SBIR Phase I: Low-cost Piezoelectric Sensor for Quality Assurance of Asphalt Binders used in Highway Construction

SBIR 第一阶段：用于公路建设中沥青结合料质量保证的低成本压电传感器

• 批准号: 1448575
• 负责人: Chetana Rao
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: Rao Research and Consulting. LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1448575&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Low; cost; Piezoelectric

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses the paving industry's need to monitor changes in asphalt binder properties in real time. It aims to develop an advanced prototype of a piezoelectric-based testing system to rapidly verify the uniformity and specification compliance of asphalt binders for quality control (QC) and verification testing purposes. Supply of asphalt concrete (AC) for paving is a $25-32 billion industry in the United States; of this, the cost of asphalt binders is around $6-8 billion. Assuring binder uniformity and specification compliance is therefore of great importance to suppliers, contractors and owner agencies. The successful realization of the proposed device will help minimize project delays and premature failures, as well as the associated litigation. Assuming 5 percent of the AC placed results in early failures related to binder quality, the device has the potential to save at least $1 billion annually. The ability to measure the binder's rheological attributes in-situ, between binder production and mixing of the asphalt, is currently unavailable in the market. Such data will enhance the industry's understanding of the impacts of binder production, storage and transport process on its uniformity. This will help improve the production processes within the industry and achieve longer-life roadways.The intellectual merit of this project lies in its emphasis on real time binder uniformity measurement in terms that are directly relatable to the properties measured by the standard specification used to accept asphalt binders in the US: AASHTO M320. Moreover, the device will be designed to be field-portable and cost-effective to promote widespread adoption. The impetus for such a device has never been greater given the sharp rise in post-refinery modifications of asphalt binders at blend terminals or at the contractor's plants. This effort will leverage the bench-top prototype system developed under previous national research studies, and which has been deemed feasible, in concept, to deliver the key parameters needed to do QC of asphalt binders. This project will specifically address several technical challenges including miniaturization of base unit electronics into a hand-held unit suitable for field testing, optimizing the piezoelectric sensor materials and dimensions for broadest operating range, design of a base unit for field operation, establishing QC test methodology, developing numerical techniques for data reduction, and integrating hardware and software. The anticipated results from this effort will be (i) a functional prototype and (ii) the realization of methodology and software for quality control testing.

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目满足了铺路行业实时监控沥青结合料性能变化的需求。它旨在开发一种基于压电的测试系统的先进原型，以快速验证沥青结合料的一致性和规格符合性，用于质量控制(QC)和验证测试目的。在美国，沥青混凝土(AC)的供应是一个价值250-320亿美元的行业；其中，沥青粘结剂的成本约为60-80亿美元。因此，确保粘合剂的一致性和规范合规性对供应商、承包商和业主机构非常重要。拟议设备的成功实现将有助于将项目延误和过早故障以及相关诉讼降至最低。假设5%的AC放置导致与粘结剂质量有关的早期故障，该设备每年有可能节省至少10亿美元。在粘结剂生产和沥青混合之间，现场测量粘结剂的流变性的能力目前还无法在市场上获得。这些数据将加强行业对粘结剂生产、储存和运输过程对其一致性的影响的了解。这将有助于改进行业内的生产工艺，实现更长的道路使用寿命。该项目的智能优势在于它强调实时结合料均匀度测量，其测量结果与美国接受沥青结合料的标准规范：AASHTO M320所测量的特性直接相关。此外，该设备的设计将是现场便携和具有成本效益的，以促进广泛采用。考虑到混合码头或承包商工厂的沥青粘结剂在炼油厂后的改装急剧增加，这种装置的推动力从未像现在这样强烈。这项工作将利用根据以前的国家研究研究开发的台式原型系统，该系统在概念上被认为是可行的，以提供进行沥青结合料质量控制所需的关键参数。该项目将具体解决几个技术挑战，包括将基本单元电子设备微型化为适合现场测试的手持单元，优化压电传感器材料和尺寸以实现最大工作范围，设计用于现场操作的基本单元，建立质量控制测试方法，开发数据简化的数值技术，以及硬件和软件集成。这一努力的预期结果将是(1)功能原型和(2)实现质量控制测试的方法和软件。