Smart casting of concrete structures by active rheology and stiffening 29 control (ERC advanced grant project)

Author(s): Geert De Schutter
Paper category: Proceedings
Book title:4th International Symposium on Design, Performance and Use of Self-Consolidating Concrete
Editor(s): Caijun Shi & Zuhua Zhang, Hunan University, China
Kamal Henri Khayat, Hunan University, China
Missouri University of Science & Technology, USA
ISBN:978-2-35158-204-6
e-ISBN:978-2-35158-205-3
Publisher: RILEM Publications SARL
Publication year:2018
Pages:51-52
Total Pages:2
Language : English

Abstract: Concrete production processes do not take full advantage of the rheological potential of fresh cementitious materials, and are still largely labour-driven and sensitive to the human factor. The recently started ERC Advanced Grant project 'SmartCast' proposes a new concrete casting concept to transform the concrete industry into a highly automated technological industry. Currently, the rheological properties of the concrete are defined by mix design and mixing procedure without any further active adjustment during casting. The goal of the 'SmartCast' project is the active control of concrete rheology during casting, and the active triggering of early stiffening of the concrete as soon as it is put in place. The ground-breaking
idea to achieve this goal, is to develop concrete with actively controllable rheology by adding admixtures responsive to externally activated electromagnetic frequencies. Inter-disciplinary insights are important to achieve these goals, including inputs from concrete technology, polymer science, electrochemistry, rheology and computational fluid dynamics. In the short term, achieving the active control of the pumping slip layer will have an immediate impact on concrete industry, as this can be applied on pump trucks without interfering with the elements to be cast. In the longer term, making possible concrete casting with active control of flow and stiffening will be a totally new paradigm for concrete industry. Moving from ‘passively’ relying on evolving properties of fresh concrete, to ‘actively’ controlling rheology and stiffening will revolutionize concrete industry and bring quality levels to higher standards. The developed active rheology control will also provide a fundamental basis for the development of future-proof 3D printing techniques in concrete industry. For society, it will mean more reliable construction, with less damage cases and less failures, while better preserving the environment (reduced carbon footprint, reduced noise and vibration levels, reduced exposure of technicians to safety and health risks).

Online publication : 2018
Publication type : full_text
Public price (Euros) : 0.00