Contributions of NIST/NBS Researchers to the Crystallography of Construction Materials.
Contributions of NIST/NBS Researchers to the
Crystallography of Construction Materials.
(1090 K)
Stutzman, P. E.
Journal of Research of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology, Vol. 106, No. 6, 1051-1061,
November/December 2001.
Available from:
AVAILABLE ONLINE: http://www.nist.gov/jres
Keywords:
construction materials; cements; cement clinker;
durability; performance evaluation; materials science;
stone
Abstract:
For more than 100 years, the primary theme underlying
the NBS/NIST staff contribution to the crystallography
of building materials has been the development of an
improved understanding of concrete materials
performance. Over that time period, portland cement
concrete has become one of the most important of our
construction materials for roads, buildings, and other
large municipal structures. At the beginning of the 20th
century our understanding of portland cement
composition, performance, use in concrete, and how the
concrete performs in harsh environments was lacking. The
efforts of NIST have served to advance construction
materials science and technology through the combined
efforts of experimental, field study, and theoretical
computational materials science. One major achievement
in the late 1920s, derived from studies on phase
equilibria in cement clinker, allows calculation of
potential cement clinker composition. Known as the Bogue
calculation, this continues to be an essential tool in
cement plant process control to this day. Additionally,
contributions of NIST scientists to our knowledge of the
chemistry and nature of cement hydration products have
been crucial in our understanding of cement hydration
and concrete durability. Today, computational materials
science is a rapidly developing discipline, and NIST is
developing tools incorporating predictive models aided
by empirical studies. Examples include a
computer-integrated knowledge system for prediction and
optimization of performance and life-cycle cost of high
performance concrete and the Virtual Cement and Concrete
Testing Laboratory. Understanding the relationships
between material and performance properties has not been
confined only to portland cements. One of the longest
running experiments at NIST, the stone test wall, has
stood for over 50 years as one of the world's largest
single collections of building stone, and is invaluable
for studying weathering effects associated with stone
mineralogy and texture. Standards development has also
been promoted through participation on ASTM
subcommittees on stone, cement, and concrete. The Cement
and Concrete Reference Laboratory, established in 1929,
continues to provide testing and training for outside
laboratories and maintains a historical record of test
data on construction materials.
