CEAT 2007 Summer Internship Program
Christian Cortez, Prof Lange, Amruta Mate, Janice Wiener, Loaiza Maldonado-Mateo, Ahmed Ahmed
OMP Summer Industry Interns
Scott Presslak (Landrum & Brown)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urban Planning
FAA Summer Research Interns
Ahmed Ahmed | Christian Cortez | Amruta Mate | Loaiza Maldonado-Mateo | Jose Sanchez | Janice Wiener
Ahmed Ahmed
University of Illinois
Civil Engineering
Ahmed worked with the CEAT FAA project: Contribution of Aircraft Gear Loads to Reflection Cracking in Airport Asphalt Overlays and the CEAT OMP project: Refletive Cracking and Improved Performance of Grooved Asphalt. During the summer internship, he reviewed journals, cut beams, and worked on the SE(B) Project. He summarizes his work in the two paragraphs to follow:
Reflective cracking is a common distress in airport pavements. Many researchers have attempted to study reflective cracking through lab experimentation. One of the most promising lab tests for the study of reflective cracking is the Single Edged Notched Beam Test. This test is studied and analyzed in detail by Michael P. Wagoner, William G. Buttlar, and Glaucio H. Paulino. There article, Development of a Single-Edge Notched Beam Test for Asphalt Concrete Mixtures, is one of the two entries in my literature reviews. I will use the SE(B) test to further the study of Andrew F Braham, William G. Buttlar, and Mihai O. Marasteanu. In their article, Effect of Binder Type, Aggregate, and Mixture Composition on the Fracture Energy of Hot-Mix Asphalt in Cold Climates (the second entry for my literature review), they declare that 4% and 7% air voids make insignificant changes to fracture energy. They also say that further research must be done in this topic. I have taken this task and made it the center of my summer research for CEAT – Center for Excellence in Airport Technology.
To conclude, my research in the area of reflective cracking and air voids has led me to the same conclusion reached by Andrew F. Braham: more research needs to be done. My results have furthered this conclusion and have led me to believe that without more research and more promising data, air voids still have no significant affect on fracture energy. However, my results did encompass unusual trends, but due to the lack of specimen availability in addition with the conclusion of my summer research, these trends cannot really be further examined or acknowledged. This summer has been a real awarding experience for me. I have learned a significant amount of material in the field of transportation engineering and in the field of scientific testing and fabrication. I have also learned that without patience and self discipline, research is practically impossible.
Christian Cortez
University of Illinois
Aerospace Engineering
Christian is a junior this Fall '07 at the University of Illionis at Urbana-Champaign majoring in Aerospace Engineering. He participated in the CEAT Summer Internship Program funded by the Center's FAA Minority Internship Project. Professor Erol Tutumluer was his advisor for the summer working on a CEAT project at the Newmark Civil Engineering Lab. Graduate Student Phillip Donovan worked with Christian to make his experience a success.
Christian assisted Phil on the CEAT FAA Project: Analysis of NAPTF Trafficking Dynamic Response Data For Pavement Deformation Behavior. He summarizes his internship research experience below:
The purpose of this summer internship was to assist an administrator working with the Center of Excellence for Airport Technology, CEAT, in their current research. I was fortunate enough to be paired with Professor Tutumluer, an expert in aggregates for airport runways; and Phillip Donavan, a PhD student ready to put me to work. As it turns out, Professor Tutumluer left for most all of the summer for conferences and meetings, therefore I worked the whole summer under Phil’s supervision. The project I assisted Phil with this summer was his “Analysis of NAPTF Trafficking Dynamic Response Data for Pavement Deformation Behavior.”
Prior to my arrival, Phil traveled to FAA Tech Center where he observed pavement test strips and data collection. He was fortunate enough to obtain test data from the National Airport Test Machine (NATM) at the National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF). This data is what Phil is using to support his research. AT that point, I joined Phil’s research and took on the responsibility of assisting Phil in turning scattered data into useful information.
We used Excel a lot:
• 64 files
• 20,000 rows each file
• 494 columns each file
• All of it in need of organization
• That’s a total of 632,320,000 cells that we had to work with
• And that is a low ball figure
Amruta Mate
University of Illinois
Civil Engineering
Amruta is a senior this Fall ’07 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign majoring in Civil Engineering. She participated in the CEAT Summer Internship Program funded by the Center’s FAA Minority Internship Project. Professor Jeff Roesler was her advisor for the summer working on a CEAT project at the Newmark Civil Engineering Lab and ATREL in Rantoul. Graduate Students Matt Beyer, Victor Cervantes and Cristian Gaedicke worked with Amruta to make her experience a success.
Amruta’s main project was to test and analyze fiber reinforced concrete. This research was done as a part of the CEAT FAA research project: Alternative Fatigue Cracking Modes on Airfield Rigid Pavements. She summarizes her work in the paragraphs to follow.
This summer I assisted Prof. Roesler and his students in their research. My main project was to test and analyze fiber reinforced concrete. The fibers were called FORTA FERRO and were sent in by FORTA CORPORATION. I mixed concrete using these fibers, tested them and analyzed the data to submit a report.
Apart from fiber reinforced concrete, I also assisted in several other tasks. One of them was to analyze the I-57 Pesotum truck data. I summarized the data by class and by axle loads. This information was used by Victor to make graphs, which were presented when we attended the IDOT quarterly meeting. I also helped at Rantoul. I surveyed the area with Matt and Victor. This data was used to plot an elevation graph and later will be used to determine where to place the fill. Lastly, I helped Matt with placing the thermal couples to collect temperature data. We collected the data twice from the McKinley Health Center parking lot. Eight wires were placed into the concrete at four different levels, and temperature data was collected. This data will be used to determine how deep the cut in the finished concrete should be to avoid the crack from propagating into the adjacent block.
Loaiza Maldonado-Mateo
Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico
Engineer Management - Construction Management/ Public Works
Loaiza is a Masters Student at the Polythecnic University of Puerto Rico in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico studying Engineering Management with emphasis in Construction Management and Public Works. She participated in the CEAT Summer Internship Program funded by the Center's FAA Minority Internship Project. Professor Leslie Struble was her advisor for the summer working on a CEAT project at the Newmark Civil Engineering Lab. Graduate Student Li Ai worked with Loaiza at the beginning of her internship.
Loaiza worked on research for Prof. Struble’s CEAT OMP Project: ASR and Role of Potassium Acetate Deicer on ASR. In the paragraphs below, Loaiza gives an introduction to her summer research work with this project:
Over the years, the number of research studies focused on Alkali-Silica Reactions (ASR) in Portland cement has increased dramatically. Our research is conducted to assist the O’Hare Modernization Program in determining which materials are less susceptible to or does not present a significant deterioration due to ASR. Prior research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) provided information of the impact of deicing chemicals on concrete pavements at the O’Hare International airport. My research examines the potential deleterious behavior of various aggregates after a short-term exposure to potassium acetate deicing solution that is currently been used in different airports around the nation.
Francis B. Nelson III, states that the test of Ottawa sands in the Chicago area should be treated as if they are potentially deleterious aggregate. Therefore, the sands tested exhibit expansion above the expected ranges. Further studies are needed to determine the reactivity of the sands. My research recreated some of Francis B. Nelson III experiments. We used his ASTM C 1260 standard and modified the procedure, at the subsequent storage and measurement. The ASTM C 1260 standard states, “The specimens should be placed in 1N sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution for storage for 14 days”. Our modification consisted of substituting the 1N NaOH solution with 6M potassium acetate (KAc).
Jose Sanchez
University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez
Civil Engineering
Jose is a senior at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez majoring in Civil Engineering. He participated in the Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) organized through the UIUC Graduate College. CEAT sponsored his research work with its FAA Minority Internship Project. Professor David Lange was his advisor for the summer. Graduate Student Jacob Heuschen also worked with Jose to make his experience a success.
Jose worked with the CEAT FAA project: Moisture Curingling and Corner Cracking of Concrete Slabs: Parametric Study Using ICON Software and the CEAT OMP project: Effects of Climate and Concrete Constituents on Airfield Rigid Pavements Performance. Jose’s abstract of his work is below:
Shrinkage in concrete is a material property that builders and researchers greatly desire to control. An excess amount of water that does not react in the hydration process of cement stays inside the concrete creating water pores. Water inside the pores is removed when it is evaporated from the surface. The movement of water from the surface generates a pore pressure inside the concrete, causing a volume contraction called shrinkage. The objective of this investigation is to study shrinkage as the cement paste content is changed by volume. For this investigation, a designed optimized concrete mixture (DOC) was studied. A DOC differs from a normal concrete mixture in the aggregate quantity, gradation and the amount of cementitious material. To study shrinkage, a set of restrained shrinkage, free shrinkage, compression and split tensile tests were conducted on concrete following the ASTM standards. Ring tests were used for the study of restrained shrinkage and prisms were used for the free shrinkage tests. The results show that concrete mixtures with a higher cement paste content have a higher strain over time for the free shrinkage and restrained shrinkage tests. Compressive strength results show that a higher cement paste content does not necessarily result in higher strength. Furthermore, experimental and computer model results for strain shown an acceptable correlation using ICON finite element method code.
Janice Wiener
University of Illinois
General Engineering, Secondary Field in Civil Engineering Structures
Janice is senior this Fall '07 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying Civil Engineering Structures through the General Engineering Program. She participated in the CEAT Summer Internship Program funded by the Center’s FAA Minority Internship Project. Professor John Popovics was her advisor for the summer working on a CEAT project at the Newmark Civil Engineering Lab and ATREL in Rantoul. Graduate Students Sara Alzate and Gonzaolo Gallo worked with Janice to make her experience a success.
Janice’s main project task was to learn about measuring the modulus of elasticity on concrete cylinders, which was part of graduate student Sara Alzate’s research project. This research was done as a part of the CEAT FAA research project – Evaluative study of non-FWD non-destructive testing and evaluation (NDTE) technologies for airport pavement maintenance and acceptance activities. She summarizes her work in the paragraph to follow.
Towards the beginning of my internship with CEAT, I met with Professor John Popovics and a few of the graduate students working for him. Through them, I learned of their various testing of concrete prisms and cylinders. One of the main measurements of these pieces of concrete was of Young’s modulus of elasticity, which does not have a standard method of measurement for the mixture, as the different methods currently employed give different results. Focusing on using vibrations for non-destructive testing, preliminary tests using both transverse and longitudinal waves had already been performed on both prisms and cylinders of a homogenous substance and then compared to its actual modulus value. As the prisms’ values were fairly close to the actual value but the cylinders were not, it became my task to learn about measuring the modulus of elasticity on concrete cylinders, which was part of graduate student Sara Alzate’s research project. Also in this time, I have learned about a few other topics concerning tests on concrete when the graduate students have needed a helping hand in the lab.
Chicago White Sox Game
On June 20, 2007, the CEAT graduate students and summer interns took a break from their research work to attend a Chicago White Sox game. This was a team building activity for the summer interns and the graduate student mentors. CEAT Director, Prof. Lange, also met up with the group after attending the PCA Conference in Skokie, IL. The White Sox fell to the FL Marlins five to four in the nineth inning, but it was a good game overall. 
CEAT Picnic at the Park
As the CEAT Summer Internship Program came to an end, the Center hosted a cookout at Hessel Park in Champaign on July 25, 2007. All of the CEAT interns, CEAT graduate students and CEAT faculty were invited to attend.