A mixer vehicle includes a mixer drum, a first acceleration sensor, a second acceleration sensor, and a controller. The first acceleration sensor is configured to produce first acceleration signals and the second acceleration sensor is configured to measure accelerations within the mixer drum to produce second acceleration signals. The controller is configured to receive the first acceleration signals from the first acceleration sensor and second acceleration signals from the second acceleration sensor. The controller is further configured to determine a presence of material within the mixer drum based on the first acceleration signals and the second acceleration signals. The controller is further configured to determine one or more properties of the material within the mixer drum based on the first acceleration signals and the second acceleration signals.

A low-density, high-strength concrete composition that is lightweight and self-compacting or non-self-compacting, with a low weight-fraction of aggregate to total dry raw materials, and a highly-homogenous distribution of a non-absorptive and closed-cell lightweight aggregate such as glass microspheres or copolymer polymer beads or a combination thereof, and the steps of providing the composition or components. Lightweight concretes formed therefrom have low density, high strength-to-weight ratios, and high R-value. The concrete has strength similar to that ordinarily found in structural lightweight concrete but at a lower density, such as an oven-dried density as low as 40 lbs./cu.ft. Such strength-to-density ratios range approximately from above 30 cu.ft/sq.in. to above 110 cu.ft/sq.in., with a 28-day compressive strength ranging from about 3400 to 8000 psi.

Methods of wellbore cementing are provided. A method of analyzing a solid particulate including: measuring a water requirement of the solid particulate; and determining an approximation of specific surface area of the solid particulate from the water requirement.

There is described a system for determining air content of fresh concrete received in a drum of a concrete mixer. The system generally has a high energy photon source mounted to the drum and emitting high energy photons towards a photon path rotating about a rotation axis as the drum rotates, the photon path is immersed in the fresh concrete during rotation, a photon detector mounted to the drum, the photon detector counting high energy photons received from the photon path; and generating a signal indicative of a number of counted events; a computing device determining an air content value of the fresh concrete based on the generated signal and on reference data; comparing the determined air content value to an air content threshold; and generating an alert based on the comparison to be displayed.

A building material apparatus includes at least one building material transport part which follows a building material drum, wherein the building material transport part is designed to transport building material which is to be at least partially cured, and at least one part sensor. The part sensor is arranged on and/or in the building material transport part and is designed to detect at least one intensive variable, or at least one variable which corresponds at least to the intensive variable, of the building material in the building material transport part.

Some aspects of what is described here relate to analyzing a well cement slurry. In some aspects, a well cement slurry is mixed in a mixer under a plurality of conditions. The plurality of conditions correspond to a plurality of distinct Reynolds number values for the well cement slurry in the mixer. Power number values associated with mixing the well cement slurry in the mixer under the plurality of conditions are identified. Each power number value is based on an amount of energy used to mix the well cement slurry under a respective one of the plurality of conditions. Values for parameters of a functional relationship between power number and Reynolds number are identified based on the power number values and the Reynolds number values for the plurality of conditions.

A disclosed structural and light concrete includes a binding matrix and light aggregates. The binding matrix has a volume fraction from approximately 20% to approximately 50% of a concrete total volume and include: (1) a Portland Type I, II, III, IV or V cement or a mixture thereof, in a dose of at least 100 kg/m3 of concrete; (2) supplementary cementitious materials in a proportion of up to 4 times by volume of Portland cement; (3) a water component having a volume fraction relative to cement and supplementary cementitious materials in a range from approximately 0.2 to approximately 0.7; and (4) a maximum volume fraction of calcium hydroxide (CH) of approximately 10%. The light aggregates correspond to a volume fraction a range from approximately 30% to approximately 80% of the total concrete volume. Properties include increased compression resistance, decreased density, lower thermal conductivity and higher quotient of density resistance.

Disclosed are dosing methods for mitigating the deleterious effect of clays, which are born or conveyed by sand aggregates, crushed rock, gravel, and other aggregates used in the manufacture of concrete, upon the dosage efficiency of cement dispersants added into concrete. Instead of introducing the entire cement mitigation agent (CMA) into the aggregate material before or during batching in the mix plant in a singular, upfront dose, the present invention comprises administering a clay mitigation agent (CMA) on at least two instances in a mixer, wherein at least 21%-100% of the total CMA added into the concrete is added after initial batching of water, cement binder, and clay-bearing aggregates to form the concrete slurry in the mixer during the transit portion of the delivery between initial batching at the mix plant and the pour event at the job site.

A low-density, high-strength concrete composition that is both self-compacting and lightweight, with a low weight-fraction of aggregate to total dry raw materials, and a highly-homogenous distribution of a non-absorptive and closed-cell lightweight aggregate such as glass microspheres or copolymer polymer beads or a combination thereof, and the steps of providing the composition or components. Lightweight concretes formed therefrom have low density, high strength-to-weight ratios, and high R-value. The concrete has strength similar to that ordinarily found in structural lightweight concrete but at an oven-dried density as low as 40 lbs./cu.ft. The concrete, at the density ordinarily found in structural lightweight concrete, has a higher strength and, at the strength ordinarily found in structural lightweight concrete, a lower density. Such strength-to-density ratios range approximately from above 30 cu.ft/sq.in. to above 110 cu.ft/sq.in., with a 28-day compressive strength ranging from about 3400 to 8000 psi.

The rheological probe generally has a base; an inner member fixedly connected to the base and extending away from the base, the inner member having in succession a base portion proximate to the base, and a tip away from the base, and a deformable portion located between the base portion and the tip; a shell member covering the inner member, the shell member having a proximal portion being pivotally connected to the base for pivoting about a pivot axis when subjected to a resistance pressure imparted by a relative movement of the probe in a rheological substance, and a distal portion, the distal portion being engaged with the tip, the shell member having mating features being pivotally engaged with corresponding features of the base, the mating features being located on transversally opposite sides of the proximal portion; and a deformation sensor mounted to the deformable portion.