Portal de Cartagena
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The PhD student of the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT) Eva María Sánchez García defended her thesis along with two cylinders of lightweight concrete that she developed during her doctoral research and that have demonstrated her technical feasibility by passing the resistance and durability tests performed first in laboratory and later in the cement plant of Cementos la Cruz, which together with CDTI financed the project in which the research is framed.
The concrete developed by the UPCT has a density of 1,800 kilograms per cubic meter, 700 less than the traditional one, which is very useful for lightening the structure of buildings, thus reducing earthquake damage, “because earthquakes exert on the building is an acceleration due in large part to the weight of the structure itself, â€says the researcher, highlighting that lighter structures are more sustainable and economical, since“ less is needed at all â€.
To reduce the weight of concrete, the researcher and her thesis director, Carlos Parra Costa, have replaced almost half the volume of gravel and sand with recycled plastic and cork discarded by the agricultural industry.
The inclusion of recycled aggregates is the novelty that the thesis brings with respect to other lightweight concrete for structural use.
Lightweight concretes (with less than 2,000 kg / m3) are often lacking in strength and durability to support structural loads of buildings.
"Our lightweight concrete exceeds the compressive strength of 25 megapascals at 28 days, the limit set by the laws of the European Union and the United States," says Sánchez García, noting that the material has achieved "very good results, above those expected, in durability, thanks to its low porosity makes it less vulnerable to water and other harmful agents. â€
The research, carried out in the Advanced Science and Technology Research Group of the Higher Technical School of Architecture and Building within the PhD Program in Technology and Modeling in Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering of the UPCT, was funded by the Ministry of Industry through the CDTI program (project code IDI-20141102) and the Cementos La Cruz company, in whose cement plant the industrial tests were carried out.
Source: UPCT
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