Understanding Relative Humidity in Concrete
During the construction of a concrete building, an essential step in the application of flooring is the importance of monitoring the relative humidity (RH), moisture levels, and the moisture evaporation rate of your slab. If your concrete contains excess moisture and high RH levels this can lead to…
Make Your Construction Jobsite Safer and Faster with Smart Sensors
Sensors embedded in concrete let you know when it’s cured and ready. Concrete is the material most widely used by humans — after water. As its ingredients are readily available almost anywhere in the world, it is the main component used by architects and engineers in the building…
Assessing the Future: Job Site Robotics Are Quickly Gaining Ground
The introduction of advanced technologies and robotics have continued to increase in popularity in construction. With large-scale robotic solutions, these devices are transported to a job site to execute specific tasks. For example, Tybot automates the task of tying rebar intersections on bridges and other large structures. While…
How Testing Concrete Strength Onsite Can Accelerate Your Project Timeline
When it comes to testing concrete during placement, the most commonly used method for evaluating strength is the break test. Break tests require concrete sample cylinders to be subjected to high amounts of pressure in order to assess the material’s compressive strength. Although this test method is widely…
The Importance of Monitoring Temperature During Post-Tensioning Time
What is Post-Tensioning Time? Concrete has compressive strength, meaning that it can withstand its own weight within a structure. However, it lacks tensile strength. Therefore, as soon as everyday loads are added to a concrete structure, such as vehicles on a bridge, the concrete struggles under the additional…
Avoid Thermal Shock and Cracking by Monitoring Temperature in Precast Concrete
Precast concrete is concrete which has been poured in a reusable mold or form and is then cured outside of a job site, such as a precast plant, and later transported and lifted or ‘tilted’ into place. Plants which manufacture precast concrete do so under controlled conditions in…
Importance of Initial Curing Conditions of Test Cylinders
Why Curing Conditions for Test Cylinders is Important Acceptance testing for specified concrete strength is, and always has been, a necessary step in the construction industry. Nowadays, this process includes making cylinders or beams on site and bringing them to the lab for strength testing, followed by a…
Creep of Concrete Under the Nanoscope
Understanding the Underlying Mechanisms of Creep in Concrete Concrete is one of the main materials utilized in civil engineering construction in the modern age with an annual production of roughly 20 billion tons. For instance, the aging infrastructure in the US requires massive investment and the American Society…
5 Reasons Construction Professionals Buy IoT Devices
The Internet of Things, commonly abbreviated as IoT, refers to the connection of devices to the Internet. These IoT devices range from cellphones, computers, and wearable technology to cars, homes, and appliances. Although it might not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of connected…
IoT is Revolutionizing the Concrete Industry
When it comes to Smart Construction and Intelligent Building Operation, the Internet of Things (IoT) is a powerhouse that has revolutionized many aspects of the industry—including concrete installations and applications. Essentially, the IoT is a network of items that are embedded with sensors, electronics, actuators, and software that…
Giatec Award for Best Paper Recipients
Winner of the Giatec Award for Best Paper Nanoscale origins of creep in calcium silicate hydrates Ali Morshedifard, Saeed Masoumi, Mohammad Javad Abdolhosseini Qomi Synopsis The authors propose a novel three-staged incremental stress-marching technique to study nanoscale longtime phenomena, specifically creep, in atomistic simulations. The stress-induced time-dependent behavior…
How 3D Printing Has Transformed the Construction Industry
Recently, we discussed how the use of 3D printers at construction jobsites may soon become common practice. Advances in 3D-printing technologies have resulted in the ability to craft anything from chocolate and food to statues and even entire buildings. Considering the competitive nature of the construction industry, 3D…
Concrete 3D Printing May Soon Become Standard Practice in Construction
Innovation in the construction industry has taken a whole new turn with the latest advances in 3D-printing technology. If you’re not already familiar with this technology, 3D printing involves a machine that uses concrete as its “ink” to construct buildings from the base up. Layer by layer, the…
Giatec Adds Four New Ready-Mix Concrete Producers to the SmartRock® Plus Family
It’s been a busy summer already for Giatec, and we’re not slowing down as we welcome four new members to the SmartRock® Plus producer family. These ready-mix producers have embraced technology by integrating wireless concrete sensors into their business models to optimize the performance of their mixes and…
How Concrete Can Reap Solid Environmental and Economic Benefits
Made up of water, aggregate (rock, sand, or gravel), and Portland cement, concrete is the most widely used construction material. Its popularity is mainly due to the fact that concrete is flexible, cheap, and durable. Unfortunately, even with today’s contemporary recycling technology, used or old concrete is seen…
Testing Is Easier With the Concrete Slab Temperature Sensor SmartRock® Plus
On the job site, time is money, and delays can be costly. But what if making a small change could shave days off your schedule while saving big bucks? That’s the premise behind SmartRock Plus™, the concrete slab temperature sensor that allows contractors get real-time information about the strength and temperature…
How Drones Can Work With, Not Against, Inspectors
Recent advances in drone technologies (also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs) and non-destructive testing (NDT) have led to significant changes in the way data is collected in the field, especially when it comes to structural inspections and repair/rehabilitation assessments. Traditional Inspections Just Aren’t Cutting It Traditional bridge…
Expose Your Civil Engineering R&D on a Global Stage with Giatec
At Giatec, we believe that today’s civil engineering researchers are shaping cities of the future. That’s why we have launched an annual contest to recognize innovative research and thought leadership in the world of civil engineering and concrete infrastructure. The Giatec Award for Best Paper is an essay-writing…
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