Development of design methodology for planar and shell structures made of cementitious composites.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Rostislav Chudoba
• Subject Area: Applied Mechanics, Statics and Dynamics
• Term: from 2009 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 158108930

Recent achievements in the development of strain-hardening cementitious composites (SHCC) have led to remarkable improvements of their load-carrying behavior in terms of increased strength and ductility. Still, the potential transfer of these new high-performance materials into industrial practice is retarded by the lack of directly applicable material-specific design- and assessment rules. The major objective of the research project is to provide a methodology for characterization of SHCC, that will yield dimensioning rules and structural assessment for planar and shell structures. The methodology will exploit and utilize the experimental and numerical framework developed by the applicants in the past. The proposed multi-scale approach pragmatically reflects the correspondence between the ele-mentary dislocation effects occurring in the material structure near crack bridges and the macroscopic behavior of the composite. As a consequence, the number of tests needed for the characterization of a particular reinforcement layout within the composite cross section can be significantly reduced com-pared to characterization approaches based on purely phenomenological models. The availability of a generic, model-based characterization methodology is crucial for the formulation of a general design framework for a growing variety of SHCC as a prerequisite for their wider application in the industrial practice.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Czech Republic
• Participating Persons: Professor Dr.-Ing. Josef Hegger; Professor Dr. Drahomír Novák, Ph.D.; Professor Miroslav Vorechovský, Ph.D.