In partnership with sister U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facilities, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has formally opened the Center of Excellence for Advancement and Acceleration of Cement and Concrete Engineering Technologies. Based at the ORNL campus in eastern Tennessee, the ACCENT Center will help strengthen the U.S. cement and concrete supply chain at a time of rising demand, increasing imports, plus mounting pressure on domestic infrastructure and key building markets, led by housing.
Backed by a $20 million DOE Office of Industrial Technologies grant, the center is structured as a public-private partnership involving DOE labs, universities, professional/trade associations and industry partners to expedite advanced material or manufacturing process development. It encompasses multiscale testing, AI-driven data collection and modeling, as well as pilot production to move cement and concrete innovations from discovery to early commercialization — a combination of capabilities not currently available under one roof in the United States.
“The ACCENT Center represents a pivotal shift in how we address the challenges of maintaining and advancing our nation’s infrastructure,” said Executive Director Denise Antunes da Silva. “The center will unify R&D, testing and workforce development to close critical gaps in design, validation and skills. This integrated approach will enable the rapid deployment of reliable, U.S.-made cement and concrete materials, and is a major step toward strengthening the global competitiveness of American industry.”
“By merging dedicated research with practical industry expertise, we’re shortening the innovation timeline and building a foundation for more resilient, cost-effective cement and concrete technologies,” she added.
ORNL officials envision the ACCENT Center building the nation’s first comprehensive, publicly accessible database for concrete, housing millions of standardized, performance-based materials data and facts. By combining independent test results, long-term durability records and digital models, the database will help close critical gaps between laboratory research and field performance, enabling faster and more reliable qualification of new materials.
ACCENT investigators will advance multiscale materials characterization by integrating unique imaging capabilities to reveal critical structure–property relationships and enable in situ analyses under a range of exposure conditions. They will also develop performance-based tests and accelerated durability frameworks to shorten evaluation times.
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