Smart high performance concrete composites for developing robust and resilient infrastructures

最近加拿大基础设施状况的恶化促使当局和研究人员寻求新的混凝土技术来提高材料性能。现代混凝土前沿可以定义为“高耐久性，高延展性和智能自修复/传感能力”。近几十年来，高性能混凝土技术取得了巨大的进展.一种新兴的HPC技术涉及纤维增强工程混凝土（EC）家族。EC具有固有的紧密裂缝宽度，高拉伸延性和自愈合潜力，为解决混凝土结构的耐久性问题提供了巨大的潜力，并可用于新建筑或作为修复材料。尽管电子商务技术取得了进展，但迫切需要开展研究，开发更环保、更智能的电子商务。 拟议的研究具有独特的优势，可以在革新电子商务技术方面取得突破性进展，以应对可持续民用基础设施的挑战。本研究包括实验、理论和数值研究的综合研究。拟议研究的长期目标是开发新一代更智能、更环保的GP/GO-EC，结合零水泥基地质聚合物（GP）和新兴的氧化石墨烯（GO）基纳米碳材料，具有更好的强度、耐久性、微观结构和自愈/传感特性，用于建筑/桥梁基础设施。短期目标是：（i）进行实验研究，以通过评估具有自修复/传感特性的新鲜状态/机械/耐久性来开发不同类别的GP/GO-EC，（ii）研究基于GP/GO-EC的建筑和桥梁元件在不同载荷下的结构性能，并结合评估自修复/传感能力，（iii）研究使用GP/GO-EC作为修补材料，以及此类EC制造的结构元件在侵蚀性环境下的性能;（iv）为拟议的GP/GO-EC制定设计规范，以供生产，制定基于EC的结构元件的设计指南，并通过生命周期分析评估其可行性。 这项研究将使研究人员/工程师完善他们对GP/GO-EC/拟议结构系统的知识，并评估新技术的潜力。这项研究与加拿大非常相关，在加拿大，拟议的GP/GO-EC技术可以在未来的建筑，翻新和结构的自我健康监测中发挥重要作用。这项研究是一项非常可行的举措，毫无疑问，智能GP/GO-EC技术将为21世纪建造坚固的弹性可持续结构系统（具有更高的强度，延展性，耐久性，使用寿命和经济性）。通过支持这项研究，加拿大可以在这项新技术的开发和全球转让方面发挥重要作用。

The recent deteriorating condition of the infrastructure in Canada has motivated authorities and researchers to seek new concrete technology for enhancement of material properties. The modern day concrete frontiers can be defined by "high durability, high ductility and smart self-healing/sensing ability". During the last decades, tremendous progress has been made on the high performance concrete (HPC) technology. One such emerging HPC technology involves the family of fibre reinforced engineered concrete (EC). With intrinsically tight crack width, high tensile ductility and self-healing potential, EC offers significant potential to resolve durability problems of concrete structures and to be used either in new construction or as repair material. Despite progress in EC technology, there is an urgent need to conduct research on developing much greener smarter ECs. The proposed research is uniquely positioned to make ground breaking advances in revolutionizing EC technology addressing challenges towards sustainable civil infrastructures. This research involves an integrated study consisting of experimental, theoretical and numerical investigations. The long-term objective of the proposed research is to develop new generation of smarter greener GP/GO-ECs incorporating zero-cement based geopolymers (GPs) and emerging graphene oxide (GO) based nano-carbon materials with improved strength, durability, micro-structural and self-healing/sensing properties for building/bridge infrastructures. The short-term objectives are to: (i) conduct experimental investigation to develop different classes of GP/GO-ECs through evaluating fresh state/mechanical/durability properties with self-healing/sensing characteristics, (ii) investigate structural performance of GP/GO-ECs based building and bridge elements under different loadings combined with evaluating self-healing/sensing abilities, (iii) investigate the use of GP/GO-ECs as repair material and performance of such EC-made structural elements subjected to aggressive environment and (iv) develop design specifications for proposed GP/GO-ECs for production, formulate design guidelines for EC based structural elements and asses their viability through life cycle analyses. This research will allow researchers/engineers to perfect their knowledge of GP/GO-ECs /proposed structural systems and evaluate the potential of the new technology. This research is very relevant to Canada where proposed GP/GO-EC technology can play a vital role in the future construction, renovation and self-health monitoring of structures. This research is a highly viable initiative and there is no doubt that smart GP/GO-EC technology will lead to the construction of robust resilient sustainable structural systems (with enhanced strength, ductility, durability, service life and economy) for the 21st century. By supporting this research, Canada can play a significant role in the development and worldwide transfer of this novel technology.