Research and Equipment

3D4VA: 3D Printed Concrete for Affordable Housing. PIs: Alexander S. Brand, Andrew McCoy. Funding source: Virginia Housing. Objective: To overcome the challenges of the traditional construction industry and demonstrate how advanced 3D printing technology can revolutionize housing construction by providing innovative, cost-effective, and sustainable solutions for the future.
CAREER: Nanoscale Interfacial Phenomena and Reaction Kinetics of Calcium Silicate Minerals in Cements. PI: Alexander S. Brand. Funding source: National Science Foundation. Objective: Implement novel and advanced characterization techniques to quantify the kinetics at the nanoscale solid-liquid interface for calcium silicate minerals in cements.
Microstructural Characterization of Iron Sulfide Mineral Oxidation in Aggregates Used in Concrete. PI: Alexander S. Brand. Funding source: NIST, ACI Foundation, and NSSGA. Objective: Characterize the reaction pathways involved with pyrrhotite reaction within concrete and develop methods to identify aggregates that are susceptible to reaction.
Beneficiation of Fly Ashes and Quarry Fines for Sustainable Ternary Concrete Mixes. PIs: Alexander S. Brand and Farshad Rajabipour. Funding source: Center for Integrated Asset Management for Multi-modal Transportation Infrastructure Systems. Objective: Explore the design and performance evaluation of a new ASTM C595 Type IT blended cement that includes high SO₃ coal fly ash and quarry by-products.

Advanced characterization methods to quantify and understand micro- and nanostructural development in cementitious composites
Quantitative phase microscopy techniques to measure the spatially- and temporally-dependent dissolution kinetics of material surfaces
Physicochemical interactions between cementitious materials and recycled/by-product/waste materials
Additive manufacturing of functionally-graded cementitious composites
Alternative rigid pavement designs, such as with fiber-reinforced concrete, roller compacted concrete, and two-lift concrete

Concrete mixers (1 ft³, 2 ft³, and 22 ft³)
Forney 300 Series concrete testing frames (compression, split tension, and modulus)
Fog room for concrete curing
MTS Insight and Instron 5980 Series universal testing machines
Fluke TiX580 thermal imager
Metrohm Eco Titrator autotitrator
GOM ARAMIS digital image correlation system
Qualitest Slab Tester (Freeze/Thaw)
Model mobile load simulator (MMLS3)
James Instruments Vu-Con impact echo system
James Instruments Windsor Probe system
James Instruments Maturity Meter
Proceq Pundit ultrasonic pulse velocity system
Proceq Profoscope rebar detector
Shimadzu Total Organic Carbon analyzer
Thermo Scientific iCAP-RQ ICP-MS

Nanoscale Characterization and Fabrication Laboratory: scanning electron microscopy (JEOL IT-500HR, FEI Quanta 600 FEG, LEO 1550), transmission electron microscopy (FEI TITAN 80-300, JEOL JEM 2100, Philips EM420), focused ion beam (FEI Helios 600 NanoLab), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (PHI Quantera SXM), secondary ion mass spectrometry (Cameca IMS 7f GEO), ion beam milling and polishing (Gatan PIPS II, Gatan Solarus II, Leica EM TIC 3X), dynamic light scattering particle size analyzer (Malvern Zetasizer Nano ZS), and BET surface area analyzer (Quantachrome AUTOSORB-1)
Materials Characterization Laboratory: X-ray diffraction (Bruker D8 XRD), small angle X-ray diffraction (Bruker N8 Horizon, Xeuss 3.0), thermogravimetric analysis (TA Instruments TGA 5500, TA Instruments TGA 500), thermal conductivity (TA Instruments Fox 50), differential scanning calorimetry (TA Instruments DSC Q200), infrared spectroscopy (Varian 670-IR), Raman microscopy (XploRA PLUS), and BET surface area analyzer (Micrometritics 3 Flex)