Automatic enhancement of vascular configuration for self-healing concrete through reinforcement learning approach

Vascular self-healing concrete (SHC) has great potential to mitigate the environmental impact of the construction industry by increasing the durability of structures. Designing concrete with high initial mechanical properties by searching a specific arrangement of vascular structure is of great importance. Herein, an automatic optimization...

Prediction & optimization of alkali-activated concrete based on the random forest machine learning algorithm

Alkali-activated concrete (AAC) is regarded as a promising alternative construction material to reduce the CO₂ emission induced by Portland cement (PC) concrete. Due to the diversity in raw materials and complexity of reaction mechanisms, a commonly applied design code is still absent to date. This study attempts to directly...

Optimizing the concrete load-bearing structure of high-rise buildings: Combining the ground structure method with a recursive resizing algorithm on a case study

Theshortage in housing and office spaces, combined with the desire of people tolive in densely populated cities results in a lack of space. A proposedsolution can be found in the usage of high-rise buildings. Nowadays there ismore awareness for the environment, thus this research tries to reduce theenvironmental impact of a...

Developing a parametric script for the preliminary design and optimization of concrete balanced cantilever bridges

In this thesis, research is performed into parametric design of balanced cantilever bridges within the total road design. The main research question is: What can be achieved by using a parametric model in the preliminary design phase, with the possibility to optimize and compare concrete bridges on material usage, costs and environmental impact?...

Optimization of reactive powder concrete by means of barite aggregate for both neutrons and gamma rays

High performance concrete has been often preferred in special engineering structures and in challenging composites products. Researchers have recently focused on the radiation shielding characteristics of these type concrete mixtures due to rising nuclear industry in the developing world. In the study, performance of reactive powder concrete...

Shaping Forces: Review of two Bridge Design Methodologies towards Architectural and Structural Symbiosis

This paper investigates the symbiotic relationship between the architectural appearance of a bridge and the structural design. The research is done by reviewing and comparing the design methodology employed by the first author in the conceptualization of two of his bridges; an early work from 1997 and a recent work from 2017. The review of the...

Towards the Automation of Preliminary Bridge Designs with Parametric Design Software: Assessment and optimization of multiple steel-concrete bridge typologies

This thesis concerns research into the parametric modelling and optimization of steel-concrete bridge typologies typically found in the Netherlands, in order to further the automation of preliminary bridge designs. The research question posed is: "How can a parametric bridge design model be composed to fit into the <br/>overall road design...

Convective Concrete: Additive Manufacturing to facilitate activation of thermal mass

This paper reports on the research-driven design process of an innovative thermal mass concept: Convective Concrete. The goal is to improve building energy efficiency and comfort levels by addressing some of the shortcomings of conventional building slabs with high thermal storage capacity. Such heavyweight constructions tend to have a slow...