Advances in the Material Science of Concrete
Surendra Shah
Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University
ABSTRACT: Considerable progress has been made in understanding and improving the performance of concrete. Five decades ago the commonly used concrete had a compressive strength of 20 MPa. Today we talk about concrete with a compressive strength of 300 MPa. In addition to high strength and ultra-high strength concrete, we have developed high performance concrete for enhanced durability. Recently the American Concrete Institute has established new committees on nanotechnology as well as ultra-high strength concretes. Professor Shah has been extensively involved in these developments. He will discuss several multi-disciplinary projects that have led to advances we have made in strength, ductility, fracture properties, fiber reinforced concrete, ultra-high performance concrete, self-consolidating concrete, rheology, and sustainability.
