Development and Implementation of Digital Specimen and Digital Tester Technique for Infrastructure Materials

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0438480TumayThis award is to Louisiana State University to support the activity described below for 36 months. The proposal was submitted in response to the Partnerships for Innovation Program Solicitation (NSF-04556).PartnersThe partners include Louisiana State University (Lead Institution), Southern University (historically black college and university-HBCU), Louisiana Transportation Research Center, National Center of Asphalt Technology, National Asphalt Pavement Association, Federal Highway Administration, Barriere Construction Company, and Fugro Geosciences.The primary objectives are to develop multiple functional digital specimen and digital test techniques, to implement these techniques at Federal Highway Administration Turner-Fairbank Research Center as wells as at the other partners facilities, to commercialize the newly-developed techniques, to develop a training course for undergraduate and graduate engineers, to conduct seminars for Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists to promote acquisition and utilization of the techniques to practicing engineers, and to seek use of the technology in other materials in the construction industry.Potential Economic ImpactThe proposed innovations will create a computer-based testing and evaluation system for design of construction materials with a longer durability in-service and a reduced life-cycle cost. Once the methodology has been fully developed, it can easily be modified for other materials technologies.The intellectual merit of the project includes enhancing current practice in mix design for asphalt materials be reducing the number of specimens to be tested, enhancing the mix design for asphalt materials to optimize the engineering properties of the material in use, reducing the probability of having faulty materials being used in the construction industry, and understanding the lifetime durability of construction materials.The broader impacts of the activity concentrate on enhancing the design of construction materials at the least cost of testing and certification, education and training future construction engineers, increased involvement of underrepresented groups in research, education and professional engineering practice, the economic and societal impacts on the national infrastructure.