Engineering Smart, Stimuli-Responsive Cementitious Composites

Author

Raissa Ferron, University of Texas at Austin

Presentation Date

17 Nov 2016, 12:30 pm

Abstract

Presented by: Dr. Raissa Ferron Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Austin

Concrete materials will respond to their environment. At high temperatures, concrete expands. In a low relative humidity environment, concrete shrinks. Thus, the key is not to create a concrete that will react to different types of stresses; that happens naturally. Rather, the true challenge is to engineer a concrete’s response to a stimulus to be one that is desired (aka “smart”), and even better, the concrete’s response can be controlled to achieve a targeted outcome. This presentation will present an overview of research conducted on improving the performance of concrete by using a self-adaptive material approach. Topics to be discussed include self-healing materials and set-on-demand materials.

BIO: Dr. Raissa Ferron is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research expertise is in the area of materials science and engineering of infrastructure materials, primarily dedicated to research concerning portland cement-based materials. The majority of her scholarly work focuses on smart, stimuli-responsive cement-based composites and early-age behavior and characterization, particularly rheology, processing, and fresh state micro/nano-structural characterization. Since her start at the UT Austin, Dr. Ferron has served as co-principal investigator or principal investigator in externally funded research projects worth over $4 million. Her research has been supported by a diversity of funding sources, including but not limited to the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and Shell Oil Company. She earned her B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Howard University and her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University.

Dr. Ferron is the secretary of ACI Committee 552: Cementitious Grouting. She serves as a member of other technical committees in ACI, ASTM International and the Transportation Research Board. Dr. Ferron is a recipient of the 2010 American Society of Civil Engineers New Faces award, an award which recognizes outstanding young civil engineers. Dr. Ferron is also a recipient of the 2016 Engineering News-Record Louisiana-Texas Region Top 20 Under 40 Award.

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Research Center/Lab(s)

Re-Cast Tier1 University Transportation Center

Recommended Citation

Ferron, Raissa, "Engineering Smart, Stimuli-Responsive Cementitious Composites" (2016). RE-CAST Webinars. 2.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/recast_webinars/2

Rights

© 2016 Missouri University of Science and Technology All Rights Reserved

Document Type

Video - Presentation

Document Version

Final Version

Department(s)

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

File Type

movingimage

Language

English