Embedded Resistivity Sensor for Concrete Materials and Structures: Vision and Prototype

Authors

  • Amir Alarab
  • Kostiantyn Vasylevskyi Callentis Consulting Group
  • Nima Kargah-Ostadi Callentis Consulting Group
  • Farshad Rajabipour
  • Chiranjeevi Reddy Kamasani
  • Borys Drach
  • Andrew Drach Callentis Consulting Group

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33593/z825bk71

Keywords:

Durability, Resilience, Sustainability, Sensor

Abstract

The Performance Engineered Mixtures (PEM) approach, standardized in AASHTO R101, calls for evaluation of the concrete Formation Factor (FF) as an indication of permeability and thus resilience of the materials to ingress of aggressive ions. FF is defined as the ratio of the electrical resistivity of the bulk concrete mixture over the resistivity of the concrete pore solution. The AASHTO TP 119 and AASHTO T 358 standards were developed to measure the concrete bulk resistivity and surface resistivity, respectively. However, there are no standard equipment or test methods for non-destructive measurement of the pore solution resistivity (PSR), and the only available methods involve labor-intensive laboratory extraction of the pore solution.

An embedded sensor system for measuring concrete PSR is under development, funded by the USDOT Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). This paper discusses the vision for the devised sensor system, the corresponding test procedure, potential applications in practice, and test results using the manufactured prototypes. The use of the sensor system in cylindrical concrete samples will improve concrete mix design and construction quality control to produce concrete materials that are less permeable to aggressive ions, which can corrode steel reinforcement and accelerate deterioration. The sensor can also be embedded inside concrete structures for monitoring changes in chloride content and detection of aggressive ions in a timely manner to preserve and prolong service life.

Author Biographies

  • Kostiantyn Vasylevskyi, Callentis Consulting Group

    Dr. Kostiantyn Vasylevskyi has over six years of experience in computational mechanics, micromechanics, composites numerical modeling and testing, finite element methods, and data processing. Dr. Vasylevskyi specializes in numerical modeling of composite materials used in aerospace industry, micromechanical analysis of heterogeneous solid materials, and process modeling of biomedical polymers production. He is currently using Python for data science applications in engineering. He has published over 15 peer-reviewed articles and presented at 5 international and domestic conferences. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from University of New Hampshire.

  • Nima Kargah-Ostadi, Callentis Consulting Group

    Dr. Nima Kargah-Ostadi has over ten years of experience in transportation infrastructure engineering and management, applied statistics, data science, machine learning, and evolutionary computation. He has collaborated with FHWA and multiple State highway agencies in integrating the latest proven research in practice to improve their data-driven decision processes. He is a Member of the ASCE Highway Pavements Committee and the TRB Standing Committees on Pavement Management Systems and Durability of Concrete. He holds a PhD in Civil Engineering and a doctoral minor in Computational Science from Penn State University. Nima is the Vice President of Callentis Consulting Group, leading applied research and development in engineering and technology.

  • Andrew Drach, Callentis Consulting Group

    Dr. Andrii Drach has over ten years of experience in multi-physics numerical modeling techniques, applied statistics, data science, renewable energy engineering, custom software and hardware development. Dr. Drach has served as CTO for three tech startups and provided consulting and product strategy to numerous software companies. He has extensive background in research of strongly coupled electrochemical systems, as well as design of remotely operated instruments for deployment in chemically active environments. Dr. Drach has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles, presented at over 20 international conferences, and gave four invited talks. He did his postdoctoral training in Computational Engineering and Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire.

Published

2024-08-29

Issue

2024: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Concrete Pavements

Section

Articles

How to Cite

[1]
Amir Alarab et al. 2024. Embedded Resistivity Sensor for Concrete Materials and Structures: Vision and Prototype. Proceedings of the International Conference on Concrete Pavements. 13, 1 (Aug. 2024), 70–85. DOI:https://doi.org/10.33593/z825bk71.