Two ACI certification programs, Concrete Field Testing Technician-Level 1 and Concrete Strength Testing Technician, were recently conducted in Nanjing, China, and Taiwan, ROC, respectively. The authors describe some of the organizational details required for these training and educational programs, discuss the importance of selecting the certification program that suits the needs of the local market, and describe the process of initiating an ACI certification program.

The Virtual Cement and Concrete Testing Laboratory (VCCTL) is an integrated software package comprising numerical models capable of characterizing cement and concrete performance. Rooted in basic principles of physics and chemistry, VCCTL includes a hydration model that simulates the development of cement paste microstructure as the binder matures. A case study is provided, showing that the VCCTL and basic materials engineering allowed engineers to predict the relationships between cement characteristics and performance and efficiently find promising combinations of parameters for production.

While the slump test is the most commonly used method for evaluating the workability of concrete, tests can be imprecise and cause waste and delays. This article describes an instrumented probe that can be mounted inside a truck mixer to evaluate concrete workability for mixtures with slump values ranging from 30 to 280 mm (1.25 to 11 in.). It is shown that an empirically developed calibration relationship provides good correlation with slump data as well as slump flow data obtained using mixers and mixtures in numerous countries.