Trade Journals for the Concrete Industry

Research done in the DARE2C project makes it possible to combine “the world’s two best materials” by developing a low-carbon concrete enabling aluminium to be used as reinforcement. Together, they make a sustainable and durable material for the future, particularly suitable in corrosive environments. As aluminium is stable towards the environment, the concrete can then be designed with respect to strength class rather than environment classes. Steel is three times as stiff as aluminium but weighs about three times as much. Aluminum, on the other hand, is easy to shape and can be cast or extruded and processed into geometries that provide the same stiffness as steel, despite the lower E-modulus. Concrete cover can be reduced to just ensuring stress transfer or no coverage at all. Thus, one can build with less concrete – and with concrete composed of less cement – which provides great environmental benefits.