High Fracture Toughness, Durable Concrete with Minimized Carbon Footprint Employing Large Amounts of Industrial Wastes

High Fracture Toughness, Durable Concrete with Minimized Carbon Footprint Employing Large Amounts of Industrial WastesSafe & Sustainable Infrastructure

ABOUT THE PROJECT

This research program aims to contribute to the development of innovative pavements, enhance detection of corrosion in reinforced concrete bridges, undertake research in seismic strengthening for BC schools, and improve durability and performance of innovative materials.

]NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS  (November 2016)

• Hydrophilic fibres for use in concrete reinforcement have been developed, deployed in Thondebhavi pavements and have shown to increase durability, reduce GHG emissions and reduce costs in pavement construction
• A novel spray technique was developed to apply Eco-friendly Ductile Cement-based Composite (EDCC) on un-engineered masonry structures needing seismic upgrades. Overall cost is substantially reduced and material’s elastoplastic response is significantly withstanding seismic activity
• Researchers have developed an infrared imaging tool that can help detect corrosion in reinforced concrete bridge decks.
• A new geopolymer building material using industrial wastes such a bottom-ash, metakaolin and fly-ash (zero cement) have been created.

RESEARCH ABSTRACT

The research program of IC-IMPACTS’ Scientific Director and Theme Lead for Safe and Sustainable Infrastructure is in five directions:

(1) Pavements: Working on the development of hydrophilic fiber coatings for finer reinforced concrete and include PVA as a coating material. Research is also being pursued in low carbon footprint geopolymers based on metakaoline and flash.

(2) Structural Health Monitoring of Bridges: Research is underway to continue the development of condition assessment tools using infrared imaging and add impact echo and stress pulse methods to detect corrosion in reinforced concrete bridge decks. There is also research underway to attain proper polarization plots for epoxy coated rebars.

(3) Seismic Strengthening of BC Schools and Other Non-Engineered Masonry Buildings: Research is advancing in developing an understanding of the performance of full-scale non-engineered masonry structures that have been seismically strengthened by applying sprayed EDCC materials.

(4) Durability Enhancements in Structures: Another area of research is the development of nano, biocidal coatings for sewer pipes and the pursuit of internal curing materials extension of research in cellulose nano-fibers and crystals.

(5) High Performance Fracture Toughened Materials: A final research initiative is being advanced to develop Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composites (UHPFRCC) with ten-times greater strength than traditional materials and thousand times greater toughness. This research program is also working to understand the mechanisms for their ductile-to-brittle transition and to find mitigative measures for the same.