ENCORE

Environmentally-friendly solutions for Concrete with Recycled and natural components

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The proposed Research Programme is intended at investigating the physical, chemical and mechanical performance of concretes made out of recycled components. This subject is of topical interest in the fields of both buildings technology and structural engineering. Thus, it is clearly multi-disciplinary in nature and can be better approached by settling a Partnership which gather researchers with different and complementary scientific backgrounds. Six Research Units (RUs) are involved in this IRSES-Partnership. Although several possible solutions to improve both environmental compatibility and sustainability of concrete production in building industry have been already proposed, further research is still needed for addressing various issues related to the compatibility of recycled materials with the traditional ones employed in the common concrete production. In particular, this collaborative research project focuses on the three following objectives: Objective 1) investigating the physical and mechanical performance of concrete with recycled aggregates; Objective 2) investigating the possible contribution of recycled fibers on concretes with recycled concrete aggregates; Objective 3) investingating the feasibility and the possible applications of concrete with natural fibers. This research is characterised by a huge potential impact on both the building industry and the management of wastes in urban areas and industrial districts. Moreover, some of the relevant market drivers demanding innovative solutions for buildings and waste management are briefly listed below: - strong demand for residential and commercial buildings as a result of both demographic changes and urbanisation processes currently ongoing worldwide; - demand for sustainable buildings, renewable materials and reduced CO2 emissions; - emerging need for optimising the disposal procedures of wastes deriving by both the building technology and other industrial processes.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

An EU initiative is improving research and modelling of recycled concrete to promote widespread uptake of this sustainable building material.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Structural concrete is used in foundations for homes, office buildings and other structures, and thus must have predictable mechanical properties to comply with structural regulations. Making concrete from recycled concrete holds promise, but more research is needed to ensure that it adheres to these regulations.

The EU-funded http://www.encore-fp7.unisa.it/ (ENCORE) (Environmentally-friendly solutions for concrete with recycled and natural components) initiative investigated the physical, chemical and mechanical properties of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC).

ENCORE studied a number of waste materials, industrial by-products and natural fibres for their potential as concrete additives. Materials included demolished concrete, steel fibres from tyres and fly ash.

Project partners produced a number of concretes using different combinations of these additives, and tested their durability, strength and other important properties. ENCORE created a standard of production protocols of recycled and natural constituents, and design-oriented rules for the final recycled structural concrete products.

Finally, the project developed a number of theoretical models to test and describe the behaviour of RACs created during the project. By using recycled and natural constituents, researchers hope they will soon develop a high-quality suite of 'green concrete' products suitable for use in structural applications.