through Leaky-Rayleigh (L-R) waves along the surface of fresh concrete. Figure 2 shows an example of the expected results from monitoring the leaky-Rayleigh wave energy and identifying phase changes in the cementitious paste of a concrete sample.
Concrete samples are constructed in the lab with the assistance of a pneumatic hammer to emulate the compaction energy RCC is subject to during construction. Additionally, temperature sensors were embedded in the concrete specimens to compare internal temperature changes during cement hydration and the development of L-R wave energy. Results show that air-couple monitoring of the L-R wave energy in RCC can effectively identify phase changes in the paste portion of RCC specimens and can be compared to results obtained with conventional concrete pavements. Therefore, this method allows further monitoring in situ and could potentially lead to improved QC/QA practices.
ISCP would like to feature a “STUDENT RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT” each month, or every other month. If you would like to nominate a student, or if you are a student and would like to nominate yourself or a colleague, please send ISCP an email to: newsletter@concretepavements.org
ALL SPOTLIGHTS:
DECEMBER 2021—Inaugural: Katelyn Kosar, Phd Student-Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh (Pitt): www.concretepavements.org/2021/12/14/new-at-iscp-student-research-spotlight/
JANUARY 2022: Aniruddha Baral, Ph.D. Candidate-Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign: www.concretepavements.org/2022/01/15/student-research-spotlight-jan-2022/
FEBRUARY 2022: Jordan Ouellet, Tech, BEng, MASc, PhD Candidate, Teaching and Research Assistant, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: www.concretepavements.org/2022/02/26/student-research-spotlight-february-2022/
MARCH 2022: Sampath Kumar Pasupunuri, Ph.D. candidate, Pavement Engineering-School of Civil Engineering, University of Nottingham, UK: https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/03/31/student-research-spotlight-march-2022/
APRIL 2022: Anupam B R, Pursuing his doctorate-Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, India: https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/04/15/student-research-spotlight-april-2022
MAY 2022: Andréia Posser Cargnin, Ph.D. Candidate, Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/05/09/student-research-spotlight-may-2022/
JUNE 2022: Charles Donnelly, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/06/24/student-research-spotlight-june-2022/
JULY 2022: Amir Malakooti, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/07/30/student-research-spotlight-july-2022/
AUGUST 2022: Haoran Li, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/08/24/student-research-spotlight-august-2022/
SEPTEMBER 2022: Sumit Nandi, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (Roorkee, India): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/09/18/student-research-spotlight-september-2022/
OCTOBER 2022: Eric Ribeiro da Silva, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil Engineering, Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/10/20/student-research-spotlight-october-2022/
NOVEMBER 2022: Zachary Brody, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/11/18/student-research-spotlight-november-2022/