MABY4500 Sustainable Concrete Structures Course description

This course deals with sustainability and service life of concrete structures. Concrete bridges, quays, dams and foundations etc. are important infrastructures for the society, and often exposed to severe environmental loadings. Concrete is the most used construction material in the world and the production of cement accounts for about 8% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Possible measures to reduce the carbon footprint are by use of concrete types with supplementary cementitious materials. In order to reduce the total greenhouse gas emissions from concrete structures, climate adapted service life design together with service life extension measures (i.e. structural health monitoring, repair and upgrading) are decisive.

The course provides studies in topics such as:

• Low-carbon concrete and greenhouse gas emissions
• Transport and degradation mechanisms of reinforced concrete
• Service life prediction and service life design of concrete structures
• Inspection and non-destructive testing
• Condition assessments and residual service life of existing concrete structures

The following required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam:

• An initial draft (1,500 to 2,000 words) of individual research project descriptions.
• 80 % attendance requirement (see the programme description for more information)

The purpose of the coursework requirement is to ensure all students have developed, in consultation with their academic supervisor, a feasible research project description prior to commencing their research project in the Fall.

None

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge:

The student;

• has advanced knowledge of low-carbon concrete types and their application in concrete structures.
• has advanced knowledge of relevant degradation mechanisms for reinforced concrete.
• has advanced knowledge in modelling of chloride induced corrosion and service life.
• has knowledge of inspection strategies and test methods for conditions assessment of concrete structures.
• has in-depth knowledge of the structural consequences of reinforcement corrosion on the load-bearing capacity of concrete structures.
• has knowledge of various repair and strengthening measures for existing concrete structures.

Skills:

The student is capable of;

• designing concrete structures that fulfil Eurocode 2 requirements for durability and service life.
• performing service life predictions for concrete structures in marine environments.
• performing calculations of greenhouse gas emissions for concrete structures.
• proposing measures to extend the service life of concrete structure.
• performing capacity assessments of a damaged concrete structure or component.

General competence:

The student is capable of;

• understanding and analyzing scientific publications on topics related to sustainability and durability of concrete structures.
• applying theories in practice based on scientifically justified choices of relevant sustainable solutions.
• presenting academic results and evaluations in a scholarly manner

The teaching consists of lectures and exercises. The students will also be given a major project assignment, in groups of 2-3 students. The project assignment shall be presented in the form of a scholarly report.

If lectures are delivered online, they may be recorded, and the recordings will be made available to students on Canvas.

Four individual exercises, three of which must be approved before the student can take the exam.

The Research Methodology course will serve as both the foundation, and provide some of the tools, for the work on the master’s research project and thesis. Research methodology is related to the practical craft of collecting and analysing data, grounded in a coherent theory of knowledge research paradigm (as introduced in course FLKM4210). Research methodology and specific research methods are covered in teaching activities in connection to each other, and in connection to theories of knowledge.

All aids permitted.

Graded scale: A-F.

One or two internal examiners.

External examiners are used regularly.

The work and teaching methods used in the course are characterised by lectures and dialogue and discussions, to which the students bring their own different practical experience and academic backgrounds.

Students are assigned an academic supervisor for their research project (FLKM5000) by the start of this course, with up to 10 hours (out of 50 hours in total) of supervision available for work on the development of their research project description.