Durability of concrete

Concrete, the classical and most common used building material is studied in detail and especially with regard to its durability. The influence of ageing and the evolution of internal and external damage of concrete, high performance- and ultra-high performance concrete under freeze-thaw-cycles are a large research field. Parallel to that we have the possibility to study the internal damage by means of acoustic emission and investigate the properties of fibers-rich selfcompacting concrete.

Application-related material testing in civil engineering is an integral part of our institute's services.

Recycling of concrete and reactivation of cement

Recycling is one of the biggest issues in environmental protection today. At the institute attempts are being made to intelligently feed concrete into the recycling process. Generally, recycled concrete is crushed and then added to the new building concrete as a filler instead of gravel and sand. This protects the deposits for natural aggregates, but does not generate any energy profit. The strategy pursued at the institute is to obtain a greater added value and to reactivate parts of the cement paste. On the long term, it should be possible to replace part of the construction cement and thus improve the energy and CO2 balance of the raw material cement.

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