Advanced Techniques to Design, Assess and Manage Sustainable Concrete Infrastructure

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Pressure is mounting in the concrete industry to adopt eco-efficient methods to reduce CO2 emissions. Portland cement (PC), an essential concrete ingredient, is responsible for over two-thirds of the embodied energy of the concrete, generating about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Extraction and transportation of aggregates and raw materials that comprise concrete mixes are also directly linked to its embodied energy; thus, recycled materials have been proposed as alternatives to increase sustainability in new construction. On the other hand, a large proportion of the critical concrete infrastructure in Canada and worldwide is currently deteriorated or deteriorating. This can be caused by distress mechanisms such as alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR), delayed ettringite formation (DEF), sulfate attack, steel corrosion, freeze-thaw (FT) cycles. To ensure performance, engineers need efficient and reliable techniques to appraise the causes (associated mechanisms) and extent (reductions in mechanical properties, physical integrity and durability) of affected materials (i.e., diagnosis) and correlate this information with structural consequences. The latter is critical in determining the potential for further deterioration (i.e., prognosis) and for selecting efficient management actions. Over the past 5 years, the applicant has developed novel mix-design techniques to produce concrete mixtures with low cement content, incorporating by-products, such as inert fillers (IF) and recycled concrete aggregates (RCA), with suitable performance in the fresh and hardened states. The applicant's research group also developed novel comprehensive protocols to assess condition in aging concrete infrastructure and investigated structural implications and modelling of deteriorated structures. The short-term objective of the proposed research program is to develop advanced techniques to: 1) design sustainable concrete mixtures with suitable short and long-term performance for sustainable infrastructure (Stream A); 2) reliably assess the current and future condition of critical concrete structures affected by distress mechanisms (Stream B) and; 3) develop novel management and rehabilitation strategies for aging concrete infrastructure (Stream C). My long-term vision is to establish original, innovative and reliable behaviour laws, models, recommendations, protocols, guidelines and practices for new sustainable infrastructure while increasing performance, safety and extending the service life of aging structures.