Diagnostic Reliability in the Assessment of Degradation in Precast Concrete Elements

In the past century, precast reinforced concrete has become the most widely used construction material in infrastructure engineering, especially for long-span structures. Nowadays, a growing research area concerns the assessment of concrete strength degradation due to environmental exposure and reinforcement corrosion. This paper reports an experimental campaign on some prefabricated concrete elements that were exposed to atmospheric agents for approximately 20 years. The campaign took the uncommon opportunity to access the full inspection and sampling of rebar. The included activities had different invasiveness and encompassed inspections, core sampling, corrosion potential mapping, compressive strength tests, as well as neutralization depth assays on cored surfaces, on chisel-split surfaces, and on drilling powders. The results bring together a global diagnostic picture of very limited degradation and of elements that are fully able to attend their design service life; the latter is estimated to be considerably higher than 20 years and to exceed 75 years if the concrete mix does not show quality issues. Results also permit drawing considerations on a hierarchy of diagnostic reliability in the evaluation of RC degradation, in which concrete core sampling plays the role of golden standard.

The investigation of the porosity scale effect and elastic anisotropy in Bashkirian limestones

The article presents the methodology of the representative elementary volume definition for 1 m long whole core segments. Scientific articles focused on factors controlling elastic properties are analysed. Terms of additivity and nonadditivity for physical properties of rocks are discussed. The algorithm of core sampling including drilling out of three perpendicular core samples for estimation of elastic anisotropy was used. Porosity values of 1 m long whole core fragment evaluated in two ways using original core samples in the first approach and core samples having volume 133 cm3 in the second way have been compared. Peculiarities of scale effect of porosity in core samples of limestones are analysed.

Quantifying Soil Compaction in Persimmon Orchards Using ISUM (Improved Stock Unearthing Method) and Core Sampling Methods

Agricultural activities induce micro-topographical changes, soil compaction and structural changes due to soil cultivation, which directly affect ecosystem services. However, little is known about how these soil structural changes occur during and after the planting of orchards, and which key factors and processes play a major role in soil compaction due to cultivation works. This study evaluates the improved stock unearthing method (ISUM) as a low-cost and precise alternative to the tedious and costly traditional core sampling method, to characterize the changes in soil compaction in a representative persimmon orchard in Eastern Spain. To achieve this goal, firstly, in the field, undisturbed soil samples using metallic core rings (in January 2016 and 2019) were collected at different soil depths between 45 paired-trees, and topographic variations were determined following the protocol established by ISUM (January 2019). Our results show that soil bulk density (Bd) increases with depth and in the inter-row area, due to the effect of tractor passes and human trampling. The bulk density values of the top surface layers (0–12 cm) showed the lowest soil accumulation, but the highest temporal and spatial variability. Soil consolidation within three years after planting as calculated using the core samples was 12 mm, whereas when calculated with ISUM, it was 14 mm. The quality of the results with ISUM was better than with the traditional core method, due to the higher amount of sampling points. The ISUM is a promising method to measure soil compaction, but it is restricted to the land where soil erosion does not take place, or where soil erosion is measured to establish a balance of soil redistribution. Another positive contribution of ISUM is that it requires 24 h of technician work to acquire the data, whereas the core method requires 272 h. Our research is the first approach to use ISUM to quantify soil compaction and will contribute to applying innovative and low-cost monitoring methods to agricultural land and conserving ecosystem services.

Tell me what's underneath! Using a model to investigate core sampling methodology with secondary school students

<p>What is under our feet? How can we study something that we cannot directly see? How can we reconstruct Earth’s history?<br>To find answers to these interesting questions scientists developed different methodologies to investigate soil, rock formations, as well as the deeper structure of Earth’s interior. The same questions can be used as a starting point for many teaching activities.<br>In the teaching activity we experimented with 11-12 years old students in a Secondary School in Italy, we used a model made with inexpensive materials to discover core sampling, one of the methodologies used by geologists to investigate the outermost part of our planet and gather important information to reconstruct Earth’s history. <br>One of the aims of the teaching sequence is to make students understand the work of geologists and how they can discover what happened in the past by studying rocks. These activities are also a way to help students to develop important skills such as formulating hypotheses, carrying on investigations and using data to validate a hypothesis.<br>In this poster I present the activities and discuss some observations on students' drawings and descriptions, collected during the learning sequence to better understand students’ learning process and the learning outcomes. </p><p> </p>