Improving sustainable development practice in concrete production through the monitoring of fresh concrete properties using an in-drum sensor

混凝土是使用最多的建筑材料，其生产、运输和浇注在不同形状和尺寸的模板中的方式是独特的。从混凝土工厂到施工现场，每个人都严格遵守规则和程序，以便在几周后，硬化材料确实达到了规定的性能-最常见的是抗压强度。混凝土生产中的一致质量是预拌混凝土行业的基本要素，事实上，确保批次间的均匀性是一个永恒的挑战。我们能够在新浇混凝土到达模板之前测量和监控其性能，传统上是通过在浇筑之前测量温度和工作性来完成的，这一点至关重要。如果在新浇混凝土上检测到不规则性（即与规范的偏差），则会拒绝装载（卡车），从而导致材料和时间损失、额外成本甚至施工问题（如冷缝）。在某些情况下，仅从硬化混凝土性能评估中检测到不符合要求（通常在混凝土浇筑后28天发现）;此时，后果要严重得多，可能会从增加维护工作和/或减少结构的使用寿命，到如果不完全更换的话，会导致高昂的补救成本，因此严重影响可持续性的各个方面。在过去的二十年里，人们已经看到了现代混合物设计的香使用，通常结合了各种类型和各种来源的辅助胶结材料。结果是，混凝土生产商因此面临越来越多的参数来控制，以生产一致和高质量的混凝土。传统的方法是在交货时准时测量混凝土的温度和和易性，不幸的是，这种方法经常被证明有许多缺点。因此，CRD赠款的目的是通过评估使用桶内自动传感器系统的潜力，探索提高混凝土生产质量的方法和手段。这将提高最终产品的质量，促进交付期间工作现场的实时质量控制活动，并通过重新使用更多的循环水和减少直接浪费的混凝土数量来大幅减少浪费。

Concrete is the most utilized construction material and is unique in the way it is produced, transported and then cast in formwork of varying shapes and sizes. From the concrete plant to the job-site, everyone involved closely follow rules and procedures so that a few weeks later, the hardened material has indeed reached its prescribed properties -the most common being compressive strength.Consistent quality in concrete production is an essential element in the ready-mix concrete industry and insuring batch-to-batch uniformity is, in fact, an ever present challenge. Our ability to measure and monitor the properties of fresh concrete before it reaches the formwork, traditionally done by measuring temperature and workability before placement, is of the utmost importance. If irregularities are detected on the fresh concrete (i.e. deviation from the specifications), the load (truck) is rejected resulting in material and time losses, extra costs and even construction issues such as cold joints. In some cases, non-compliance is only detected from the hardened concrete properties evaluation (usually discovered 28 days after concrete placement); the consequences are much more significant at that point, and can go from increased maintenance efforts and/or reduction in the structure's service life to outrageous remedial cost if not complete replacement, thus severely impacting all aspects of sustainability.The last two decades have seen an incense use of modern mixture designs often incorporation of supplementary cementing materials of various types and various origins. The effect is that concrete producers are therefore faced with an increasing number of parameters to control to produce consistent and high quality concretes. The traditional approach of measuring, punctually at the time of delivery, the temperature and workability has unfortunately proven oftentimes its many shortcomings.It is therefore the objective of this CRD Grant to explore means and methods to improve concrete production quality by evaluating the potential of using an in-drum automated sensor system. This will improve the quality of the final product, facilitate real-time quality control activities on the job-site during delivery and allow for substantial waste reduction by reusing more recycled water and reducing the amount of concrete directed to waste.