LABORATORY FOR ADVANCED AND SUSTAINABLE CEMENTITIOUS MATERIALS (ASCM)
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle
Why the need for sustainable cementitious materials?
The production of cement is an energy-intensive process that constitutes a significant portion of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases. Concrete is the most widely used manmade building material in the world, and its annual global production is approximately 5.3 billion cubic meters. Cement is the most common binder in concrete, and its annual global production “has reached 2.8 billion tons (t), and it is expected to increase to some 4 billion t.
Durability and sustainability are two increasingly important characteristics for concrete infrastructure, and more research is needed to enable expanded use of industrial wastes as supplementary cementitious materials (SCM)s in concrete without sacrificing its long-term performance and reliability.
Selected Research Products
- High-strength engineered cementitious composites
- Mechanism, characterization and factors of reaction between basalt and alkali
- Understanding the role of unzipped carbon nanotubes in cement pastes
- Nano-engineering a sliconate-based penetrating sealer for cementitious composite
- Metakaolin-based geopolymer paste
- Upcycling waster mask PP microfibers in cement paste
- Mechanical activation improves reactivity and reduces leaching of MSWI bottom ash
- Nano-engineering the ITZ with graphene oxide
- Graphene coated sand for smart concrete
- Self-healing system for early-age durability benefits to cementitious composites
- Nano-engineered, fly ash-based geopolymer composites
- High-Volume fly ash based cementitious composites
- Treatments of sewage sludge ash as SCM
- New insights into how magnesium chloride deicer deteriorates concrete
- Role of admixed graphene oxide in a cement hydration system
- Graphene oxide modified pervious concrete with fly ash as the sole binder
- A chemically activated fly ash binder for mortars
- “Green” cementitious binder prepared with pure coal fly ash
- Modifying the transport properties of high volume fly ash mortar by chemical admixtures
- A targeted approach of employing nano-materials in high-volume fly ash concrete
- Electron probe micro-analysis of high volume fly ash mortars
- Strength and corrosion properties of mortar and concrete with mineral admixtures
- Impacts of potassium acetate and sodium chloride deicers on concrete
- Freeze/thaw damage and chemical change of concrete in presence of diluted deicers
- Microscopic investigation of the impact of deicer exposure on concrete chemistry
- Neural network modeling of deicer ingress and corrosion of rebar or dowel bar
- Abiotic capsule-based self-healing system for cementitious composites
- Self-healing cementitious composite using oil core/silica gel shell microcapsules
- Microspheres to improve crack resistance of microfiber-reinforced mortar
- Synergistic effects of nano-montmorillonite and PE microfiber in foamed paste with high volume fly ash binder
- Nanoclay-modified foamed paste with high volume fly ash binder
- Nanoparticles for protecting steel rebar and its embedding mortar
- Polymer admixtures to reduce chloride diffusivity in concrete
- Mechanism of corrosion inhibiting admixtures
- Penetrating sealers for protection of concrete from deicer scaling
- Surface treatments for protection of concrete from salt scaling
- Surface sealers for internally cured cement mortars with lightweight aggregate
- Sequestration of phosphorus from wastewater by cementitious materials
- Cement paste modified nanoparticles (TiO2, carbon nanotube, nanoclays, ect)
- Stochastic modeling of service life of reinforced concrete in chloride environments
- Ionic transport in cementitious materials under an externally applied electric field
- Nano-engineering for durability of externally bonded CFRP to protect concrete
- Electrically conductive cement composites
- Chemical modification of recycled carbon fiber composite before its use in concrete (I, II)
- Guidance for usage of permeable pavements at airports
- Bamboo fiber as reinforcement for asphalt mixture
- A sustainable additive for anti-icing asphalt
Sponsors
- National Center for Transportation Infrastructure Durability and Life-Extension (TriDurLE)
- Center for Environmentally Sustainable Transportation in Cold Climates (CESTiCC)
- Airport Cooperative Research Program
- American Coal Ash Association Educational Foundation
- Washington State Dept. of Transportation
- Simpson Strong-Tie Inc.
- WSU Office of Commercialization
- Washington Research Foundation
LABORATORY OF CORROSION SCIENCE & ELECTROCHEMICAL ENGINEERING (CSEE)
“The payoff that Oregon has been able to reap from research on bridge preservation and repair has been tremendous … These investments have saved the state of Oregon many millions, and they represent by far the most beneficial research we have undertaken. Given the current state of the aging transportation infrastructure in the USA, bridge preservation is a very smart investment.” Barney P. Jones, Research Manager, Oregon DOT
Corrosion Management Has Lasting Economic and Environmental Impacts
It is in the national interest to achieve better control of materials corrosion and thus preserve the performance and reliability of assets. The direct cost of corrosion to the U.S. infrastructure and transportation system was estimated at $52.3 billion per year, not counting the tremendous indirect costs (traffic delays, lost productivity, etc.). The remediation of concrete bridges in the U.S., undertaken as a direct result of chloride-inducted corrosion of the reinforcing steel, would cost the U.S. highway departments $5 billion per year. In addition, durability is a cornerstone of sustainability.
Selected Research Products
- Nanocomposite organic coatings for corrosion protection of metals
- Ultrathin biomimetic coating with superior anticorrosion performance
- Assessment of discrete sacrificial anodes for rehabilitation of reinforced concrete
- Alloy type, beetroot Juice, deicer type/concentration on corrosion behavior of buried pipes
- Hydrophobic coating to enhance corrosion resistance of AZ31 magnesium alloy
- Techniques of corrosion monitoring of steel rebar in reinforced concrete
- EDX reveals chloride distributions in fatigue-damaged RC beams
- Apple pomace-based corrosion inhibitor
- A peony-leaves derived liquid corrosion inhibitor: protecting carbon steel from NaCl
- Inhibitors for protecting maintenance equipment from corrosion
- Washing practices and bio-based additive for mitigating metallic corrosion by MgCl2
- Electric injection of corrosion inhibitor to mitigate the corrosion of steel rebar in repair mortar
- Electrical injection of corrosion inhibitor to mitigate the corrosion of steel rebar in concrete
- Electrochemical chloride extraction and electrical injection of corrosion inhibitor in concrete
- Cathodic prevention of reinforced concrete
- Cathodic protection of reinforced concrete
- Rebar corrosion initiation and chloride threshold in self-compacting concrete
- Coatings for protecting maintenance equipment from corrosion
- Nanocomposite epoxy coating for enhanced anticorrosion and mechanical properties
- Microcapsule-based self-healing coating for corrosion protection of Al alloys
- Electroless Ni-Zn-P coatings for protection of rebar from chlorides
- Microbially induced corrosion (pitting) of stainless steel
- Harvest energy from water; a self-sustained water quality sensing system
- Cyber-physical Systems for water sustainability
- Nano-electrochemical treatment of weak soil
- Soil reinforced electro-osmosis in presence of CaCl2
- Effect of processed agro-residues on the performance of NaCl anti-icer
- Developing renewable agro-based anti-icers using plant waste
Sponsors
- National Center for Transportation Infrastructure Durability and Life-Extension (TriDurLE)
- Center for Environmentally Sustainable Transportation in Cold Climates (CESTiCC)
- National Science Foundation (NSF CRISP Program)
- Clear Roads Transportation Pooled Fund led by Minnesota Department of Transportation
- Washington State Dept. of Transportation
- Simpson Strong-Tie, Inc.
- Illinois Center for Transportation
- Cougar Cage