Standards and Codes: Sustainable Infrastructure Materials

Sustainable Infrastructure Materials

Participation in standards organizations that support BFRL's strategic goal of sustainable infrastructure materials is focused on cementitious materials, polymeric materials, and metrics for sustainability.

Cementitious Materials  Mr. Paul Stutzman is active in multiple ASTM task groups and subcommittees of the ASTM Committee on Concrete (C90). He serves on the Subcommittee on Particle Size Analysis and on the C09.65 Petrography and the task group on scanning electron microscopy, C09.61 Resistance to the Environment, and C09.66 Concrete's Resistance to Fluid Penetration Subcommittees. Mr. Stutzman chairs the ASTM C01.23 Compositional Analysis Subcommittee as well as the task groups on X-Ray Diffraction Analysis and Microscopy, and also is a member of the Executive, Administrative Coordination, Coordination of Standards, and Sulfate Content Subcommittees. He participated in the development and writing of the X-ray Powder Diffraction Test Method, and also developed and coordinated the XRD Interlab study that led to the standard. Mr. Stutzman is currently involved in developing the X-ray Flourescence Standard Test Method and is analyzing interlaboratory data to evaluate precision and bias. These interlab studies are being used to establish performance criteria for qualification of laboratories.  The test methods are principal in estimating cement composition, which is used in cement specifications. Mr. Stutzman is also a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of ASTM International.

Mr. Ken Snyder is a member of ASTM Subcommittee C09.65 Petrography, Task Group on ASTM C 457 Air Void Analysis in Concrete, which is currently working to revise the standard method to allow for automated systems and to include meaningful uncertainty statements. The ASTM C 457 standard method is a standard procedure for characterizing the freeze-thaw durability of a concrete and is a time-consuming (4-6 hours constant attention) test.

Dr. Chiara Ferraris is the Secretary of the ASTM C01.29 Subcommittee on Sulfate Resistance. She is helping the committee approve the NIST-developed test on accelerated testing of cement for sulfate resistance. This test would allow more widespread usage of supplementary cementitious materials in cement to improve durability.

Dr. Ferraris is the Chair of ASTM C01.22 Subcommittee on Workability, which is sponsoring new tests to measure the workability of cement paste in order to predict performance of concrete from its composition. Some of the technologies developed at NIST for cement paste measurements are now being considered to become an ASTM test method. Dr. Ferraris chairs the ACI Committee 238, Workability of Fresh Concrete. As Chair, she leads the international comparison of concrete rheometers, which identified the need for a granular reference material for calibration. NIST is working on developing such material from cement paste to concrete. Other fresh concrete properties are linked to material science that will allow prediction of concrete performance from composition and better measurement techniques. Dr. Ferraris is currently serving on the ACI Technical Activities Committee (TAC). This is the highest technical committee in ACI and helps NIST become aware of new technical challenges facing the concrete construction industry. She also is serving as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering.

Mr. Dale Bentz is an active participant in ASTM Subcommittee C01.31 Volume Change, where he led the adoption of ASTM E1608-05 Test Method for Chemical Shrinkage of Hydraulic Cement Paste and coordinated a completed interlaboratory study that established a multi-laboratory precision statement for the standard test method. Mr. Bentz is also a voting member of subcommittees C01.10 Hydraulic Cements for General Concrete Construction and C01.26 Heat of Hydration. Mr. Bentz represents BFRL on ASTM Subcommittee C09.68, where he is participating in a task group to develop a standard test method for "Autogenous Strain of Cement Paste and Mortar." He is also a voting member of ASTM Subcommittee C09.48, where he is serving on a task group to develop a standard practice for "Measuring Hydration Kinetics of Hydraulic Cementitious Mixtures Using Semi-Adiabatic Calorimetry."

Polymeric Materials  Dr. Christopher White is an active participant on the ASTM C24 Building Seals and Sealants Committee. He is a voting member in C24 and is leading the effort to develop a new test method within C24.20 General Test Methods, specifically ASTM WK20492, New Test Method for Viscoelastic Characterization of Sealant Using Stress Relaxation. This is the first of several test methods as part of the research efforts of the service life prediction for sealants industrial consortium. These standards will be critical to the adoption of performance based standards for materials used in building envelope design.

Metrics for Sustainability  Dr. Christopher White is an active participant in the ASTM E6.21 Serviceability of Performance of Buildings subcommittee. He has led the effort to create several standards relating to the measurement of the adhesion of spray applied fire resistive materials. Currently, the first standard is out to ballot on a new test method to measure the adhesive energy of SFRM on structural steel. These standards activities result from BFRL research with an industrial consortium at NIST. Dr. White is also a member of ESIS, European Structural Integrity Society, Technical Committee 4 (ESIS-TC4) on Polymers and Composites. He recently presented updates on both the work on SFRM adhesion and service life prediction of sealants at the Committee's meeting in Switzerland. The proposed methods in ASTM are under consideration for adoption within ESIS-TC4 once they clear the ASTM process.

Ms. Barbara Lippiatt represents BFRL on CIB TG 70, the Task Group on Sustainable Design of Tall Buildings. 

Dr. Jonathan Martin represents BFRL on the Working Commission dealing with Prediction of Service Life of Building Materials and Components (CIB W 080).