Concrete can be one of the most durable building materials where consumption is projected to reach approximately 40 billion tons in 2017 alone. Despite this the testing of concrete at all stages of its life cycle is still in its infancy although testing for corrosion is well established. Further many of the tests today are time consuming, expensive, and provide results only after it has been poured and set. Accordingly, by exploiting self-contained wireless sensor devices, which are deployed with the wet concrete, the in-situ curing and maturity measurement data can be established and employed together with batch specific concrete data to provide rapid initial tests and evolving performance data regarding the concrete cure, performance, corrosion of concrete at different points in its life cycle. Such sensors remove subjectivity, allow for rapid assessment, are integrable to the construction process, and provided full life cycle assessment.

Optical analysis devices may be configured for optically interacting a set cement with a chemical filter and a detector that together are configured to detect a characteristic of the set cement, wherein optically interacting the set cement with the chemical filter comprises absorbing, by the chemical filter, at least a portion of an electromagnetic radiation having optically interacted with the set cement. Relative to cementing operations, such optical analysis devices may be useful in identifying fluids, analyzing compositions of cement slurries, investigating the status of a reaction occurring in a cement slurry, detecting and/or monitoring corrosion of a set cement, and the like.

A sensor having one or more stopbands and method of using the same for detecting damage, cracking and debonding in a cement structure comprising a cementitious material and a plurality of periodic structures located in the cementitious material.

An inspection support apparatus includes: an image acquisition unit (11) that acquires an image obtained by photographing a concrete structure that is an inspection target; a damage region extraction unit (12) that extracts from the acquired image, a damage region (water leakage, free lime, etc.) appearing on a surface of the concrete structure; a causal part detection unit (17) that detects, in a case where the damage region is extracted, a causal part (a crack, a construction joint, a joint, a peeling part, etc.) causing damage from the image on the basis of a result of extraction of the damage region; and an output unit (19) that outputs the result of extraction of the damage region and a result of detection of the causal part.

A method may include: analyzing each of a group of inorganic particles to generate data about physicochemical properties of each of the inorganic particles; and generating a correlation between a reactivity index of each of the inorganic particles and the data.

A method may include: analyzing each of a group of inorganic particles to generate data about physicochemical properties of each of the inorganic particles; and generating a correlation between a reactivity index of each of the inorganic particles and the data.

A method for establishing a chart for designing mechanical properties of cement stones in a large-scale fracturing oil well is provided, including steps of: establishing a stress distribution model of a cement sheath based on a theory of elasticity and thick-walled cylinder; establishing a cement sheath integrity prediction model based on the cement sheath failure criterion and the stress increment distribution state of the cement sheath; establishing a cement sheath integrity control method based on the cement sheath stress analysis model and the cement sheath integrity prediction model; establishing a functional relationship between cement stone mechanical parameters and strength parameters based on the cement sheath integrity control method; and establishing a cement stone performance index control chart based on the functional relationship between the cement stone mechanical parameters and strength parameters.

A method of sealing propagating cracks in a sensor-laden cement sheath comprising the steps of monitoring an electrical resistivity of the sensor-laden cement sheath to produce a measured value, wherein the sensor-laden cement sheath comprises a conductive sensor, an on-demand expanding agent, and a cement, activating a heat source when the measured value of the electrical resistivity is greater than an activation threshold, increasing a temperature of the sensor-laden cement sheath with the heat source to an activation temperature, wherein the activation temperature is operable to initiate a reaction between the on-demand expanding agent and water, wherein the activation temperature is greater than a formation temperature, reacting the on-demand expanding agent with water to produce a swelled agent, wherein the swelled agent occupies a greater volume than the on-demand expanding agent, and sealing the propagating cracks in the sensor-laden cement sheath with the swelled agent.

Embodiments provide a method for monitoring structural integrity of a hardened cement. An aramide capsule, a cement, and a water to form a cement slurry. The cement slurry is set to form a hardened cement, where the aramide capsule is embedded in the hardened cement. Imperfections of the hardened cement are detected by measuring electrical resistivity of the hardened cement. The aramide capsule is formed by interfacial polymerization using a surfactant, a dispersed monomer, a crosslinker such that a semi-permeable membrane is formed surrounding a core.

Method and system to convert demolished concrete into a readily recyclable product which is capable to reliably replace virgin feedstock that is used for manufacturing concrete, wherein converting the demolished concrete into the readily recyclable product comprises adding a plurality of information carriers to said product, wherein the plurality of information carriers are regularly distributed into said product by securing that each separate fraction of the product will hold a dedicated information carrier, and wherein each such dedicated information carrier is arranged to refer to information that is characteristic for the fraction of the product in which the dedicated information carrier is contained.