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Published on: June 27, 2018
Designing Reinforced Concrete Beams Containing Supplementary Cementitious Materials.
Alessandro P Fantilli1, Francesco Tondolo2, Bernardino Chiaia3
1Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy. alessandro.fantilli@polito.it.
Using supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) in concrete reduces environmental impact. However, the optimal substitution rate for reinforced concrete (RC) beams to minimize CO2 emissions requires a specific range, not a monotonic decrease.
Area of Science:
- Civil Engineering
- Materials Science
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Cement-based composites have a significant environmental impact.
- Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) offer a strategy to enhance sustainability by replacing Portland cement.
- Research on the structural behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) elements utilizing SCMs is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel procedure for assessing the sustainability of RC elements incorporating SCMs.
- To establish a new limit state for sustainability alongside traditional serviceability and ultimate limit states.
- To analyze the relationship between SCM substitution rates and the environmental impact of RC beams.
Main Methods:
- Development of a new procedure to evaluate sustainability in RC elements.
- Analysis of reinforced concrete (RC) beams with varying substitution rates of Portland cement with SCMs.
- Calculation of carbon dioxide emissions as a function of SCM content.
Main Results:
- The environmental impact of concrete does not decrease monotonically with increased SCM substitution.
- A specific range of SCM substitution rates was identified as optimal for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in RC beams.
- The proposed procedure integrates sustainability into established limit state design frameworks.
Conclusions:
- Optimizing SCM substitution rates is crucial for maximizing the environmental benefits of sustainable concrete.
- The study provides a method to balance structural performance with reduced environmental impact.
- Further research into favorable SCM substitution ranges is recommended for sustainable construction practices.
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