Research Interests:

"Environmental Materials" are broadly defined as those materials or substances whose presence is commonly viewed as waste or as nearly useless by-products of industrial activity. Their disposal or modification represents an environmental challenge: rather than to dispose of such materials in a landfill or dump, they become candidates for conversion to useful & marketable products. Plastic and glass recycling are but two examples. In this laboratory, we are investigating the conversion of coal combustion ashes from power plants into building materials, requiring extensive research and testing as well as characterization. This study involves the application of dynamic compaction to solidify the waste ashes(as well as other granular materials) into useful shapes such as bricks and panels. Currently we are investigating large (800 lb) slabs of compacted ash for durability, strength, and other physical characteristics. As tools we use acoustic pulses and continuous waves for measurement of elastic module, resonant frequencies, and sound attenuation, as well as acoustic emission during deformation. Scanning electron microscopy is another important tool.