NOTICE: Due to a lapse in annual appropriations, most of this website is not being updated. Learn more.
Form submissions will still be accepted but will not receive responses at this time. Sections of this site for programs using non-appropriated funds (such as NVLAP) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as CHIPS and NVD) will continue to be updated.
An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
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.
Techniques like nanoindentation and atomic force microscopy can estimate the local elastic moduli in a region surrounding the probe tip used. For composites with phase regions much larger than the size of the probe, these procedures can identify the phases
Edward Garboczi, Gaurav Sant, Iman Mehdipour, Narayanan Neithalath, Mathieu Bauchy, Samanvaya Srivastava, Sharu Bhagavathi Kandy
Temperature is well-known to affect the aggregation behavior of colloidal suspensions. This paper elucidates the temperature dependence of the rheology of portlandite (calcium hydroxide: Ca(OH)2) suspensions that feature a high ionic strength and a pH
Edward Garboczi, Mohammad Balapour, Rathin Rao, Sabrina Spatari, Grace Hsuan, Peter Billen
Manufacturing lightweight aggregate (LWA) (i.e., porous ceramics) by means of a sintering technique requires a delicate balance among three conditions: (i) forming a sufficient amount of molten liquid phase during sintering, (ii) reaching an appropriate
Pavitra Murrua, Zachary Grasley, Christa Torrence, KR Rajagopal, Edward Garboczi
In Part I, a density driven damage mechanics (D3-M) approach and its application to model mechanical damage in concrete are presented. In this study, chemical and chemo-mechanical damage in concrete are modeled using the D3- M approach. It is proposed that
Iman Mehdipour, Hakan Atahan, Narayanan Neithalath, Mathieu Bauchy, Edward Garboczi, Gaurav Sant
The remarkable increase in the flow resistance of dense suspensions (jamming) can hinder 3D- printing processes on account of flow cessation and filament fragility/rupture in the extruder. Understanding the nature of rheological changes that occur is
Jason Timmons, Iman Mehdipour, Shang Gao, Hakan Atahan, Narayanan Neithalath, Mathieu Bauchy, Edward Garboczi, Samanvaya Srivastava, Gaurav Sant
In spite of their high surface charge (ζ = + 34 mV), aqueous suspensions of portlandite (calcium hydroxide: Ca(OH)2) exhibit a strong tendency to aggregate, and thereby present unstable suspensions. While a variety of commercial dispersants seek to modify
Alexander Brand, Steven B. Feldman, Paul E. Stutzman, Anton V. Ievlev, Matthias Lorenz, Darren C. Pagan, Sriramya Nair, Justin Gorham, Jeffrey W. Bullard
The effects on cubic tricalcium aluminate (C3A) hydration of alkali or alkaline earth sulfate electrolytes were evaluated by in situ dissolution rate measurements, by ex situ near-surface composition measurements with secondary ion mass spectrometry, and
Measuring the size distribution of the particles in a powder is a common activity in science and industry. Measuring the shape distribution of the particles is much less common. However, the shape and size of powder particles are not independent quantities
Edward Garboczi, Yang Lu, Aminul Islam, Stephen Thomas
All scanning electron microscopic (SEM) examination of mortars are based on two-dimensional (2D) slices through the true three-dimensional (3D) microstructure. Even though stereology guarantees that certain quantities are equal in 3D and in 2D slices of
Mohammad Balapour, Weijin Zhao, Edward Garboczi, Nay Ye Oo, Sabrina Spatari, Grace Hsuan, Peter Billen, Yaghoob Farnam
This study evaluates the potential use of a novel lightweight aggregate (LWA), spherical porous reactive aggregate (SPoRA), which is produced from waste coal bottom ash, for internal curing of concrete. Engineering properties of SPoRA required for concrete
Tandre Oey, Scott Jones, Jeffrey W. Bullard, Gaurav Sant
Setting and strength development of ordinary portland cement (OPC) binders is a complex process that involves multiple interacting chemical reactions, which result in the formation of a solid microstructure. A long-standing yet elusive goal of the
Edward Garboczi, Isamar Rosa, Michael Lepech, David Loftus, Henning Roedel, Maria Allende
This paper introduces a damage-based model for determining the compressive strength of Biopolymer- bound Soil Composites (BSC), a novel class of bio-based construction composites that are produced through the mixture and desiccation of biopolymers with
Alexander S. Brand, Justin Gorham, Jeffrey W. Bullard
The surface normal dissolution flux of beta dicalcium silicate is quantified using in situ digital holographic microscopy. The dissolution flux in flowing solutions depends on the water activity to an empirically determined power of 1.7. The heterogeneous
Due to its higher porosity, the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between cement paste and aggregates in cementitious composites is often viewed as a weak link in the microstructure. Sectional plane analysis based on back-scattered electron scanning
Edward Garboczi, Jeffrey W. Bullard, Pierre Estephane, Olafur Wallevik
TThis paper studies a selection of fine sands, their particle shape and its effect on the plastic properties of mortars via the influence on the workability and packing of cementitious mixtures. Five sands from different sources were sampled, wet sieved
There has been a long partnership in the materials science of building materials between the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the United States and RILEM. This paper discusses on the technical contributions NIST has made to RILEM
Edward Garboczi, Guang Ye, Zhiwei Qian, Yibing Zuo
Many particle-based numerical models have been used to simulate the hydration process of cementitious materials. But most of these models employ regular shape particles, like the commonly used spheres, to represent cement, slag or fly ash, which neglects
Pietro Carrara, Rolands Kruse, Dale P. Bentz, M Lunardelli, Thorsten Leusmann, P Varady, Laura De Lorenzis
Obtaining the mesostructure of concrete from X-ray computed tomography (CT) requires segmentation of the data into distinct phases, a process complicated by the limited contrast between aggregates and mortar matrix. This paper explores the possibility to
Reducing the carbon footprint of the cement industry has become one of the main concerns of researchers in the field. This study explores different strategies to reduce the setting retardation effect of high-SO3 fly ash (HSFA) on cement paste. The SO3
Edward Garboczi, Jason Weiss, Yaghoob Farnam, Yasmina Shields
Cracking in concrete due to freeze-thaw cycles is known to damage the structural integrity of materials and provides venues for water and ionic species to penetrate into concrete pores and create additional damage due to corrosion of reinforcement or
Igor de la Varga, Jose Munoz, Dale P. Bentz, Paul E. Stutzman, Benjamin Graybeal
Bond between two cementitious materials is crucial in applications such as repairs, overlays, and connections of prefabricated bridge elements (PBEs), to name just a few. It is the latter that has special interest to the authors of this paper. After
K H. Obla, Rongjin Hong, Stuart Sherman, Dale P. Bentz, Scott Jones
Characterization of fresh concrete is critical for assuring the quality of our nation's constructed infrastructure. While fresh concrete arriving at a job site in a ready-mixed concrete truck is typically characterized by measuring temperature, slump, unit
Madura Pathirage, Dale P. Bentz, Giovanni Di Luzio, Enrico Masoero, Gianluca Cusatis
Cement hydration in concrete and mortar has been studied thoroughly over the past 50 years. To fully understand hydration in concrete and predict the evolution of the hygral, thermal, and mechanical properties at the structural level, one needs to study
Xiaodan Li, Zachary Grasley, Edward Garboczi, Jeffrey W. Bullard
A numerical model has been developed that combines finite element methods with microstructure development algorithms to quantitatively predict the stress relaxation of cement paste due to intrinsic calcium silicate hydrate (C- S-H) viscoelasticity