Reselling the Maturix sensors to the job sites is not just a gain to the contractor, but it could also benefit you. The data could be used for internal learning of how your concrete mixes cure under various conditions.
As mentioned, the Maturix sensors provide data from the in-place concrete casted on job sites. All reports are done automatically and also included a weather data report. Clients also have the opportunity to add our Orbit 3 climate sensor to monitor ambient temperature and humidity.
The sensors will provide real-time data of the current state of the curing as well as help them to predict future temperature and strength development. In this way, they can plan ahead of your casting to know exactly where you are in the casting.
We call it documentation as you build. This means, even on ongoing monitoring, it is possible to download nicely looking premade PDF documents containing all information you need. It is even possible to adjust the components that they want in the report.
Most of the time, the number of samples (also known as specimens) can be reduced to determine the current stage of the concrete casting. The use of a Maturix sensor allows for continuous real-time strength data using a reliable and validated method.
There is, in other words, plenty of opportunities in keeping track of many parameters on the job sites and automatically. Everything is done easily, remotely and independent of people involved in the monitoring and reporting of data – how easy is that?
One of the new big concrete trends globally is the new green concrete with a low (at least lower) carbon footprint compared to traditionally used concrete. Some of these new concrete mixes substitute part of the limestone or calcium silicate, present in normal concrete, with clay products.
The new types of concrete often face the challenges of:
The brown-ish color is often “just” an architectural/design challenge, while the reduced internal heat development from the hydration will have a significant impact on the curing process. The reduced heating can be an advantage on very big and thick castings, where you often use retarders and cooling to avoid high maximum and high-temperature variations in the cross-section.
But the low heat development can also be a challenge on most castings where you need to achieve a certain early strength fast. Therefore, it is crucial to keep track of the temperature (and thereby the curing stage) of the concrete by using sensors when using or developing these new low carbon concrete types.
The sensors are not just for clients, but the concrete lab at your different plants can also take advantage of using sensors in their daily work.
Here are 3 examples of how we have seen our sensors in use in a lab:
Adding maturity sensors in the concrete cubes/cylinders enables you to track the age of the concrete.
Both concrete labs in ready-mix plants can benefit from a simple installation of a temperature sensor with continuous information placed in the water bath. Then, the temperature can be monitored in a simple way. Temperature alarm limits can be customized (for example lower limit in 18C and upper limit on 22C) with SMS alerts in case the temperature crosses one of the limits.
In some countries, the standards require that the climate inside a concrete lab around the compression test machine is monitored. A simple way to fulfill this requirement is to use the Orbit 3 to have continuous climate monitoring. All data can be downloaded as a PDF or Excel if needed.