Articles

January Technical Speaker 1

Smart Cement, Detection and Quantification of Corrosion and Polymer Treatment for Expansive Clays Soils: Technology Development and Applications

Mr. Cumaraswamy Vipulanandan (Vipu), Ph.D, P.E. - Professor and Director of the Center for Innovative Grouting Materials and Technology (CIGMAT) and the Texas Hurricane Center for Innovative Technology (THC-IT) at the University of Houston

Smart cement with highly sensing properties has been developed. The cement was modified using less than 0.1% additive with no nano-particles. The smart cement is piezoresistive and is also sensitive to the chemical and temperature changes and fracture. The smart cement is a bulk sensor and there are no buried sensor in the cement. The performance of the smart cement has been tested in the laboratory and field model well. Also piezoresistive constitutive models have been developed for the smart cement. A non-destructive electrical method has been developed to rapidly detect and quantify corrosion in the metals and non-metallic materials and the technology can be easily implemented in the field. Also new polymer treatment methods are being developed to rapidly treat the expansive clay soils to reduce the swelling and enhance the mechanical properties.

Cumaraswamy Vipulanandan (Vipu) is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Houston, Houston, Texas.  He is the Director of the Center for Innovative Grouting Materials and Technology (CIGMAT) and the Texas Hurricane Center for Innovative Technology (THC-IT) at the University of Houston. He was the Department chairman from 2001 to 2009. He received his MS and PhD in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. He has been the Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator for 80 funded projects since 1984 amounting to over $12.5 million. His work has resulted in more than 250 refereed papers and over 150 presentations at national and international conferences. He has graduated 30 Ph.D. and 75 Masters Students (with thesis). Recently he has filed for two patients on “Smart Cement” and “Detection and Quantification of Corrosion on Materials”. He was selected as the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) in 2011 by the U.S. underground infrastructure industry. In 2015 he received the Best Paper Presentation award at the 2nd Global Well Cementing Conference. He has also received several national, state, and local awards for his research and teaching.