Carbon concrete revolutionizes the construction industry
Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world. Most people associate it with bulky and voluminous structures rather than lightness, flexibility or filigree. However, the built environment needs an alternative that does not exclude lightweight construction and concrete and meets the challenges of the construction industry. The novel carbon concrete has the required properties.
What began in the mid-1990s with basic research at the Technical University of Dresden and RWTH Aachen is now being continued under the leadership of the TU Dresden in the C3 project on carbon concrete.
Advantages of carbon concrete
Compared to steel, carbon is four times lighter and five times more load-bearing, as well as being freely formable and material-saving. Unlike steel, carbon does not rust. It therefore requires no additional concrete cover as a protective layer, which previously protected reinforced concrete components from corrosion. This means that thinner walls can be built and up to 80 percent of material can be saved. Ongoing research projects show that walls with carbon reinforcement can be heated due to the electrical and thermal conductivity of carbon. Sensor technology can be built directly into the walls.
Future vision
This enables new methods to monitor the condition of the building. Carbon concrete is also very flexible. Architects can use the material to design building geometries that were previously extremely difficult to implement.
Source: TU Dresden