Syllabus academic year 2009/2010
(Created 2009-08-11.)
CONCRETE IN A LIFE-CYCLE PERSPECTIVEVBM031

Higher education credits: 6. Grading scale: TH. Level: A (Second level). Language of instruction: The course will be given in Swedish. Optional for: V4at, V4hb. Course coordinator: Lars-Olof Nilsson, lars-olof.nilsson@byggtek.lth.se, Byggnadsmaterial. Prerequisites: VBM012 Building Materials, VBM070 Building Materials Science. Recommended prerequisits: VBK013 Structural Engineering. The course might be cancelled if the numer of applicants is less than 10. The number of participants is limited to 30 Assessment: As the ordinary examination. Further information: A minimum of 10 participants is a requirement for the accomplishment of the course.

Aim
Concrete is the world's most widely used building material. Concrete structures are expected to perform well during a very long service-life without unplanned maintenance. Consequently, good utilization of resources requires a selection of materials and structural design concept by considering the complete life-cycle of the building or structure.

The course is meant to give the student a deeper understanding of how the properties of concrete depend on the composition of the material, the curing during construction and why and how the performance changes during its service-life. The course is also meant to give the student an ability to express performance criteria on concrete, select material components and composition and predict the performance during its service-life, in various applications.

Knowledge and understanding
For a passing grade the student must

After the course the student should

· well know and understand basic phenomena i fresh, hardening and hardened concrete

· understand the behaviour of concrete during production and normal use in various environments and during the entire servfice-life

· be able to put the environmental consequences of cement and concrete into a larger perspective

Skills and abilities
For a passing grade the student must

After the course the student should

· have the ability to select concrete material and structural design concept in a life-cycle perspective and to assess the state of existing concrete structures

· be able to use the knowledge in advanced applications and to generalize it to completely new applications in buildings and structures.

Judgement and approach
For a passing grade the student must

After the course the student should have a clear picture of how to express performance criteria for concrete and how they can be fulfilled through selction of mix composition, production technology and maintenance measures, in a life-cycle perspective.

Contents
The course starts with principles, and an exercise in, investigation of the status of an eisting structure and an overview of the dseign process. Important parts are modern design philosophy, performance-based service-life design and parameters that will influence the selection of materials amd structural system in a life-cycle perspective. Special emphasis is put on integrated design, e.g. how requirements on production and durability must be combined in the design stage. A central part is the performance over time and again processes in concrete and structures during production and normal use in various environments. The effects of environmental actions, required space for movements and crack risk evaluation are dealt with. Additionally, the selection of concrete constituents and composition fo fulfil given performance requirements is included.

Relevance for an environmentally sustainable development: Concrete is the most used building material and it is expected that concrete structures will perform well during a very long service life without major maintenance. In order to limit the consumption of resources selection of concrete materials and structural systems must be done by considering the whole life-cycle of the structure.

Literature
Course binder with chapters, Swedish and international papers.
Fagerlund, G. 1992. Betongkonstruktioners Beständighet - En översikt.Cementa, Danderyd