Major Focus Areas

Research>Introduction

Past Research

ACBM’s strategic plan is designed to provide fundamental knowledge that can be used by industry as a basis for creating innovative new products and services, thereby gaining a competitive advantage in a tough marketplace. For the past decade, ACBM concentrated on basic research of cement-based materials, then applied that knowledge base to address critical problems of society: improving concrete infrastructure and mitigating negative environmental effects. To accomplish this, ACBM, with its industrial partners, established three major focus areas: Waste Reduction and Utilization, Life-Time Prediction, and Design and Performance.

ACBM is currently in its second research cycle (2003-2006). The new research projects have been selected from proposals submitted by ACBM faculty and approved by the board of directors. Current projects are listed below.

Waste Reduction and Utilization:

The projects in this area have not yet been finalized.

Life-Time Prediction:

Delayed Ettringite Formation
Principal Investigator: Tom Mason (NU)

Development of New Mechanistic Performance Model for Predicting Fatigue Life of Slabs on Grade
Principal Investigator: Will Hansen (UM)

Pore Solution-Solid Interactions in Cement Paste: Molecular Modeling of Fluids in Nanospaces
Principal Investigators: Jim Kirkpatrick and Andrey Kalinichev (UIUC)

Relating Damage, Transport, and Long-Term Performance for Use in Life Cycle Modeling
Principal Investigator: Jason Weiss (Purdue)

Determining Early Stiffening and Strength Gain by Non-Destructive Techniques for Early Serviceability of Structures
Principal Investigator: Suru Shah (NU)

Design for Performance:

Correlating Rheology, Fiber Dispersion, and Mechanical Properties of Fiber-Reinforced Cementitious Materials
Principal Investigator: Suru Shah (NU)

Interactions Between Cements and Admixtures in Fresh Cement Paste
Principal Investigators: Leslie Struble, Jennifer Lewis, and Charles Zukowski (UIUC)

Quantitative Simulation and Analysis of Performance Measurement Tests for Self-Consolidating Concrete
Principal Investigator: Nick Martys and Chiara F. Ferraris (NIST)

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