The effect of stray current on hardening and hardened cement-based materials

Stray current has become a main concern for many years due to its effect on (reinforced) concrete structures and underground infrastructures. It has been reported that stray current affects not only steel reinforcement embedded in concrete, but can also induce degradation of the cement-based matrix. Stray current causes an increase of...

Carbonation mechanism of alkali-activated fly ash and slag materials: In view of long-term performance predictions

As the building sector is expanding, a growing interest in technologies that can reduce the CO2 emission from concrete production has led to partial replacement of cement with by-products from various industrial processes. Besides the partial replacement of cement, development of alkali activation technology ensures full replacement of cement in...

Non-saturated Chloride Diffusion in Sustainable Cementitious Materials

Chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion, caused by chloride diffusion in the unsaturated concrete cover, is a major durability problem of concrete structures. Current concepts for concrete mixture design and for service life prediction are generally based on the understanding of the chloride diffusion coefficient of saturated concrete. This...

Transport Processes in Hydrating Cementitious Coating Systems

Concrete is currently the most widely used material in construction field. A good performance of concrete structures is required for reaching the designed service life. However, the initial scatter in the quality of concrete is unavoidable in practice, possibly resulting from improper design, poor execution, or deterioration due to stresses...

Deflections and Natural Frequencies as Parameters for Structural Health Monitoring: The Effect of Fatigue and Corrosion on the Deflections and the Natural Frequencies of Reinforced Concrete Beams

The Dutch road infrastructure contains a large number of concrete bridges and viaducts. Malfunction of these bridges and viaducts has large financial consequences. To avoid malfunctions of bridges, bridges need to be inspected frequently and actions should be taken when required. The reliability of the inspections of the health of a bridge could...

The Influence of Cracks on the Durability and Service Life of Reinforced Concrete Structures in relation to Chloride-Induced Corrosion: A Look from a Different Perspective

The service life of concrete structures can be significantly shortened when corrosion of steel reinforcement occurs, especially in a marine environment and in structures exposed to de-icing salts. The influence of load- or deformation-induced cracks on corrosion progress is an important issue which was studied in this research in relation to the...

Modified Hydrotalcites as Smart Additives for Improved Corrosion Protection of Reinforced Concrete

Corrosion of reinforcing steel is a major culprit to durability and serviceability of concrete structures. This problem is highly relevant for civil engineering structures in the transport sector, such as bridges, tunnels, harbour quays and parking structures. The dominant aggressive external influence is the chloride load from de-icing salts or...

Corrosion of steel in cracked concrete: Chloride microanalysis and service life predictions

Reinforcement corrosion is frequently considered as the predominant degradation mechanism affecting reinforced concrete structures. Reinforced concrete structures are commonly subject to harsh environmental and loading conditions in which aggressive species can penetrate. Chlorides, present in seawater or de-icing salts, are the main responsible...

Performance assessment of cement-based materials blended with micronized sand: Microstructure, durability and sustainability

Concrete is one of the most important construction materials in the world. However, Portland cement which is one of the constituents of concrete is responsible for about 5-10% of global CO2 emission. From sustainability point of view, therefore, it is important to search for materials which can be used to reduce or to replace Portland cement in...

The Sustainable Office. An exploration of the potential for factor 20 environmental improvement of office accommodation

Sustainable development is the goal of a balance between economy and the environment, whilst establishing a better spread prosperity across the world. In order to make this possible, the environmental load of our commodities needs to be reduced by a factor of 20. This factor 20 can also be translated to the office market. The PhD research...