Concrete is one of the most common construction materials used in the world. It is cheap, strong and easy to make. Concrete allows cities to build skyscrapers, builds levees to hold back flood waters, and bridges to help roads stretch across the land. Concrete technology dates back to the ancient Romans. Today, it is still mixed with water, cement binder and gravel. When gravel is mined from a hillside, it is made up of boulders and cobblestones. On its surface, concrete hardly seems like the substance of innovation. But in fact, it’s an example of how the innovation process sometimes works, whereby a scientist, engineer or inventor makes an important discovery and then must figure out how it can be used to make improvements.
Smart concretes and structures are intelligent systems that have properties different from normal concrete, such as self-sensing and self-healing properties, or have the ability to react upon an external stimulus, such as stress and temperature. The “smartness” of concrete and structures is achieved through material composition design, special processing, introduction of other functional components, or modification of the microstructure. They are designed to meet specific requirements through tailored properties for improving serviceability, safety, reliability, longevity, and durability of the infrastructures and reducing the life-cycle costs of the infrastructures. Recent researches have been done of various smart concretes and structures, with attentions to their principles, fabrication, and properties. Future challenges in the development and applications of smart concretes and structures are yet to be discovered but for now, the advancements seem to hold good prospects for innovations in construction.
Now comes along Giatec Scientific with a device in smart concrete technology. The SmartRock 2 is a wireless concrete temperature sensor. According to Giatec Scientific, “SmartRock2™ is a rugged waterproof wireless sensor that allows real-time temperature and maturity monitoring of concrete. The sensor is placed in the concrete formwork (installed on the rebar) before pouring. Using the SmartRock2™ app you can view the temperature and resulting concrete strength in real-time.”
It uses Wireless Bluetooth Technology which easily monitors sensor data wirelessly using the SmartRock app on a smartphone or tablet. There is an optimising of break tests in which concrete cylinder break tests can be minimized or eliminated using the maturity function of the SmartRock2™. It also allows Team Data Sharing, enabling transmission of sensor data automatically, shared and updated across your team’s devices, ensuring everyone has the most updated results.
Once on site, the SmartRock2 sensor is attached to the rebar by twisting the metal wires together. This will activate the sensor, measuring concrete temperature and strength. After installing the sensor in the formwork, pour concrete as usual. At any time, wirelessly connect to the SmartRock2 sensor, and view the temperature and strength.
It is said to reduce labour costs as the hassle of connecting to wired data loggers becomes a thing of the past. With the wireless abilities of the SmartRock2 sensor, any colleague with a smartphone can visit the site and instantly share concrete sensor data with the team. With the continuous concrete temperature monitoring of the SmartRock2 sensor, concrete strength and maturity is automatically calculated. This allows you to more efficiently schedule construction operations such as formwork removal, saving you time and money.
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