Cementitious Composites

The laboratory is designed to support research in the behavior and manufacturing of advanced cementitious composite materials. The laboratory comprises storage facilities for aggregate, sand, cement, and steel and plastic fibers; several conventional and special-purpose concrete mixers; a climate control chamber for freeze-thaw cycle tests and a crack observation microscopy station with the ability to acquire video and digital images.

In terms of testing, the laboratory possesses several loading frames (90-2700 kN), including an MTS 810 servohydraulic material test system with closed-loop capacity and a screw-driven Instron universal testing machine. Data acquisition is performed using several modern computer-driven systems. Additionally, the laboratory possesses a machine capable of producing laboratory quantities of twisted steel fiber– originally invented here– to custom specifications.