Precast Solutions - May/June 2008 - (Page 20)

TECHNICAL CONCRETE JOINS MENSA “SMART” CONCRETE LEADS TO MORE INTELLIGENT CONSTRUCTION. BY GREG STUTZ SENSOR SUPPLIERS Here is a sampling of sensor suppliers. A wealth of additional information and other suppliers can be found by searching the Internet for “concrete sensors” or similar key words. • ADC (Advanced Design Consulting USA Inc.), (607) 533-3531, www.adc9001.com • DGSI (Durham Geo Slope Indicator), (425) 493-6200, www.slopeindicator.com • Geokon, (603) 448-1562, www.geokon.com • Physical Acoustics Corp., (609) 716-4000, www.pacndt.com • Roctest Telemac, (450) 4651113, www.roctest.com • Sandia National Laboratories, (800) 765-1678, www.sandia.gov • Vishay Americas (Vishay MicroMeasurements), (402) 5636296, www.vishay.com This ultra-small sensor monitors moisture, temperature, pH as well as the concentration of chloride, sodium and potassium ions within the concrete. Courtesy Advanced Design Consulting USA Inc. P eople generally don’t attribute human traits to basic building materials, but concrete actually can be “smart.” Other materials such as chances or makeup quizzes that will prevent a failing body. Codes require this to protect people and assets. As a result, designs tend to be more conservative and require more raw materials (aggregates, cement and water) than may be truly necessary. But now there is an increasing demand for providing online, real-time health monitoring capability to important concrete structures in order to guarantee safety and to optimize the use of financial as well as natural resources. Architects love concrete’s fluid and expressive properties. Concrete can take the shape of almost anything imaginable. However, the same professional group will criticize concrete’s lack of efficiency in its wood, steel, specialty metals and glazing are not as “smart” as concrete, because intelligence can be embedded into a concrete mix. Civil engineers, scientists, owners and regulatory agencies can then observe real-time conditions about the concrete through an array of sensor technology that is rapidly evolving every year. As a result, concrete can recite everything that is going on with its chemistry, physics and life expectancy with little effort. YOU GOTTA LOVE/HATE CONCRETE consumption of natural resources during production and installation. Again, all building materials face similar problems. We now have technology that will potentially change how codes and specifications are written based on the knowledge coming from within the structure’s material. Concrete is the only material that can embed this technology within itself with no effect on the operation of the sensing devices or its strength properties. The knowledge obtained by this technology is real; it will provide data for safer designs and increase the lifespan of the structure thus decreasing overall total cost of installation over time. The designing community will admit that the nature of economic reinforced concrete design in major structures is heavily factored because of concrete’s behavior. Until recently, failure in this material was observed through visual inspection and viewed as relatively rapid and potentially catastrophic. While concrete is recognized as the only material that grows stronger over time, reinforced concrete systems cannot successfully predict unexpected loads and forces it will experience throughout its long life, which may be centuries. The same holds true for the other building materials. The only defense is to apply safety factors that take into account various uncertainties in load and force amplitudes and structural response. There are no second CONCRETE ELEMENTS BATTLES THE The importance of monitoring all 20 PRECAST SOLUTIONS | MAY/JUNE 2008 http://www.adc9001.com http://www.slopeindicator.com http://www.geokon.com http://www.pacndt.com http://www.roctest.com http://www.sandia.gov http://www.vishay.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Precast Solutions - May/June 2008

Precast Solutions - May/June 2008 Contents Sustainability and Practicality Security Blanket A Frank Lloyd Wright Takes Shape Concrete Joins MENSA Precast Lightens Up

Precast Solutions - May/June 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.