Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Buildings & Construction

Building materials

News and Updates

NIST Provides Update on Champlain Towers South Investigation

September 12, 2024

Work continues to determine cause of the 2021 tragedy and to develop science-based recommendations to improve building safety.

Grid of six B&W images of asbestos fibers taken by scanning electron microscopy

NIST Researchers Identify a Cheaper, More Convenient Method to Detect Asbestos

June 25, 2024

Researchers have verified that scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a highly accurate way to test air samples for the presence of asbestos.

Two men stand a table in a warehouse space, looking at a broken piece of concrete that one is holding.

NIST to Provide Public Update on Hurricane Maria and Champlain Towers South Investigations During Advisory Committee Meeting March 6-7, 2024

March 4, 2024

The meeting will be livestreamed each day.

Projects and Programs

Assessing Pyrrhotite in Concrete

Ongoing

Objective - Develop a standard test method and a set of calibration reference materials to quantify pyrrhotite in concrete. What is the technical idea? Pyrrhotite (Fe 1-xS, where x = 0 – 0.2) is a common sulfide mineral exhibiting a brownish-bronze color with a metallic luster. Physical properties

Physical Infrastructure: Connections

Completed

The NIST Physical Infrastructure Program will provide the critical measurement science needed to assess the condition of aging physical infrastructure and guide cost-effective strategies for its maintenance, repair, and replacement. Infrastructure management challenges in the U.S. have received

Service Life Prediction of Filled Polymers Project

Ongoing

Objective: By FY2014, to develop and implement measurement science that will provide the technical foundation for service life prediction of filled polymeric materials exposed to compound environmental stressors, through quantitative tests and models applied to polymeric pipes, sealants, and

Measurement Science for Service Life Prediction of Polymeric Components Used in Photovoltaic (PV) Systems

Ongoing

Objective - To develop and implement measurement science for predicting and validating the lifetime of polymeric components utilized in photovoltaic applications. What is the new technical idea? The US annual energy consumption from solar and other renewable sources exceeded coal for the first time

Publications

Spherical harmonic reconstruction and preferred parameter research of 3D morphology of manufactured aggregate with different particle sizes

May 23, 2024

Author(s)

Edward Garboczi, Peng Gao, Juan Wu, Peiyun Qiu, Jingzhe Li, Hongjie Liu, Zhiwei Qian, Jiangziong Wei, Qijun Yu

The spherical harmonic (SH) series have been widely used in recent years to reconstruct three-dimensional (3D) particle shape for reducing the memory

Increasing Sustainability in The Low Slope Roof Market Through PVC (Vinyl) Membrane Recycling

November 30, 2023

Author(s)

Jennifer Oblock, Jay Thomas, Richard Krock, Buddhika Hapuwatte, Nehika Mathur

Retrofit and Repair of Reinforced Concrete Walls With FRP: A Review of Experimental Investigations

July 13, 2023

Author(s)

Jazalyn Dukes, Siamak Sattar

Retrofit and repair of structures occur under differing circumstances but are both necessary to improve existing building stock and increase resilience of

Electrosteric control of the aggregation and yielding behavior of concentrated portlandite suspensions

June 13, 2023

Author(s)

Sharu Kandy, Mathieu Bauchy, Gaurav Sant, Aditya Kumar, Narayanan Neithalath, Samanvaya Srivastava, Torben Gaedt, Edward Garboczi

Portlandite (calcium hydroxide: CH: Ca(OH)2) suspensions aggregate spontaneously and form percolated fractal aggregate networks when dispersed in water. As a

Software

Prediction of a Chloride Ion Penetration Profile for a Concrete

January 13, 2017

Prediction is based on a one-dimensional finite difference solution of Fick's second law of diffusion, with a variable external chloride concentration and a two

MicroChar

April 1, 2015

(Return to Cement Hydration and Degradation Modeling Software) Accurate quantitative data on cement and clinker microstructure images can prove valuable for

Stokes Three-Dimensional Permeability Solver

(Return to Cement Hydration and Degradation Modeling Software) A set of C and Fortran computer programs have been developed for computing the permeability of

Estimation of Pore Solution Conductivity

(Return to Cement Hydration and Degradation Modeling Software) The purpose of this form is to provide an estimate of the electrical conductivity (S/m) of the

Building materials

News and Updates

NIST Provides Update on Champlain Towers South Investigation

NIST Researchers Identify a Cheaper, More Convenient Method to Detect Asbestos

NIST to Provide Public Update on Hurricane Maria and Champlain Towers South Investigations During Advisory Committee Meeting March 6-7, 2024

Projects and Programs

Assessing Pyrrhotite in Concrete

Physical Infrastructure: Connections

Service Life Prediction of Filled Polymers Project

Measurement Science for Service Life Prediction of Polymeric Components Used in Photovoltaic (PV) Systems

Publications

Spherical harmonic reconstruction and preferred parameter research of 3D morphology of manufactured aggregate with different particle sizes

Increasing Sustainability in The Low Slope Roof Market Through PVC (Vinyl) Membrane Recycling

Retrofit and Repair of Reinforced Concrete Walls With FRP: A Review of Experimental Investigations

Electrosteric control of the aggregation and yielding behavior of concentrated portlandite suspensions

Software

Prediction of a Chloride Ion Penetration Profile for a Concrete

MicroChar

Stokes Three-Dimensional Permeability Solver

Estimation of Pore Solution Conductivity

Tools and Instruments

SPHERE

Line Heat-Source Guarded Hot Plate

Integrating Sphere-based Weathering Device

Large Aperture Scanner