EnCoRe · Environmentally-friendly solutions for Concrete with Recycled and natural components

Environmentally-friendly solutions for Concrete with Recycled and natural components

The EnCoRe project ("Environmentally-friendly solutions for Concrete with Recycled and natural components") was conceived to bring together a number of research groups working on the topic of sustainability for the concrete industry. Particularly, it was intended at supporting the exchange of ideas and experiences on using recycled and renewable constituents to obtain greener structural concrete materials. The relevance of this topic for emerging countries recently characterized by a booming construction market was the key motivation for gathering both European and non-European Partners within this research consortium supported by the IRSES-PEOPLE section of the 7th Framework Programme. Therefore, European Research Institutions from Italy and Portugal (namely, UniSA, PoliMI and UMinho) have implemented a staff-exchange programme with non-European counterparts from Argentina and Brazil (namely, UBA, UNT, UFRJ). Although several possible solutions have been already proposed by the scientific community to improve both environmental compatibility and sustainability of concrete production in building industry, further research efforts are still needed to address various issues related to the actual potential of such materials to be employed as prime constituents in the production of structural concrete. In particular, the EnCoRe project has focused on the three following OBJECTIVES: O1) investigating the physical and mechanical behaviour of structural concrete made with recycled aggregates and cement replacements obtained with industrial by-products characterised by pozzolanic properties; O2) investigating the physical and mechanical behaviour of concrete reinforced with steel fibers obtained by waste tyres and possibly made with rubber scraps derived by the same waste; O3) investigating the feasibility of using natural fiber as a dispersed reinforcement in mortars and other cementitious matrices. The three aforementioned objectives have been pursued through three main ACTIVITIES: A1) Experimental Work, oriented at building up a shared database of test results, either directly obtained by the EnCoRe Partners during the project development or collected from both formerly executed experimental activities and scientific works available in the technical literature; A2) Theoretical Modelling, aimed at formulating and calibrating general and accurate theories and models which are able to simulate the mechanical behaviour of the materials of relevance for the EnCoRe Project and take into account the specific features deriving by employing the recycled and renewable constituents mentioned among the project objectives; A3) Proposal of Design Guidelines, aimed at collecting and organising the knowledge achieved in the two previous activities to formulate a “model code” for describing production protocols of recycled constituents and design-oriented rules for employing concrete made of such constituents in structural applications. PROJECT DELIVERABLES The output of the work carried out during the three-year project has been summarised in ten research reports (deliverables), whose content is outlined in the following paragraphs. Delivelable D1.1, titled “Production and Quality Control of RAC (Recycled Aggregate Concrete) with an overview of the experimental activities foreseen in EnCoRe”, collects the information about the experimental activities planned by the six project partners on the materials of relevance for the three project “objectives”. Delivelable D1.2, titled “Report on the Experimental Tests on specimens made out of recycled concrete and/or demolition waste of buildings and constructions" reports and discusses the results obtained on both Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC) and concrete with fly-ash (FA) partially replacing common Portland Cement. Delivelable D1.3, titled “Experimental Tests on concrete specimens with recycled fibers” summarises the results of experimental tests intended at investigating the mechanical response of concrete reinforced with recycled fibers obtained from waste tyres (RSFRC, Recycled-Steel Fiber-Reinforced Concrete). Deliverable D1.4, titled "Fiber-Reinforced Cementitious Composites with natural fibers", reports the results of experimental activities on natural fibers possibly employed as dispersed reinforcement in cement based matrices (i.e. mortars). Particularly, it focuses on the behaviour of both fibers and matrices and addresses the physical/mechanical aspects of their performance, as well as the durability-related issues. Delivelable D2.1, titled “Mechanical Models for concrete with recycled aggregates”, outlines the theoretical models formulated and calibrated to simulate the key physical properties and the mechanical behaviour of RAC. Deliverable D2.2, "Mechanical Models for concrete with recycled steel fibers from waste tyres" collects some theoretical models formulated for simulating the key physical properties and mechanical behaviour of concrete with recycled steel fibers (RSF) recovered from waste tyres. Deliverable D2.3, titled "Mechanical Models for concrete specimens with natural fibers", outlines some theoretical models formulated for simulating the key physical properties and the mechanical behaviour of concrete with natural fibers (NF). In fact, such models cover various aspects of the mechanical behaviour of Natural Fiber-Reinforced Cementitious Composites (NFRCC), mainly dealing with the post-cracking response of such materials under tensile stresses induced by bending actions. Deliverable D3.1, titled "Guidelines for Production and Structural Analysis of Concrete with Recycled Aggregates", proposes guidelines and recommendations related with the production and the structural application of Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC). Although this is not a complete code of standards on this subject, D3.1 is specifically intended as a “Model Code” or, better, as an annex to the recent Model Code for Structural Concrete 2010 (fib, 2013; CEB, 1993), specifically addressing the peculiar features of RAC as a structural material. Deliverable D3.2, titled "Production Protocol and Structural Guidelines for fiber-reinforced concrete with components from recycled tyres", proposes prototype guidelines for producing and using recycled steel fibre reinforced concrete (RSFRC) in structural applications. Deliverable D3.3, titled "Production Protocol and Structural Guidelines for fiber-reinforced concrete with natural fibers" proposes guidelines and recommendations about production and structural application of FRCC (mortars) internally reinforced by short natural fibers (NF) mainly obtained from tropical plant leaves through low-energy production processes. DISSEMINATION Several activities were implemented by EnCoRe Partners for disseminating the findings summarised within the aforementioned documents. Particularly, several seminars were given by Experienced Researchers seconded staff members in their Host Institutions, with the aim of making clear the results of the work they did during their mobilities. Co-supervised B.Sc. Reports and M.Sc. Theses were also realised on the topics under consideration and, then, the seconded staff members interacted with young students on the topics of the EnCoRe project. Moreover, two Ph.D. theses (namely, those by Visar Krelani of PoliMI and Marco Pepe of UniSA) were developed on the subjects of the EnCoRe project (namely, the behavior of N-FRCC and RAC, respectively) and benefited of the joint supervisions of Experienced Researchers belonging to both Beneficiary and Partner Institutions. An episode of FUTURIS, a scientific divulgation programme of the European TV Channel Euronews, was dedicated to some of the experimental and modelling activities carried out by the EnCoRe Project Partners. The short documentary, realised in the fourteen Euronews official languages, was on air in the final week of June 2013 and is still accessible online via the following link: http://www.euronews.com/2013/06/24/green-concrete-under-construction/ The documentary was also shown at the PROCHAIN ARRET Exhibition organised in occasion of the 49th AQTr Congress, held in Quebec City between 31 March and 2 April 2014), upon invitation of "Association quebecoise des transports" (AQTr, Quebec Transportation Association), Canada. Moreover, the activities and the results of the EnCoRe project were also presented in technical magazines. Particularly, the September 2013 issue of the magazine "Vivienda - La revista de la construction", very popular within the technical community in Argentina, published an interview titled "Hormigon Ecologico" (Ecological Concrete) in which prof. Guillermo Etse of the Universidad Nacional de Tucuman talks about the EnCoRe activities and results and their possible "greening" impact on the construction industry. Moreover, an article titled "The EnCoRe Project: an international network for sustainable concrete" and coauthored by the Enzo Martinelli, Joaquim A.O. Barros, Guillermo Etse, Liberato Ferrara, Paula Cecilia Folino, Eduardus A.B. Koenders, Romildo D. Toledo Filho was published on "Routes et Transports" of AQTr (volume 43, issue 2). Finally, the Editorial Board of "Planet Inspired" (http://www.planetinspired.info/web/it/home), a sustainability-focused web platform of Finmeccanica Group (Italy), published an interview about the EnCoRe project activities. The interview was published in January 2014 on the Planet Inspired web-site and is accessible via the following link: http://www.planetinspired.info/web/it/-/nasce-il-cemento-dis-armato. Further information and real-time updates about the project activities and results are available on the EnCoRe web-site (www.encore-fp7.unisa.it).

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз