Tailored Reinforced Concrete Infrastructure: Boosting the Innate Response to Chemical and Mechanical Threats

2013-2030年所需的全球基础设施投资估计为34万亿GB。因此，战略基础设施资产的使用和设计将产生重大的社会和经济影响，无论是现在还是未来都是如此。在全国范围内，建筑业至关重要，每年对英国经济的贡献约为900亿GB。这一EPSRC建立的职业奖学金将为Lees博士提供声望和自由，以扩大她的研究影响，并开发一个致力于创建定制混凝土基础设施的新研究领域。增强钢筋混凝土的固有特性，同时减少总水泥含量，直接关系到Key Engineering全球可持续发展和弹性的重大挑战。混凝土是世界上使用最广泛的建筑材料，2013年超过40亿吨，水泥生产产生的二氧化碳占人为二氧化碳排放量的5%-7%。CEM 1的“从摇篮到工厂门口”的排放量是每1000公斤水泥排放913公斤二氧化碳。拟议研究的可持续性证书是通过交付更耐用的建筑、减少混凝土产品中的水泥含量和材料效率来减轻这种环境影响的规模。我们的钢筋混凝土基础设施的“固有”特性包括对各种恶化原因的固有抵抗力，例如化学侵蚀、氯化物进入，以及机械作用(例如静载荷和活载荷)。为了帮助达到所需的抗力，规定了所需强度或耐久性的最低水泥含量。在传统做法中，在给定的结构构件中使用相同的混凝土配合比。一个引人注目的新范式是打破传统思维，将钢筋混凝土结构重新解释为定制的连续体，以满足所需的适用性、强度和/或耐久性性能。高水泥含量的材料被明智地使用，通过明确识别、瞄准和应对对结构性能的环境和机械威胁，来增强我们的钢筋混凝土基础设施的内在反应。这样，结构和耐久性功能要么不会损失，要么会得到增强。通过混凝土连续体的新颖设计，增强了对环境作用的天然免疫力，以防止腐蚀，同时增强了对机械作用的适应性，以获得更大的结构弹性。这些成果为PI、英国学术界和英国工业界提供了一个独特的机会，在这个新兴领域建立世界领先的能力，同时解决工程可持续发展的优先事项，以延长寿命、降低生命周期成本、最大限度地减少能源消耗和减少过度工程。

The required global infrastructure investment from 2013-2030 is estimated to be £34 trillion. Thus there are significant social and economic ramifications associated with the utilisation and design of strategic infrastructure assets which are fit for purpose both now, and in the future. Nationally, the construction sector is vital and contributes around £90 billion annually to the UK economy. This EPSRC Established Career Fellowship will provide Dr Lees with the prestige and freedom to extend the impact of her research and develop a new field of research dedicated to the creation of tailored concrete infrastructure. The enhancement of the innate characteristics of reinforced concrete with a concurrent reduction in total cement content directly links to key Engineering global grand challenges for Sustainability and Resilience. Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world, over 4 billion tonnes in 2013, and cement production is responsible for 5-7% of man-made CO2 emissions. 'Cradle to factory gate' emissions for CEM 1 are 913 kg CO2e for 1000 kg of cement. The sustainability credentials of the proposed research are to mitigate the scale of this environmental impact through the delivery of more durable construction, a reduction in the cement content in concrete products, and material efficiency. The 'innate' characteristics of our reinforced concrete infrastructure include an inherent resistance to a myriad of deterioration causes e.g. chemical attack, chloride ingress, and mechanical actions e.g. dead and live loads. To help achieve the desired resistance, minimum cement contents are specified for a required strength or durability. In conventional practice, the same concrete mix is used throughout a given structural element. A compelling new paradigm is to break from conventional thinking and reinterpret a reinforced concrete structure as a tailored continuum to meet a desired serviceability, strength and/or durability performance. Material with high cement content is used judiciously to boost the innate response of our reinforced concrete infrastructure by explicitly recognising, targeting and reacting to environmental and mechanical threats to structural performance. In this way, there is either no loss, or an enhancement, in structural and durability functions. The innate immunity against environmental actions is boosted for corrosion prevention whereas the adaptability in response to mechanical actions is enhanced through the novel design of the concrete continuum for a greater structural resilience. These deliverables present a unique opportunity for the PI, UK Academia and UK Industry, to establish a world leading capability in a nascent field while addressing Engineering Sustainability priorities for lifetime extension, reduced lifetime costs, energy minimisation and a reduction in over-engineering.