Innovative Materials for Navy Piers

A new, one-step pozzolanic cement patch with materials properties superior to those of current materials used in portland cement patching will be developed. Specific improvements include a 5-fold increase in compressive strength, greater corrosion resistance over traditional cement-based patching materials. The current limitation of pozzolanic cements is slow reaction time leading to uneconomically long cure times. TPL proposes to accelerate the cementatious reaction mechanism through low temperature hydrothermal synthesis of more chemically active nano-sized starting materials. Smaller starting materials will have the added advantage of reducing porosity and increasing compressive strength and corrosion resistance in the cured product. The hydrothermal synthesis route to production of cementatious starting materials will have significant energy saving over traditional portland cement calcination procedures which require temperatures of 1400 C. Characterization of fabricated patch materials will be via XRD, SEM, and porosimetry. Selected compositions will undergo compaction via hydrostatic pressure to assess effect on mechanical properties. Compressive strength, temperature cycling, and scaling resistance will complete the properties screening.