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

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12181459-B2
Application number	US-202218062165-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 6, 2022
Priority date	Aug 30, 2005
Publication date	Dec 31, 2024
Grant date	Dec 31, 2024

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 gauge for determining a property of a construction material, the gauge comprising:
an electromagnetic source configured to:
apply an electromagnetic field to the construction material over a wideband sweep of frequencies;

an electromagnetic sensor configured to measure a dispersion of a dielectric constant and a conductivity of the construction material as a function frequency for the wideband sweep of frequencies;
a material property calculation function configured to:
(a) calculate a moisture content of the construction material based on the dielectric constant dispersion measurements over the wideband sweep of frequencies; and
(b) classify the construction material based on the dispersion of the conductivity and the dielectric constant.

2. The gauge of claim 1 , wherein the material property calculation function includes one or more processors and memory components, pre-amplifiers, Gaussian amplifiers, peak detectors, and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs).

3. The gauge of claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic sensor includes at least one of a probe and a surface sensor.

4. The gauge of claim 1 , wherein the moisture property gauge is further operable to measure at least one of: resistivity, reactance, susceptibility, phase velocity, energy loss, loss tangent, complex permittivity, an impedance effect, and capacitance associated with permittivity and dielectric properties of the construction material.

5. The gauge of claim 1 , wherein the moisture property gauge is integrated into the gauge or located external to the gauge.

6. The gauge of claim 1 , wherein the moisture property gauge is configured to generate the electromagnetic field in one of a frequency and time domain.

7. The gauge of claim 1 , 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 the signal representing a moisture property produced by the moisture property gauge.

8. The gauge of claim 1 wherein the construction material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of soil, asphalt, pavement, stone, sub-base material, and sub-grade material, sand, cement and concrete.

9. A method for determining a property of a construction material, the method comprising:
by an electromagnetic source:
applying an electromagnetic field to the construction material over a wideband sweep of frequencies;

by an electromagnetic sensor:
measuring a dispersion of a dielectric constant and a conductivity of the construction material as a function frequency for the wideband sweep of frequencies;

by material property calculation function:
(a) calculating a moisture content of the construction material based on the dielectric constant dispersion measurements over the wideband sweep of frequencies; and
(b) classifying the construction material based on the dispersion of the conductivity and the dielectric constant.

10. A computer program product comprising computer executable instructions embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium for performing steps comprising:
applying an electromagnetic field to the construction material over a wideband sweep of frequencies;
measuring a dispersion of a dielectric constant and a conductivity of the construction material as a function frequency for the wideband sweep of frequencies;
calculating a moisture content of the construction material on the dielectric constant dispersion measurements over the wideband sweep of frequencies; and
classifying the construction material based on the dispersion of the conductivity and the dielectric constant.

Assignees

• Troxler Electronic Lab Inc

Inventors

• Troxler Robert Ernest

Classifications

• G01N9/24

  by observing the transmission of wave or particle radiation through the material · CPC title

• G01N33/246

  for water content · CPC title

• G01N23/02

  by transmitting the radiation through the material · CPC title

• G01N2223/1013

  gamma · CPC title

• G01N27/048

  for determining moisture content of the material · CPC title