US-Algeria Cooperative Research: Limestone Concrete Durability Research

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0138306SoboyejoDescription: This award is to support a collaborative project by Dr. Winston Soboyejo, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, Dr. Alfred Soboyejo, Department of Aerospace Engineering, The Ohio State University and Dr. Said Kenai, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Blida, Blida, Algeria. The research will focus on developing a basic understanding of the effects of limestone content on the fracture and fatigue behavior of limestone cements. The manufacture of limestone concrete and the characterization of their basic properties (composition, structure, strength and permeability) will be done in Algeria. Electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction techniques will be used to further characterize the structure of the cementious materials at Princeton University and at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Fracture behavior studies will be carried at Princeton University, including the crack-microstructure interactions and the process zone development associated with resistance-curve behavior. The crack-tip shielding mechanisms observed during the resistance-curve experiments and fatigue crack growth will then be modeled. The effect of relative humidity and temperature on fatigue crack growth will be investigated, and will be modeled. A U.S.-Algeria workshop on the durability of limestone cements will be held in Algeria during the final year of the program, to introduce state-of-the-art concepts on limestone cement concrete to graduate students, industrial representatives and researchers from Algeria and the U.S.Scope: This project deals with a problem of significant value to most developing countries and also of significance to the United States. Limestone cements are considerably less expensive and more environmentally friendly to produce than existing cements. The project will investigate the value of these materials as structural cement for static and dynamic loads. Limestone is readily available in Algeria and most Middle East countries and if it can be used in cements would help increase housing availability to the growing populations. In the U.S. such materials, if proven successful, would help reduce the environmental impact of producing cement. The project will initiate a US-Algeria collaboration in the area of science and technology. One US graduate student from the Princeton University will participate in the project in Algeria. This proposal meets the INT objective of supporting collaborative research in areas of mutual scientific interest.