Date of Graduation

5-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Civil Engineering

Advisor/Mentor

Hale, W. Micah

Committee Member

Coffman, Richard A.

Second Committee Member

Prinz, Gary

Abstract

Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) in concrete is partly facilitated by available moisture within the concrete. In order to better understand this facilitation and to develop processes for ASR mitigation methods, it is necessary to establish a means of monitoring internal relative humidity (RH) within the concrete. Current procedures for measuring RH are time consuming; requiring several hours of equilibration time and specific external conditions to yield accurate results. In order to better understand RH monitoring, laboratory tests were conducted using commercially available RH probes and different controlled environments. Probes were carefully monitored and calibrated in controlled environments, and laboratory tests on internal RH were conducted on concrete slabs in ambient conditions as well as concrete prisms in controlled environments. Preliminary results show that differing probes must be calibrated at different intervals and require different equilibrium times. Current internal RH test procedures are inefficient in terms of equilibration and measurement parameters.

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