Karl Peterson, Assoc. Prof., Univ. of Toronto, Civil Eng., karl.peterson@utoronto.ca

ph+1 416-978-4589, fax+1 416-978-6813, room 326 Galbraith Bldg.

35 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5S 1A4, CANADA

 

My research focuses on the application of microscopic techniques to the study of the durability and performance of building materials, especially concrete!

And if that sounds interesting to you, you might also enjoy the following links:

  

 

Teaching, 2010 – present:

·         CME185H1 - Earth Systems Science, 2011-2017.

·         CME358H1 - Survey Camp, 2011-2017.

·         CIV1262H (formerly CIV1298H) - Microscopy Applied to Building and Geomaterials, 2011-2014, 2016.

·         CIV1250H - Instrumentation Techniques for Cement and Concrete Researchers, guest lecturer, 2012-2017.

·         CIV1260H (formerly CIV1299H) - Chemistry of Cements and Concrete, guest lecturer, 2012, 2014, 2016.

·         Concrete Microscopy Course, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, guest lecturer, 16-20 May 2011, June 11-15 2012, June 24-28, 2013.

Students, 2010 – present:

·         Jiazheng Hu, M.A.Sc. student, co-advised with Prof. G. Grasselli

·         Yusheng Qiu, M.A.Sc. student, co-advised with Prof. G. Grasselli

·         Alireza Dehghan, Ph.D., Durability testing protocols for concrete made with alternative binders and recycled materials, Doctoral dissertation, 2018.

·         Johnson Ha, M.A.Sc., co-advised with Prof. G. Grasselli, FDEM Tunnel Modelling in Georgian Bay Shale, Master’s thesis 2017.

·         Chloe Chan, M.A.Sc., Carbon Sequestration Strategies in Cement Based Material: Carbon Nano Platelet Admixture Interaction and Long term Carbonation of CO₂ injected Concrete Blocks, Master’s thesis 2017.

·         Haizhu Lu, Ph.D., X-ray computed tomography assessment of air void distribution in concrete, Doctoral dissertation 2017.

·         Chloe Chan, B.A.Sc., Assessment of silica fume agglomeration in concrete, Undergraduate thesis 2015.

·         XiaoTian Yun,   B.A.Sc., The characterization of Turkish fly ashes, co-advised with Prof. D. Panesar, Undergraduate thesis 2014.

·         Sona Nezami, M.A.Sc., Assessment of flatbed scanner method for quality assurance testing of air content and spacing factor in concrete, Master’s thesis 2013.

·         Gulzhanat Ahkanova, M.Eng., Effect of the aggregate size and foam addition on pervious concrete properties and microstructure, Master’s project 2013.

Funding, 2010 – present:

·         2D/3D modeling of concrete weight coating to understand its performance including crack development, Co-PI: Giovanni Grasselli, NSERC Collaborative Research and Development Grant Program, 2018-2022, $200,000.

·         2D modeling of onshore pipeline concrete coating to understand its performance including crack development, Co-PI: Giovanni Grasselli, Ontario Centres of Excellence Voucher for Innovation and Productivity II, 2018-2020, $100,000.

·         Protective concrete coatings for pipelines, Co-PI: Giovanni Grasselli, Shawcor, 2018-2020, $140,000.

·         Assessment of acid-resistant coating for cement-based pipes, holding tanks, and enclosures, NSERC Engage Grant, 2017-2018, $25,000.

·         Impact of meta-stable chloride hydrate phases on concrete durability at near-freezing temperatures, NSERC Discovery Grant, 2014-2018, $100,000.

·         Innovative design of a sound numerical model calibration process: from lab tests to input data, MITACS Accelerate, 2016, $30,000.

·         Rapid assessment of life cycle CO₂ absorption in conventional and carbonation-injected construction blocks, and microstructural characterization of carbonation-injected pavers, co-PI Prof. M. Dittrich, NSERC Engage Grant, 2015, $25,000.

·         Exploration of novel additives to portland cement binder systems, NSERC Engage Grant, 2015, $25,000.

·         Potential for incorporation of recycled fibre reinforced polymers in portland cement concrete, NSERC Engage Grant, 2014, $25,000.

·         Investigation of coarse aggregate surface treatments to enhance concrete strength, PI Prof. D. Panesar, NSERC Engage Grant, 2014, $25,000.

·         AVS testing: Advancement of scanner based method, and exploration of x-ray tomography and fluorescence based methods, MTO HIIFP, 2012-2013, $24,997.

·         Automated hardened concrete air-void system (AVS) test method, MTO HIIFP, 2011-2012,  $23,760.

·         Investigation of applications of x-ray milli/micro-fluorescence (MXRF) technology to concrete, Connaught Fund, 2011, $10,000.

·         Investigation of portland cement concrete exposed to automated deicing systems, Colorado Department of Transportation, 2010, $25,003.

 

Contributions, 2010 – present:

Journals

·         Lu, H., Peterson K., Chernoloz, O., “Measurement of entrained air-void parameters in Portland cement concrete using micro X-ray computed tomography,” International Journal of Pavement Engineering, v. 12, n. 2, p. 109-121, 2018.

·         Lu H., Alymov E., Shah S., Peterson K., “Measurement of air void system in lightweight concrete by X-ray computed tomography,” Construction and Building Materials, v. 152, p. 467-483, 2017.

·         Dehghan A., Peterson K., Riehm G, Bromerchenkel L.H. "Application of x-ray microfluorescence for the determination of chloride diffusion coefficients in concrete chloride penetration experiments," Construction and Building Materials, v. 148, p. 85-95, 2017.

·         Dehghan A., Peterson K., Shvarzman A., "Recycled glass fiber reinforced polymer additions to portland cement concrete," Construction and Building Materials, v. 146, p. 238-250, 2017.

·         Peterson, K., Anzalone G.C., Nezami, S., Oh, C.Y.S., Lu, H., “Robust Test of the flatbed scanner for air-void characterization in hardened concrete,” Journal of Testing and Evaluation, v. 44, p. 599-614, January, 2016.

·         Nariseti, C., Mohanty, B., Peterson, K., “Crack visualization and mapping in rock samples due to impact loading with tungsten carbide bits,” Blasting and Fragmentation, v. 9, n. 2, p. 126-138, 2016.

·         Peterson K., Julio-Betancourt G., Sutter L., Hooton R.D., Johnston D., “Observations of chloride ingress and calcium oxychloride formation in laboratory concrete and mortar at 5°C,” Cement and Concrete Research, v. 45, 2013, p. 79–90, 2013.

·         Adhikari S.,You Z., Peterson K. “Multi-phase characterization of asphalt Concrete using X-ray microfluorescence,” International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology, v. 6, n. 2, p. 117-122, 2013.

·         Truschke C., Peterson K., Van Dam T., Peshkin D., DeDene C., DeDios R., “Investigation of Portland Cement Concrete Exposed to Automated Deicing Solution Applications on Colorado’s Bridge Decks,” Transportation Research Record, No. 2220, p. 1-11, 2011.

·         Radlinski M., Olek J., Zhang Q., Peterson K., “Evaluation of the Critical Air-Void System Parameters for Freeze-Thaw Resistant Ternary Concrete Using the Manual Point-Count and the Flatbed Scanner Methods,” Journal of ASTM Int’l, Vol. 7, No. 4, 14 p., 2010.

Conference proceedings

·         Qiu Y., Peterson K., Ha J., Grasselli G., "Finite/discrete element modeling (FDEM) of time-dependent swelling mechanisms in southern Ontario shales," Geo Ottawa 2017, Ottawa, Canada, October 1-4, 2017.

·         Chan Y.C., Peterson K., Bromerchenkel L.H., Dittrich M., Monkman S., "Assessment of carbon sequestration potential of concrete blocks with an accelerated environmental exposure chamber," 13^th Canadian Masonry Symposium, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, June 4-7, 2017.

·         Chan Y.C., Qiu B., Torreão E., Peterson K., Sinha A., "Assessment of admixture adsorption by carbon nano additive,"  Proceedings of the 16^th Euroseminar on Microscopy Applied to Building Materials, Les Diablerets, Switzerland, May 14-17, 2017.

·         Ha J., Grasselli G., Peterson K., Tatone B.S.A., Lisjak A., Mahabadi O.K., Gaspari G., "Simulating tunnel behavior in interbedded shale and limestone using FDEM," Proceedings of the Tunneling Association of Canada Annual Conference, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, October 16-18, 2016.

·         Rogers, C., Peterson K., “Portlandite in concrete sand from Hawaii: Fact or fiction?”, Proceedings of the 38^th International Conference on Cement Microscopy, Lyon, France, p. 334-343, April 17-21, 2016.

·         Dehghan A., Peterson K., Zacarias P., Smith M., “Investigation of coarse aggregate surface treatments to enhance concrete strength,” Proceedings of the 15^th Euroseminar on Microscopy Applied to Building Materials, Delft, The Netherlands, June 17-19, p. 97-107, 2015.

·         Lu H., Peterson K., "A step-wise segmentation method for micro x-ray computed tomography of lightweight concrete," Proceedings of the 36^th Int’l Conf. on Cement Microscopy, Milan, Italy, April 13-17, 2014.

·         Nezami S., Totty K., Peterson K., Sibbick R., “Comparison of hardened concrete air-void test results from Rapid Air 457 and flatbed scanner automated analysis equipment” Proceedings of the 35^th Int’l Conf. on Cement Microscopy, Chicago, Illinois, USA, April 28-May 1, 2013.

·         Anzalone G., Peterson K., Sutter L., “Concrete chloride concentration profile collection with an environmental scanning electron microscope and x-ray energy dispersive spectrometry,” Proceedings of the 35^th Int’l Conf. on Cement Microscopy, Chicago, Illinois, USA, April 28-May 1, 2013.

·         Peterson K., Mailloux L., Sutter L., “Regressions in portland cement clinker microscopy – Clinker from 1906: A snapshot of the early American portland cement and road construction industries,” Proceedings of the 34^th Int’l Conf. on Cement Microscopy, Halle, Saxony-Anhalt Germany, April 1-4, 2012.

·         Peterson K., Sutter L., “Impact of hydrated cement paste content and entrained air-void system parameters on the durability of concrete,” Proceedings of the XXI Symposium on Nordic Concrete Research, Hämeenlinna, Finland, May 30-June 1, 2011.

·         Sutter L., Vermillion J., Peterson K., King M., “Effect of entrained air-void and supplementary cementitious materials on durability of concrete” Proceedings of the 2^nd Int’l Conf on Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies, University of Wisconsin Madison Center for By-Products Utilization, Ancona, Italy, June 28-30, 2010.

Conference abstracts

·         Nasseri M.B., Goodfellow S.D., Peterson K., Young R., “Investigation of permeability anisotropy and polymodal fracture pattern development using a true-triaxial geophysical imaging cell,” AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, December 9-13, 2013.

Conference posters

·         Lu H., Peterson K., “Measurement of air-void parameters of concrete using x-ray CT” Proceedings of the 10th Int’l Conf. on Concrete Pavements, Québec, July 8-12, 2012.

·         Peterson, K., “Watching cement harden: Combined backscattered electron and transmitted light images for the observation of cement hydration,” Annual Meeting of Microscopical Society of Canada - Société de Microscopie du Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, June 7-10, 2011.

Technical reports

·         Peterson K., Anzalone G., Nezami S., Oh C. Y. S., Lu H., “Evaluation of an Open Source Software Flatbed Scanner Method for Air-Void System Testing,” MERO-057, Ministry of Transportation Materials Engineering and Research Office Report, 169 p., 2016.

·         Sutter L., Hooton R.D., Scott Schlorholtz S., Hand D., Peterson K., Kueber M., Ahmed Z., de Groot A., Longmire B. “Methods for Evaluating Fly Ash for Use in Highway Concrete,” NCHRP Report 749, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, DC, 54 pp., 2013.

·         Sutter L., Hooton R.D., Scott Schlorholtz S., Hand D., Peterson K., Kueber M., Ahmed Z., de Groot A., Longmire B., “Research Description and Findings Specifications and Protocols for Acceptance Tests of Fly Ash Used in Highway Concrete,” NCHRP Report 749, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, DC, 329 pp., 2013.

·         Sutter L., Anzalone G., Peterson K., “Alkali silica reactivity and potassium acetate deicers: Identifying fundamental mechanisms,” R&D Serial No. 3223, Portland Cement Association, Skokie, Illinois, 2012.

·         Sutter L., Peterson, K.,  Anzalone G., “Reduction of minimum required weight of cementitious materials in WisDOT concrete mixes,” Final Report SPR#0092-08-08, Wisconsin Highway Research Program, Madison, Wisconsin, 2011.

·         Peterson K., Sutter L., “Impact of hydrated cement paste quality and air-void system on the durability of concrete,” Final Report RC-1552, Michigan Department of Transportation, Lansing, Michigan, 2011.

·         Sutter L., Van Dam, T., Peterson, K., “Evaluation of concrete pavements with materials-related distress,” Final Report RC-1533, Michigan Department of Transportation, Lansing, Michigan, 2010.

Other

Link to free open-source flatbed scanner air-void analysis macro BubbleCounter [written for ImageJ]:

http://www.appropedia.org/BubbleCounter

 

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