Building materials technology

Our activities in the field of building materials technology encompass a wide range of consultation services and investigations for cementitious building materials (especially structural concrete and mortar). They include the following:

• Advice on the design of concrete mixes (especially special concretes, e.g. mass concrete, self-compacting concrete, high and ultra-high strength concrete, pavement concrete, hybrid fibre concrete, lightweight concrete, autoclaved aerated concrete, slipform concrete, concrete for hydraulic applications) as well as the choice of concrete mix constituents (e.g. packing density calculation, gradation optimization)
• Advice on mixing technology and plant production of concrete elements
• Assistance with and performance of quality control tests for fresh and hardened concrete (e.g. fibre content test, thermo cube for estimating the heat of hydration)
• Estimation of input values for structural design based on laboratory testing (e.g. compressive strength, creep coefficient, shrinkage coefficient, coefficient of thermal expansion, bonding stresses)
• Fully probabilistic durability calculation taking into account the actual environmental impacts and material resistances; consulting with regard to concrete technology optimization potential in this respect,
• Investigation and assessment of damage to concrete elements (e.g. freeze-thaw deicing salt damage, microstructural degradation by dissolving or expansive attack in, for example, wastewater facilities)
• Calculation of temperature evolution in concrete elements due to hydration heat taking thermal boundary conditions into account (FEMMASSE® Analysis)
• Calculation of residual and restraint stresses taking into account time-dependent concrete properties and storage conditions (FEMMASSE® Analysis)
• Advice on planning, tendering, and the execution of fair-faced concrete members.

Qualifications

E certificate for instruction in advanced concrete technology.