Carlos Chastre

New Structural Systems of Composite Material with Mineral Matrix

“GHEORGHE ASACHI” TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF IAŞI, Ph.D. Supervisor: Prof. Mihai Budescu

A history examination of composite materials shows a special concern of primitive man in the use of earth’s natural resources. The first materials of this type have been used since ancient times and are represented by natural composites as clay reinforced with straw and/or wood.

The unprecedented development of contemporary human society and its level of civilization caused great interest in creating composite materials and structures that provide convenient solutions to many practical situations due to certain advantages compared to traditional materials.

Composite materials technology has been and is rapidly developing and is applied to various industries, including civil engineering. This new way of looking at creativity in technique, in terms of new materials and not in terms of existing materials, provides fertile ground for research and design of composite materials, the only ones capable of such conceptual malleability.

The increase of building performance requires the investigation of new ways of meeting the structural and economic needs. To achieve this goal justifies the need and opportunity for combining traditional building materials with composite materials, creating hybrid structural elements capable of being used in buildings.

Reinforced concrete was and is the main building material used in constructions. It can be considered as a composite mineral matrix represented by the concrete components.
Given the danger of raw material depletion the necessity of creating and developing new techniques and technologies appears, in order to make radical changes of industrial production methods, to use as much of the secondary resources as possible, to increase the circulation and successive use of resources by adopting the so-called zero-waste technologies.
Both concrete and steel are materials that have a significant impact on the environment,
manifested mainly by high energy consumption, CO2 emissions which have a significant effect on air pollution, obtaining sewage and solid waste whose disposal requires decommissioning plots of land. 

The interest in ecological materials and the advanced technology led to the research of new types of cements that can successfully replace Portland cement, partly or wholly, to obtain concrete or mortar. Since the 1960s Portland cement replacing in the concrete composition has been a constant concern of researchers to reduce its production costs and the manufacturing induced pollution levels.

Combining synthetic fibres for concrete reinforcement led to obtaining a new composite material that is used more often in civil engineering due to its remarkable properties. These fibres are corrosion resistant and require a thinner coating than with steel reinforcement, which makes this composite ideal for processing into structural elements.

The main advantage of composite materials is both economic and qualitative, because, by using them, significant amounts of expensive or scarce materials are reduced, which can lead to improved product quality and an increase of their service life, in terms of high performance requirements.

The Thesis aim is to use ecological mineral matrix composite structures, simple and hybrid, reinforced with glass fibres for the development of new structural systems for buildings.