Title:
Building Better for Longer with Less: “Holistic” Lessons from a Lustrum Long Research on UHPC/UHDC @PoliMi-DICA
Author(s):
Liberato Ferrara
Publication:
Web Session
Volume:
ws_S23_Sustainability_LiberatoFerrara.pdf
Issue:
Appears on pages(s):
Keywords:
DOI:
Date:
4/2/2023
Abstract:
The recently concluded Horizon 2020 ReSHEALience project has developed a new conceptual design approach for concrete structures exposed to challenging structural scenarios, including extremely aggressive environmental conditions. Ultrahigh Durability Concretes (UHDC), based on Ultra High-Performance Fiber Reinforced Concretes (UHPFRC) and Textile Reinforced Concretes (TRC) incorporating nano additives to enhance functionalities, have been developed and validated, under mechanical and aggressive scenarios in lab and on-site. The approach combines, in a holistic life cycle thinking framework, higher and longer lasting performance with enhanced structural functionality and high value aesthetic requirements. The signature of high resilience material concept developed and validated in the project - "branded" as UHDC - also features the possibility of engineering the structural performance over time through its self-healing capacity. Thanks to this innovative conceptual design approach for structural engineering, concretes are no longer regarded as providers of passive protection only, whose degradation over time has to be delayed as much as possible but become active players in shaping their own performance as a function of the requirement in the operating scenario while retaining functionality and aesthetics. The project results have demonstrated that up to 70% less amount of material can be used to achieve the same or higher structural and durability performance, with maintenance from five to ten times less frequent all along the reference service life period. This represents a breakthrough innovation in the approach of concrete construction industry to the use of advanced cement based materials, overcoming the current situation where UHPCs are very often promoted only through their extremely high compressive strength, whereas their higher durability is simply accepted as a bonus but has hardly been quantified as true benefit in design, construction, and maintenance.