Even though reinforced concrete (RC) is one of the most used manmade materials in the world, and adequate models exist for the prediction and design of the ultimate capacity of RC structures, the prediction of service life behaviour is still not mature enough for actual design purposes. This may lead to immediate repair needs, inadequate service life behaviour even when regulatory prescriptions for design are strictly followed, or at other times to unnecessary overdesign of reinforcement, which has negative consequences on both sustainability and economic aspects. This is amplified by development of new more sustainable cements and supplementary materials since the range of material properties needed for SLS-design is considerably wider than for ULS design.
One of the most common issues relevant to many RC structures which is encountered on-site is that of cracking. Understanding the interplay between fundamental mechanisms involved in the processes of hydration-induced temperature, shrinkage, creep, loading and herewith caused cracking requires interdisciplinary integration of materials science and structural engineering. A comprehensive approach to this problem requires the design of robust experimental techniques, development of multiscale models (micro, meso and mainly, macro-scale) and evaluation of code-based and other analytical approaches relevant to crack control in concrete which is also the aim of RILEM TC 287-CCS: Early age and long term crack width analysis in RC structures.
The conference aims to bring together experts to share the state-of-the-art developments on the aforementioned fields and is the closing event of RILEM TC CCS: Early-age and long-term crack width analysis in RC structures celebrating achievements in the TC over the past 6 years. The event follows on from a very successful conference under the same theme in 2021 (CRC2021) which was held in Paris (ENS-Paris-Saclay) on hybrid format due to Covid-19 measures.
The conference will consist of lectures by researchers and other professionals from a variety of scientific disciplines in works targeted to crack control in concrete. The conference is intended for researchers and practitioners at any career level who have interest in deepening knowledge on the targeted subjects.
Conference Topics
The conference topics fall within the scope of RILEM TC CCS: Early-age and long-term crack width analysis in RC structures.
The topic of cracking in RC structures from a serviceability limit state perspective has been addressed in the past, but not with integrative approaches which consider fundamental material behaviour and structural design. The conference is expected to bring about a significant number of new insights of important benefits for researchers and practitioners.
The scope of the conference resonates with industry needs in the field of crack control which adopts relatively unsustainable approaches to the problem, such as overdesigning or excessively repairing.
Contribution from authors on the following topics is encouraged:
- Early-age and long-term imposed deformations in concrete
- Analytical formulations for calculating crack widths in concrete
- Numerical simulations of early-age and long-term restrained behaviour of concrete elements
- Experimental investigations on early-age and long-term cracking
- On-site monitoring of imposed deformations and cracking
- Crack control and crack repair
- Sustainability of design and remediation
- Scientific insights vs. standardisation
The conference will accommodate poster and presentation sessions.
Key dates
15th November 2024 (extended!) – Abstract submission deadline
31st November 2024 – Notification of abstract acceptance
31st January 2025 – Full paper submissions
31st March 2025 – Notification of paper acceptance
30th April 2025 – Final paper submission
