CEMENT

[:ru]Акер П.[:en]Acker, P.[:] [:ru]директор по исследованиям, Научно-исследовательский центр Лафарж, Сен-Кантен-Фаллавье, Франция[:en]Scientific Director, Lafarge Research Centre, Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, France[:]

Alitinform №1 (23) 2012 г. 12-23 p.

Abstract

At the end of the 1980s, a spectacular rise in performance was implemented in industrial practice (specification and design), initially in terms of mechanical strength but, very soon after, in terms of other properties (processing, durability, appearance, etc). Many of these innovations then were exploited by architects and designers to reduce the cost and the environmental footprint of buildings, and their realizations demonstrate that material innovation is a major lever for innovating in structural design. After a more than a century of very limited progress made in concrete technology, this was the result of scientific approaches that rapidly superseded the basically empirical approaches that hitherto were the only ones available, and constitutes a technological revolution. After only one decade of the 3rd Millennium, we clearly know that we are faced with far more serious challenges than those of the last century: exhaustion of resources, climate change, demographic explosion, social inequalities, etc. Thus, we have no choice but to continue the thorough scientific approach in order to find more effective solutions to the considerable problems now facing us. However, the scientific advances remaining to be explored, and put to good use, are still considerable and herald significant progress.

Key words:

materials science; scientific revolution; concrete engineering; sustainable construction; innovative design; sustainable design