Concrete in the service of mankind: characterization aimed at sustainable development

摘要

Concrete is by far the most widely used building material, for good reasons, including strength, durability, ease of construction and many other desirable properties. However, the production of concrete requires substantial amounts of energy. In addition, the demolition of obsolete buildings generates tremendous amounts of waste. Both problems can be alleviated by recycling concrete and other materials from demolition sites into new concrete structures. The microstructure of recycled cementitious materials is even more complex than that of new materials. The viability of recycled materials depends to a large extent on the ability to attain durability and mechanical properties which are comparable to those of conventional materials. A complete understanding of the relationship between the composition of the recycled material and its properties will require a combined experimental and computational approach. This review article is intended to give a broad overview of current modeling approaches, covering all aspects of the mechanical characterization of concrete, from microstructure to macroscopic properties, highlighting the many technical challenges and suggesting a framework for a coupled modeling-experimental approach directed at a first-principles-based understanding of this complex and important class of materials.