Evaluating Applications of Field Spectroscopy Devices to Fingerprint Commonly Used Construction Materials

TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Report S2-R06B-RW-1: Evaluating Applications of Field Spectroscopy Devices to Fingerprint Commonly Used Construction Materials documents evaluation results of practical, portable spectroscopic equipment for in-situ analysis of a wide range of commonly used construction materials.

The report also includes proposed American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standards of practice for the analysis of titanium content in traffic paints by X-ray fluorescence and identification of chemical admixtures by attenuated total reflectance.

An e-book version of this report is available for purchase at Amazon, Google, and iTunes.

The results of Renewal Project R06B, which produced SHRP 2 Report S2-R06B-RW-1, were incorporated into an electronic repository for practitioners, known as the NDToolbox, which provides information regarding recommended technologies for the detection of a particular deterioration. The NDToolbox was created by SHRP 2 Renewal Project R06A, which has released SHRP 2 Report S2-R06A-RR-1: Nondestructive Testing to Identify Concrete Bridge Deck Deterioration that identifies nondestructive testing technologies for detecting and characterizing common forms of deterioration in concrete bridge decks.

Renewal Project R06B is one of seven follow-on projects to SHRP Renewal Project R06 that produced SHRP 2 Report S2-R06-RW: A Plan for Developing High-Speed, Nondestructive Testing Procedures for Both Design Evaluation and Construction Inspection, which examines existing and emerging nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technologies and their current state of implementation to satisfy the NDE needs for highway renewal.

In conjunction with SHRP 2 Renewal Project R06B, a library of reference spectra for pure materials was created that may be used to help identify materials in the field. Due to the size of the files, the spectral library is available for download in two parts (Part 1 and Part 2) in ZIP format. The database consists of a series of files with fingerprinting number values and keys to the material labels. It supplements the suggest standards developed under this project and can be used by quality assurance/quality control specialists.

Spectral Library Disclaimer: These materials are offered as is, without warranty or promise of support of any kind, either expressed or implied. Under no circumstance will the National Academy of Sciences or the Transportation Research Board (collectively “TRB”) be liable for any loss or damage caused by the installation or operation of these materials. TRB makes no representation or warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, in fact or in law, including without limitation, the warranty of merchantability or the warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, and shall not in any case be liable for any consequential or special damages.

The R06B Project produced a pilot to document its preliminary implementation activities.