Method and system for concrete quality control based on the concrete's maturity

• US 8,032,244 B2
• Filed: 04/24/2008
• Issued: 10/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: FLIR Commercial Systems Incorporated (Teledyne Technologies Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Engius, Inc.
• Inventors: Fox, Michael, Trost, Steven M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Masinick; Michael D
• Application Number:
  US12/109,165
• Publication Number:
  US 20080221815A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,258 Days
• Field of Search: 700108-110, 204/426, 73/190.8, 73/540.3, 738/03
• US Class Current: 700/109
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/383 Concrete, cement

Abstract

A method and system for controlling and monitoring the quality of concrete based on the concrete'"'"'s maturity (which is a function of its time-temperature profile, or temperature history). Five different applications or embodiments of the present invention are discussed, namely, Enhanced Maturity, Moisture-Loss Maturity, Improved Maturity, SPC Maturity, Loggers, Readers, and Software. Enhanced Maturity involves a maturity calibration method to account for the water-to-cementitious-materials ratio, air content, and gross unit weight of the concrete. Moisture-Loss Maturity is a method for determining the appropriate time to terminate moisture-loss protection of concrete and concrete structures. Improved Maturity is a method and system for determining the strength of curing concrete using improved maturity calculations. SPC Maturity is a method that beneficially couples maturity measurements and calculations with Statistical Process Control (SPC) methods to enable rapid recognition of changes to the concrete mix and/or incompatibilities between the various components of the concrete mix. Loggers, Readers, and Software represent the preferred embodiment for automating and simplifying the implementations of Enhanced Maturity, Moisture-Loss Maturity, Improved Maturity, and SPC Maturity.

Claims

1. A method for determining critical times for protecting a concrete mass from moisture loss, comprising the steps of:

determining a desired degree of hydration of the concrete mass;

placing at least one temperature sensor in thermal communication with the concrete mass to generate sensor data indicative of the temperature of the concrete mass;

establishing a mix-specific hydration-temperature relationship for the concrete mass indicative of the maturity of the concrete mass;

determining a threshold maturity value corresponding to the desired degree of hydration of the concrete mass;

monitoring the sensor data to determine when the threshold maturity value is reached; and

providing protection from moisture loss of the concrete mass until at least the threshold maturity value is reached.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of placing the temperature sensor is defined further as placing a maturity sensor within the concrete mass with the maturity sensor including the temperature sensor.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the desired degree of hydration is determined via a correlation between a measured degree of hydration and a durability property of interest of multiple specimens.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the durability property of interest is permeability of the multiple specimens.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the durability property of interest is a durability factor of the multiple specimens.