The "Digital Prize of the Vogel Foundation Dr. Eckernkamp" has now been awarded to a team led by Prof. Dr. Christian Fischer and doctoral student Hannah Drenkard from the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (FHWS). The team is researching the resistance of concrete to chlorides from de-icing salts or seawater. Prof. Dr. Christian Fischer and Hannah Drenkard (Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering in the Laboratory for Materials in Construction) are investigating, among other things, how new cements can be designed.
The problem with existing cements is that the steel embedded in them can rust. According to the FHWS, this is due to chlorides. These can lead to the natural corrosion protection of the concrete being destroyed and the steel in the concrete starting to rust. The FHWS has now developed a method with which, for example, the very slow penetration of de-icing salts in reality can be observed in a rapid process.
"The testing methods for verifying durability, which have so far been mostly analog and manual, are to be made more reliable and faster using digital testing and evaluation methods. For example, concretes based on new cements can be tested more quickly for their resistance to harmful chlorides from de-icing salts," explains Prof. Dr. Christian Fischer. The aim of the investigations is also to find out how concrete can be made more durable and how CO2 emissions generated during production can be reduced as a result.
Source and further information: idw-online.de
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