Methods, systems, and computer program products for determining a property of construction material

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11531019-B2
Application number	US-202117181305-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 22, 2021
Priority date	Aug 30, 2005
Publication date	Dec 20, 2022
Grant date	Dec 20, 2022

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer program products for determining a property of construction material. According to one aspect, a material property gauge operable to determine a property of construction material is disclosed. The gauge may include an electromagnetic sensor operable to measure a response of construction material to an electromagnetic field. Further, the electromagnetic sensor may be operable to produce a signal representing the measured response by the construction material to the electromagnetic field. An acoustic detector may be operable to detect a response of the construction material to the acoustical energy. Further, the acoustic detector may be operable to produce a signal representing the detected response by the construction material to the acoustical energy. A material property calculation function may be configured to calculate a property value associated with the construction material based upon the signals produced by the electromagnetic sensor and the acoustic detector.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A material property gauge for determining a property of a construction material, the gauge comprising:
(a) an electromagnetic sensor operable to generate a signal based on a response of the construction material to an electromagnetic field;
(b) a seismic detector operable to generate a signal based on a response of the construction material to mechanical energy; and
(c) a material property calculation function configured to calculate a property value associated with the construction material based upon the signal generated by the electromagnetic sensor, and a seismic property associated with the construction material based upon the signal generated by the seismic detector.

2. The material property gauge of claim 1 , further comprising a moisture property gauge, wherein the moisture property gauge is one of an insert-able probe and a surface sensor configured to generate an electromagnetic field in at least one of: a frequency domain and a time domain.

3. The material property gauge of claim 2 , wherein the one of the insert-able probe and the surface sensor is integrated into the material property gauge or located external to the material property gauge.

4. The material property gauge of claim 2 , wherein signals from the moisture property gauge are communicated to the material property gauge through one or more of a wired connection, wireless connection, and manual keypad entry.

5. The material property gauge of claim 2 , wherein the moisture property gauge is operable to measure at least one of: a real permittivity property, an imaginary permittivity property, and a complex permittivity property, of the construction material.

6. The material property gauge of claim 2 , wherein the moisture property gauge is operable to measure a dielectric property of the construction material.

7. The material property gauge of claim 3 , wherein the moisture property gauge is operable to measure at least one of: a resistivity, a reactance, a susceptibility, a conductivity, a phase velocity, an energy loss, a loss tangent, a complex permittivity, an impedance effect, a dispersion, and a capacitance, associated with the construction material.

8. The material property gauge of claim 3 , wherein the moisture property gauge is one of: integrated into the material property gauge, and located external to the material property gauge.

9. The material property gauge of claim 1 , wherein the material property calculation function is configured to determine at least one of: a density value, a stiffness value, and a modulus value, of the construction material based on the signal produced by the seismic detector.

10. The material property gauge of claim 8 , wherein the material property calculation function is configured to correct at least one of a: a density value, a stiffness value, and a modulus value, of the construction material based on a signal representing the moisture property produced by the moisture property gauge.

11. The material property gauge of claim 1 , wherein the material property calculation function is configured to determine a property correction value based on a signal produced by a moisture property gauge.

12. The material property gauge of claim 11 , wherein the property correction value is used to determine at least one of: a dry density of the construction material from a wet density of the construction material, a dry stiffness of the construction material from a wet stiffness of the construction material, and a dry modulus from a wet modulus of the construction material.

13. A method for measuring a property of a sample construction material, the method comprising:
(a) determining a moisture property of the sample construction material using an electromagnetic field generator;
(b) producing a signal representing the moisture property;
(c) determining a seismic property; and
(d) calculating a property value associated with the sample construction material based upon the signal representing the moisture property and the determined seismic property.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
(e) determining one or more of a permittivity, conductivity, resistivity, and a dielectric constant response of the sample construction material based on the signal representing the moisture property; and
(f) calculating a moisture content of the sample construction material based on one or more of the permittivity, conductivity, resistivity, and dielectric constant response of the sample construction material.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising determining at least one of: a density value, a modulus value, and a stiffness value, of the sample construction material based on the signal representing the moisture property.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising adjusting a final value of at least one of the density value, the modulus value, and the stiffness value, based on the signal representing the moisture property produced by the moisture property gauge.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising: inserting a probe into the sample construction material or contacting a surface sensor with the sample construction material, and generating an electromagnetic field in at least one of: a frequency domain and a time domain.

18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising communicating signals produced by a moisture property gauge to a material property gauge through one or more of a wired connection, wireless connection, and manual keypad entry.

19. A computer program product comprising computer executable instructions embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium for performing steps comprising:
(a) determining a moisture property of a sample construction material by an electromagnetic field generator;
(b) determining a mechanical property of the sample construction material by a mechanical energy perturbation of the sample construction material;
(c) producing a signal representing the mechanical property;
(d) producing a signal representing the moisture property; and
(e) calculating a property value associated with the sample construction material based upon at least one of: the signal representing the moisture property, and the signal representing the mechanical property.

20. The computer program product of claim 19 , further comprising:
determining one or more of: a permittivity, a conductivity, a resistivity, and a dielectric constant response, of the sample construction material based on the signal representing the moisture property.

21. The computer program product of claim 20 , further comprising:
calculating a moisture content of the sample construction material based on the one or more of: the permittivity, the conductivity, the resistivity, and the dielectric constant response, of the sample construction material based on the signal representing the moisture property.

22. The computer program product of claim 21 , further comprising communicating the signals to a material property gauge through one or more of a wired connection, wireless connection, and manual keypad entry.

Assignees

• Troxler Electronic Lab Inc

Inventors

• Troxler Robert Ernest

Classifications

• H05K2203/162

  Testing a finished product, e.g. heat cycle testing of solder joints · CPC title

• G01N23/203

  Measuring back scattering · CPC title

• G01N23/025

  using neutrons · CPC title

• G01N33/246

  for water content · CPC title

• G01N33/42 Primary

  Road-making materials (G01N33/38 takes precedence) · CPC title