Concrete Technology

Our long-term goal is to develop more sustainable and functional concrete for future buildings and infrastructure, while at the same time prolonging the serviceability of the vast body of existing concrete infrastructure (in particular dams, tunnels and bridges). Cracking of concrete jeopardizes its service life, especially because it accelerates the corrosion of steel reinforcement. A fundamental understanding of the mechanism causing volume changes (both shrinkage and expansion) in concrete is at the basis of developing strategies for crack control. In parallel, we develop advanced technological solutions, e.g., eco-friendly binders, prestress, ultra-high performance concrete, lightweight concrete. These different aspects of our research are supported by data science approaches (new data curation systems, advanced statistical analysis and machine learning).