Advanced Concrete Technology (ACT) Lab

Dr. Weina Meng, Assistant Professor

School: Schaefer School of Engineering & Science
Department: Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering
Building: Rocco
Room: 307
Phone: (201) 216-8711
Email: [email protected]

Brief information

Dr. Weina Meng is the Director of the ACT Laboratory and an Assistant Professor in Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering. Dr. Meng is dedicated to research on developing resilient and sustainable infrastructure through innovations in engineering materials. She has authored more than 25 journal papers. She has served as committee members of ACI 236 Materials Science, ACI 239 Ultra-high-performance Concrete, and ACI 241 Nanotechnology of Concrete. She has also served as guest editor of the journal of Applied Science: “Special Issue: Ultra-high-performance Concrete”.

Education

Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO. Advisor: Professor Kamal H. Khayat
M.S. and B.S. in Civil Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China

Research

• Development of Advanced High-performance Construction Materials for Stainable and Resilient Civil Infrastructures

• Multiscale Experimental Testing and Numerical Modeling

• Physical and Chemical Analyses and Modeling

• CO2 Utilization by Cementitious Materials

• Sea Water and Sea Sand Concrete 

• Bio-inspired Engineering Materials

• Machine Learning For Materials Optimization

Institutional Service

Graduate Student Council Committee

Professional Service

Guest Editor of: Journal of Applied Science
Assoicate member of:
ACI 239 - Ultra-high Performance Concrete
ACI 241 - Nano Technology of Concrete
ACI 236 - Materials Science
Serve as the Reviewer of:
Cement and Concrete Research; Cement and Concrete Composites; Journal of Physical Chemistry C; Composites B: Engineering; Materials and Structures; ACI Structural Journal; ACI Materials Journal; Construction and Building Materials; ASCE Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering

Honors & Awards

• NSF CAREER Award, 2021

• “2020 Educator of the Year”, ASCE New Jersey Section

• Award of Best Poster, Student Competition of 1st International Interactive Symposium on UHPC, 07/2016

• Women’s Transportation Seminar Helene M. Overly Memorial Scholarship, Missouri Department of Transportation, 05/2016

• Honorary DJ Belarbi Graduate Scholarship, American Concrete Institute, Missouri Chapter, 04/2016

• Graduate Research Fellowship, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 03/2016

• Travel Grant, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 04/2016

PhD students

Jiang Du (Fall 2019 – present)

Research areas: Ultra-high-performance Concrete, Sea Water and Sea Sand Concrete

Zhuo Liu (Fall 2019 – present)

Research areas: Multifunctional Engineering Cementitious Composites, Carbonation Curing of Cementitious Materials

Pengwei Guo (Spring 2021 – present)

Research areas: Multifunctional Construction Materials, Machine Learning

Yuhuan Wang (Fall 2021 – present)

Research areas: Bio-inspired Cementitous Materials, Calcium-Silicate-Hydrate

Hammad Ahmed Shah (Fall 2022 – present)

Research areas: Accelerated carbonation of recycled concrete aggregate, Ultra-high-performance concrete, Machine learning

High-performance Fiber-reinforced Cementitious Composites

1. Resilient: durable, strain-hardening property, high tensile strength, and high tensile ductility

2. Sustainable: green raw materials and wastes

3. Multifunctionality: temperature management, self-sensing, self-cleaning, and air-purifying
   

CO2 Utilization by Cementitious Materials

Mechanical properties and durability of concrete has been improved by CO2 curing and CO2 injection:

1. Optimize CO2 curing procedures to precast concrete with high CO2 uptake efficiency

2. Develop a low carbon precast concrete adapted to CO2 curing technology

3. Optimize CO2 injection procedures to concrete during mixing

4. Develop a low carbon ready-mix concrete adapted to CO2 injection technology

Sea Water and Sea Sand Concrete

Sea water and sea sand concrete (SEACON) has been developed:

1. Properly design SEACON matrix (cementitious materials-sand-chemical admixtures) with denser microstructure and higher cracking resistance

2. Use non-metallic fibers to minimize/eliminate steel in concrete for better durability
   

Bio-inspired Engineering Materials

Bio-inspired engineering materials have been developed:

1. Ultra-light weight, high toughness, ultra-high flexural strength

2. Multifunctionality: temperature management, self-sensing, self-cleaning, and air-purifying
   

Machine Learning

Intelligent algorithms have been developed:

1. Prediction: logic-guided neural networks for predicting materials properties

2. Optimization: novel metaheuristic optimization algorithms, game theory-based optimization

The ACT Laboratory is housed with a 1200 square ft space. And the lab has capabilities of cement-based materials preparing, curing, mechanical testing, and characterization.

Click here to see Google scholar

1. Liu, Z., Shi, C., Shi, Q., Tan, X. and Meng, W., 2022. Recycling waste glass aggregate in concrete: Mitigation of alkali-silica reaction (ASR) by carbonation curing. Journal of Cleaner Production, p.133545.

2. Liu, Z., Du, J. and Meng, W., 2022. Achieving low-carbon cementitious materials with high mechanical properties using CaCO3 suspension produced by CO2 sequestration. Journal of Cleaner Production, p.133546.

3. Guo, P., Meng, X., Meng, W. and Bao, Y., 2022. Monitoring and automatic characterization of cracks in strain-hardening cementitious composite (SHCC) through intelligent interpretation of photos. Composites Part B: Engineering, p.110096.

4. Du, J., Liu, Z., Christodoulatos, C., Conway, M., Bao, Y. and Meng, W., 2022. Utilization of off-specification fly ash in preparing ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC): Mixture design, characterization, and life-cycle assessment. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 180, p.106136.

5. Guo, P., Du, J., Bao, Y. and Meng, W., 2022. Real-time video recognition for assessing plastic viscosity of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC). Measurement, 191, p.110809.

6. Mahjoubi, S., Meng, W. and Bao, Y., 2022. Logic-guided neural network for predicting steel-concrete interfacial behaviors. Expert Systems with Applications, p.116820.

7. Li, X., Lv, X., Zhou, X., Meng, W. and Bao, Y., 2022. Upcycling of waste concrete in eco-friendly strain-hardening cementitious composites: Mixture design, structural performance, and life-cycle assessment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 330, p.129911.

8. Mahjoubi, S., Meng, W. and Bao, Y., 2022. Auto-tune learning framework for prediction of flowability, mechanical properties, and porosity of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC). Applied Soft Computing, 115, p.108182.

9. Fan, L., Teng, L., Tang, F., Khayat, K.H., Chen, G. and Meng, W., 2021. Corrosion of steel rebar embedded in UHPC beams with cracked matrix. Construction and Building Materials, 313, p.125589.

10. Mahjoubi, S., Barhemat, R., Guo, P., Meng, W. and Bao, Y., 2021. Prediction and multi-objective optimization of mechanical, economical, and environmental properties for strain-hardening cementitious composites (SHCC) based on automated machine learning and metaheuristic algorithms. Journal of Cleaner Production, 329, p.129665.

11. Li, X., Li, Y., Yan, M., Meng, W., Lu, X., Chen, K. and Bao, Y., 2021. Cyclic behavior of joints assembled using prefabricated beams and columns with Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC). Engineering Structures, 247, p.113115.

12. Du, J., Meng, W., Khayat, K.H., Bao, Y., Guo, P., Lyu, Z., Abu-obeidah, A., Nassif, H. and Wang, H., 2021. New development of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC). Composites Part B: Engineering, 224, p.109220.

13. Lyu, Z., Shen, A., Wang, W., Lin, S., Guo, Y. and Meng, W., 2021. Salt frost resistance and micro characteristics of polynary blended concrete using in frost areas. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 191, p.103374.

14. Guo, P., Meng, W. and Bao, Y., 2021. Automatic identification and quantification of dense microcracks in high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composites through deep learning-based computer vision. Cement and Concrete Research, 148, p.106532.

15. Guo, P., Bao, Y. and Meng, W., 2021. Review of using glass in high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composites. Cement and Concrete Composites, 120, p.104032.

16. Lyu, Z., Shen, A. and Meng, W., 2021. Properties, mechanism, and optimization of superabsorbent polymers and basalt fibers modified cementitious composite. Construction and Building Materials, 276, p.122212.

17. Liu, Z. and Meng, W., 2021. Fundamental understanding of carbonation curing and durability of carbonation-cured cement-based composites: A review. Journal of CO2 Utilization, 44, p.101428.

18. Guo, P., Meng, W., Xu, M., Li, V.C. and Bao, Y., 2021. Predicting mechanical properties of high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composites by integrating micromechanics and machine learning. Materials, 14(12), p.3143.

19. Vallurupalli, K., Meng, W., Liu, J. and Khayat, K.H., 2020. Effect of graphene oxide on rheology, hydration and strength development of cement paste. Construction and Building Materials, 265, p.120311.

20. Teng, L., Meng, W. and Khayat, K.H., 2020. Rheology control of ultra-high-performance concrete made with different fiber contents. Cement and Concrete Research, 138, p.106222.

21. Guo, P., Meng, W., Nassif, H., Gou, H. and Bao, Y., 2020. New perspectives on recycling waste glass in manufacturing concrete for sustainable civil infrastructure. Construction and Building Materials, 257, p.119579.

22. Fan, L., Meng, W., Teng, L. and Khayat, K.H., 2020. Effects of lightweight sand and steel fiber contents on the corrosion performance of steel rebar embedded in UHPC. Construction and Building Materials, 238, p.117709.

23. Fan, L., Tan, X., Zhang, Q., Meng, W., Chen, G. and Bao, Y., 2020. Monitoring corrosion of steel bars in reinforced concrete based on helix strains measured from a distributed fiber optic sensor. Engineering Structures, 204, p.110039.

24. Fan, L., Meng, W., Teng, L. and Khayat, K.H., 2019. Effect of steel fibers with galvanized coatings on corrosion of steel bars embedded in UHPC. Composites Part B: Engineering, 177, p.107445.

25. Khayat, K.H., Meng, W., Vallurupalli, K. and Teng, L., 2019. Rheological properties of ultra-high-performance concrete—An overview. Cement and Concrete Research, 124, p.105828.

26. Fan, L., Bao, Y., Meng, W. and Chen, G., 2019. In-situ monitoring of corrosion-induced expansion and mass loss of steel bar in steel fiber reinforced concrete using a distributed fiber optic sensor. Composites Part B: Engineering, 165, pp.679-689.

27. Meng, W., Kumar, A. and Khayat, K.H., 2019. Effect of silica fume and slump-retaining polycarboxylate-based dispersant on the development of properties of portland cement paste. Cement and Concrete Composites, 99, pp.181-190.

28. Liu, Y., Zhang, Q., Meng, W., Bao, Y. and Bu, Y., 2019. Transverse fatigue behaviour of steel-UHPC composite deck with large-size U-ribs. Engineering Structures, 180, pp.388-399.

29. Li, X., Xu, H., Meng, W. and Bao, Y., 2018. Tri-axial compressive properties of high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composites after exposure to high temperatures. Construction and Building Materials, 190, pp.939-947.

30. Meng, W., Khayat, K.H. and Bao, Y., 2018. Flexural behaviors of fiber-reinforced polymer fabric reinforced ultra-high-performance concrete panels. Cement and Concrete Composites, 93, pp.43-53.

31. Meng, W. and Khayat, K.H., 2018. Effect of hybrid fibers on fresh properties, mechanical properties, and autogenous shrinkage of cost-effective UHPC. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 30(4), p.04018030.

32. Meng, W. and Khayat, K.H., 2018. Effect of graphite nanoplatelets and carbon nanofibers on rheology, hydration, shrinkage, mechanical properties, and microstructure of UHPC. Cement and Concrete Research, 105, pp.64-71.

33. Meng, W., Samaranayake, V.A. and Khayat, K.H., 2018. Factorial Design and Optimization of Ultra-High-Performance Concrete with Lightweight Sand. ACI Materials Journal, 115(1).

34. Meng, W. and Khayat, K., 2017. Effects of saturated lightweight sand content on key characteristics of ultra-high-performance concrete. Cement and Concrete Research, 101, pp.46-54.

35. Meng, W., Yao, Y., Mobasher, B. and Khayat, K.H., 2017. Effects of loading rate and notch-to-depth ratio of notched beams on flexural performance of ultra-high-performance concrete. Cement and Concrete Composites, 83, pp.349-359.

36. Bao, Y., Valipour, M., Meng, W., Khayat, K.H. and Chen, G., 2017. Distributed fiber optic sensor-enhanced detection and prediction of shrinkage-induced delamination of ultra-high-performance concrete overlay. Smart Materials and Structures, 26(8), p.085009.

37. Meng, W. and Khayat, K.H., 2017. Improving flexural performance of ultra-high-performance concrete by rheology control of suspending mortar. Composites Part B: Engineering, 117, pp.26-34.

38. Meng, W., Valipour, M. and Khayat, K.H., 2017. Optimization and performance of cost-effective ultra-high performance concrete. Materials and structures, 50(1), pp.1-16.

39. Meng, W. and Khayat, K.H., 2016. Mechanical properties of ultra-high-performance concrete enhanced with graphite nanoplatelets and carbon nanofibers. Composites Part B: Engineering, 107, pp.113-122.

40. Meng, W., Lunkad, P., Kumar, A. and Khayat, K., 2016. Influence of silica fume and polycarboxylate ether dispersant on hydration mechanisms of cement. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 120(47), pp.26814-26823.

41. Bao, Y., Tang, F., Chen, Y., Meng, W., Huang, Y. and Chen, G., 2016. Concrete pavement monitoring with PPP-BOTDA distributed strain and crack sensors. Smart Structures and Systems, 18(3), pp.405-423.

42. Meng, W. and Khayat, K.H., 2016. Experimental and numerical studies on flexural behavior of ultrahigh-performance concrete panels reinforced with embedded glass fiber-reinforced polymer grids. Transportation Research Record, 2592(1), pp.38-44.

43. Bao, Y., Meng, W., Chen, Y., Chen, G. and Khayat, K.H., 2015. Measuring mortar shrinkage and cracking by pulse pre-pump Brillouin optical time domain analysis with a single optical fiber. Materials Letters, 145, pp.344-346.

Click here to see Google scholar

1. Tan, X., Meng, W., Bao, Y., Nassif, H. and Li, V.C., 2021. Material Redundancy for Enhancing the Resistance to Collapse of the Florida International University (FIU) Bridge (No. TRBAM-21-03231).

2. Meng, W. and Khayat, K.H., 2019, June. Enhancing UHPC Performance Using Carbon Nanomaterials. In International Interactive Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Concrete (Vol. 2, No. 1). Iowa State University Digital Press.

3. Farid, O.J., Sultan, A., Sabri, L., Meng, W., Khayat, K. and Al-Dahhan, M., 2018, October. Non-Invasive Imaging of Distribution of Coarse Aggregate in Hardened States Concrete Using Advanced Gamma Ray Computed Tomography. In 2018 AIChE Annual Meeting. AIChE.

4. Meng, W. and Khayat, K.H., 2016, July. Development of stay-in-place formwork using GFRP reinforced UHPC elements. In International Interactive Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Concrete (Vol. 1, No. 1). Iowa State University Digital Press.

5. Meng, W. and Khayat, K.H., 2016, April. Flexural performance of ultra-high performance concrete ballastless track slabs. In ASME/IEEE Joint Rail Conference (Vol. 49675, p. V001T01A031). American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

6. Meng, W., Valipour, M. and Khayat, K.H., 2016. Performance Assessment of Cost-effective Ultra-high Performance Concrete (No. 16-3139).

7. Bao, Y., Chen, G., Meng, W., Tang, F. and Chen, Y., 2015, March. Kilometer-long optical fiber sensor for real-time railroad infrastructure monitoring to ensure safe train operation. In ASME/IEEE Joint Rail Conference (Vol. 56451, p. V001T06A004). American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

• CE 381 Civil Engineering Measurements Lab

• CE 484 Reinforced Concrete Design

• CE 800 Special Problems in Civil Engineering

• CE 960 Research in Civil Engineering (PHD)

Dr. Meng volunteers to help students in developing their projects for STEAM Challenges.

Albany, New York, June 2–5, 2019

ULTRA-HIGH PERFORMANCE CONCRETE STUDENT COMPETITION WINNERS

One paper on AI-guided concrete property prediction and reaction discovery was accepted to Resources Conservation and Recycling. Congrats, Soroush!

One paper on highly thixotropic ultra-high-performance concrete was accepted to Construction and Building Materials. Congrats, Jiang!

One paper on identification and classification of exfoliated graphene flakes was accepted to Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence. Congrats, Soroush!

One paper on AI-guided auto-discovery of UHPC was accepted to Resources Conservation and Recycling. Congrats, Soroush!

One paper on arsenate removal using titanium dioxide-doped cementitious composites was accepted to Science of the Total Environment. Congrats, Zhuo!

Two papers on low-carbon concrete were accepted to Journal of Cleaner Production. Congrats, Zhuo!

Jiang presented at the ACI 2022 Conference. Congrats, Jiang!

Jiang presented at the EMI 2022 Conference. Congrats, Jiang!

One paper on monitoring cracks in SHCC accepted to Composites Part B: Engineering. Congrats, Pengwei!

Congratulations to Jiang for winning the Doctoral Excellence Fellowship!