Internet of Things (IoT) for digital concrete quality control (DCQC): A conceptual framework

Abstract

Concreting is generally a manual, labour intensive and time-consuming process, putting additional burden on constrained resources. Current practices of concreting are wasteful, non-sustainable and end products usually lack proper quality conformance. This paper, as the first outcome of an ongoing research project, proposes concrete as an area ripe for being disrupted by new technological developments and the wave of automation. It puts forward arguments to show that The Internet of Things (IoT), as an emerging concept, has the potential to revolutionize concreting operations, resulting in substantial time savings, confidence in its durability and enhanced quality conformance. A conceptual framework for a digital concrete quality control (DCQC) drawing upon IoT is outlined; DCQC facilitates automated lifecycle monitoring of concrete, controlled by real-time monitoring of parameters like surface humidity, temperature variance, moisture content, vibration level, and crack occurrence and propagation of concrete members through embedded sensors. Drawing upon an analytical approach, discussions provide evidence for the advantages of adopting DCQC. The proposed system is of particular appeal for practitioners, as a workable solution for reducing water, energy consumption and required man-hours for concreting procedures, as well as, providing an interface for access to real-time data, site progress monitoring, benchmarking, and predictive analytics purposes.

Digitalization as a Strategic Means of Achieving Sustainable Efficiencies in Construction Management: A Critical Review

“…And digital technologies offer solutions. These include vast capabilities offered by the Internet of Things (IoT) [24,25]; unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) [26,27]; 3D printing [28,29]; augmented reality (AR) [30,31]; virtual reality (VR) [32][33][34]; mixed reality (MR) [35,36]; Building Information Modeling (BIM) [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45]; Artificial Intelligence (AI); and intelligent decision support systems (DSS) [46][47][48][49]. At the organization level, digital engineering (DE) is proposed to complement the limitations of BIM beyond the boundaries of projects.…”

Internet of Things‐Based Concrete Curing Invention for Construction Quality Control

“…Scholars have already studied the possibility of adopting the IoT for digital concrete quality control. Ghosh et al [25] first indicated the concreting process problems of (1) large amounts of waste [26]; (2) low productivity of concreting activities due to the high demands made on resources and management [27]; (3) insufficiency of concrete structures' durability and strength; (4) environment disruption affecting all the factors that associated the concreting. To tackle such problems, Ghosh et al [25] established an IoT conceptual framework to automatically monitor the lifecycle of concrete, which requires the real-time monitoring of parameters such as temperature, moisture content vibration levels, and crack occurrences.…”