Slump Flow Monitoring
First Claim
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1. A method for monitoring a cementitious material, comprising:
- (A) rotating a mixing drum containing a hydratable cementitious material therein;
(B) providing a sequence of values corresponding to hydraulic pressure required to rotate said mixing drum at a particular speed V1 and calculating an average value based on said sequence of values;
(C) comparing said calculated average value to a set of average values at speed V1 previously stored in computer memory storage location, said previously stored set containing values obtained from hydratable cementitious materials having predetermined slump flows at various slump flows within the range of 16 inches to 36 inches determined by measuring horizontal spread of cementitious material released from a slump cone; and
(D) providing an indication of slump flow corresponding to said calculated average value provided in (B);
adjusting the slump flow of said hydratable cementitious material in said mixing drum based on comparing said calculated average value to a set of average values previously stored in computer memory storage location;
or performing a combination thereof.
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Abstract
Method and system for monitoring slump flow of hydratable cementitious material such as wet concrete in a rotating mixing drum. Whereas prior art methods use a single value of the hydraulic pressure for turning the drum (such as the average value) and correlating with slump values using the vertical drop measurements of the standard slump test (e.g. ASTM C 143-05), the present invention involves analysis of values corresponding to slump flow of concrete samples, preferably having slump flow values of 16-36 inches when measured using standard slump flow tests (e.g., ASTM C1611-05).
34 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring a cementitious material, comprising:
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(A) rotating a mixing drum containing a hydratable cementitious material therein; (B) providing a sequence of values corresponding to hydraulic pressure required to rotate said mixing drum at a particular speed V1 and calculating an average value based on said sequence of values; (C) comparing said calculated average value to a set of average values at speed V1 previously stored in computer memory storage location, said previously stored set containing values obtained from hydratable cementitious materials having predetermined slump flows at various slump flows within the range of 16 inches to 36 inches determined by measuring horizontal spread of cementitious material released from a slump cone; and (D) providing an indication of slump flow corresponding to said calculated average value provided in (B);
adjusting the slump flow of said hydratable cementitious material in said mixing drum based on comparing said calculated average value to a set of average values previously stored in computer memory storage location;
or performing a combination thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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9. A system for monitoring slump flow, comprising:
- a rotatable mixing drum for mixing a hydratable cementitious material, a sensor for measuring hydraulic pressure required for rotating said mixing drum, a sensor for measuring rotational speed of said mixing drum, a computer processing unit for receiving values from said sensor for measuring hydraulic pressure required for rotating said mixing drum and for receiving values from said sensor for measuring rotational speed of said mixing drum, and computer memory storage location having stored therein a set of values obtained from hydratable cementitious materials having predetermined slump flows at various slump flows within the range of 16 inches to 36 inches determined by employing manual measurement of horizontal spread of cementitious materials released from an inverted and removed slump cone (e.g., in accordance with a standard cone test such as ASTM C1611-05).
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16. A method for monitoring a cementitious material, comprising:
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(A) operating a central mixing apparatus located in a stationary concrete mixing plant and containing a hydratable cementitious material therein; (B) providing a sequence of values corresponding to amperage required to operate the mixing apparatus or mixing blades/fins within the mixing apparatus at a particular speed V1 and calculating an average value based on said sequence of values; (C) comparing said calculated average value to a set of average values at speed V1 previously stored in computer memory storage location, said previously stored set containing values obtained from hydratable cementitious materials having predetermined slump flows at various slump flows within the range of 16 inches to 36 inches determined by measuring horizontal spread of cementitious material released from a slump cone; and (D) providing an indication of slump flow corresponding to said calculated average value provided in (B);
adjusting the slump flow of said hydratable cementitious material in said mixing apparatus based on comparing said calculated average value to a set of average values previously stored in computer memory storage location;
or performing a combination thereof. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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24. A system for monitoring slump flow, comprising:
- a stationary plant with a central mixing apparatus for mixing a hydratable cementitious material, a sensor for measuring amperage required for rotating the mixing apparatus ors mixing blades/fins within the mixing apparatus, a sensor for measuring rotational speed of said mixing apparatus, a computer processing unit for receiving values from said sensor for measuring amperage required to operate said mixing apparatus and for receiving values from said sensor for measuring rotational speed of said mixing apparatus, and computer memory storage location having stored therein a set of values obtained from hydratable cementitious materials having predetermined slump flows at various slump flows within the range of 16 inches to 36 inches determined by employing manual measurement of horizontal spread of cementitious materials released from an inverted and removed slump cone (e.g., in accordance with a standard cone test such as ASTM C1611-05).
Specification