Intro to the Super Air Meter w/ Lab and Field Concrete

The Super Air Meter is a testing device that measure the bubble size and spacing in the fresh or wet concrete. You can find more information at www.superairmeter.com and the AASHTO TP 118 test method. The bubble spacing is critical to resist damage from freezing water in concrete. The video explains how the test is run and why the test is important. Data is then presented for 438 laboratory and field mixtures with the SAM in comparison to hardened air void analysis from ASTM C 457. Data is also presented for freeze thaw durability according to ASTM C 666. In all cases the SAM shows good correlation to the other established tests.
One major advantage of the SAM is that it can be completed while the concrete is still wet or fresh. This means the test can be used to correct the mixtures before they are placed in the structure. This is a major advantage of the SAM.
More details about why we need bubbles in concrete can be found here: • Why do we NEED air bub...
The previous video about the SAM can be found here: • Super Air Meter 11/16
My website is: www.tylerley.com
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[@666llehmorf]

Excellent video!! Love the "upgraded" thinking and test method regarding air quality in concrete matrix.

[@markbenn1907]

That’s pretty awesome…. Really great work👍🏻

[@alihamiad7849]

Thanks Dr. Ley, always excited to watch your videos.

[@TylerLey]

Thanks Ali!

[@TylerLey]

Ali - YES! When I talk about spacing factor then that is what comes from ASTM C 457. So there is a very good correlation between the two.

[@IhabFahmy]

_Great explanation. Please help me understand, then, why we vibrate fresh conctete? Wouldn't that change the SAM-measured void size and spacing by consolidating many smaller bubbmes into fewer large ones, thus making the concrete less durable in freeze-thaw performance?_

[@sethwilson9719]

so how do you make corrections to get the sam number where you want it just to keep from dumping the load?

[@ahmedbimani8686]

Waiting your answer on this Dr. Tyler

[@brucewinningham4959]

Hi Tyler Let, (1) When is the Super Aiir Meter used? Immediately Between the mixing of the Concrete and the placing of the Concrete in the Pour? (2) If the Air Bubbles are too high, does adding more time to the Mixing Process help to Dispel more Air out? (3) Could / Should the Mixing of Concrete be STOPPED & POURING Started immediately when we have achieved the Perfect Number on the Air Meter? (4) Does the Mixing & Pouring In Multiple Small Batches help to give better Control Over the Air Bubbles than in Large Batches?l

[@alejandromarquez5565]

Good video I liked the information !

[@harrydangler9196]

My question is, say you do the test and get a given sam number, can the placement and tooling of the concrete have an effect on that number?

[@brucewinningham4959]

Dr. Ley, How did the "old school" Air Meter work as compared to the "Super" Air Meter? NEXT QUESTION:: is it Preferable or even Possible to use the Super Air Meter on even "Dry Cast" Concrete? THANK YOU.

[@clausnielsen3155]

How do you control the air bubbels, I understand you can test for it, but when it is too high or too low, how can it be adjusted ?? would like a video on that subject. Because knowing something is good is nice but what kind of action is taken when it is bad ??

[@brucewinningham4959]

Great Question!

[@sephir2010]

Hey Been doing QC work for a few years now and ive got a question. You say large vs small air bubbles are why the concrete in the pictures was different. You then pitch the idea of your SAM which seems to only test bubble spacing. If you where to introduce one large (say 1"" ) air bubble into the pot during the test, from what your saying, Then the one two punch of your SAM method would produce very little difference in test 1 and 2. Because the large air bubble would not be knocked out by the test, you would get a low SAM number. So seems to me the test does not tell you if you have large or small air bubbles, but focuses on bubble spacing. Thing is, lots of bubbles clumped together isnt good for freeze thaw cycles either.. Ive watched all the vids regarding your air meter and plan on watching them again soon to see if i missed something. But from what i can tell now, your meter only tells you if there are big bubbles closely packed together, indicated by a low SAM number.. when a more uniform small bubble distribution may dissolve entirely giving you a large sam number. If small sam number is good, and Large sam number is bad.. this doesnt compute with me..

[@TylerLey]

Thanks Darth, Please watch the videos again. Air void systems have both large and small bubbles. When I say "large" then that means on average the bubbles are larger. When I say "small" then that means the bubbles are on average smaller in size. Larger bubble systems for a given volume of air will be on average spaced further apart. If your bubbles are small then they will be spaced closer together for a given air content. The SAM can measure this. This is why it correlates to both spacing factor and freeze thaw durability. It does a much better job than just air volume. I show this several times. You are right that if one only had a few large bubbles then they would not dissolve under the pressures and the SAM Numbers would be low. However, that doesn't happen to our modern admixtures.

[@sephir2010]

@@TylerLey thanks for the explanation I do agree 100% current methods of measuring air in concrete leaves much to be desired.