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Smart-Earth Multifunctional Cement Composites for Sustainable Constructions: Thermal and Sensing Characterization

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International RILEM Conference on Synergising Expertise towards Sustainability and Robustness of Cement-based Materials and Concrete Structures (SynerCrete 2023)

Part of the book series: RILEM Bookseries ((RILEM,volume 43))

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Abstract

In the last years, the sensitivity towards environmental impacts of industrial activities is of growing interest. Construction sector, with particular reference to cement-based materials, possesses a high environmental footprint due to raw resources’ consumption and waste, energy use, greenhouse gasses emissions produced during the preparation of the construction materials and the building and service life of structures. A possible solution to decrease the impact of cementitious building materials is to develop novel multifunctional eco-friendlier binders for enhancing the thermal properties and sustainability of the material. The composite investigated in this paper is an earth cement composite doped with carbon microfibers, named “smart-earth concrete”. The material’s binder is composed by both cement and clay, in the proportion of 2/7 in volume. The carbon micro-fillers are added in order to enhance the sensitivity of the composite and provide multifunctional properties, such as sensitivity to mechanical strain and changes in physical conditions. The thermal and sensing capabilities of the smart-earth concrete are investigated through dynamic environmental tests and electrical acquisitions carried out on samples in thermal chamber under controlled changes in temperature and humidity. The innovative earth-cement composite demonstrated good thermal energy storage potential. Moreover, the electrical monitoring of the smart material allowed to properly identify temperature and humidity environmental fluctuations. The proposed composite appears promising for application in real-scale constructions, enhancing the energy efficiency of the structures and providing sensing capability for their monitoring during their service life.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) through the Project FISR 2019: “Eco Earth” (code 00245). The Authors acknowledge the European Union - NextGenerationEU under the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) National Innovation Ecosystem grant ECS00000041 - VITALITY.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti, 93 06125, Perugia, PG, Italy

    Andrea Meoni, Antonella D’Alessandro & Filippo Ubertini

  2. CIRIAF-Interuniversity Research Centre on Pollution and Environment Mauro Felli, Via G. Duranti 63, 06125, Perugia, Italy

    Claudia Fabiani & Anna Laura Pisello

  3. Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 93, 06125, Perugia, Italy

    Claudia Fabiani & Anna Laura Pisello

Authors
  1. Andrea Meoni
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  2. Claudia Fabiani
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  3. Antonella D’Alessandro
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  4. Anna Laura Pisello
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  5. Filippo Ubertini
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antonella D’Alessandro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Structural Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

    Agnieszka Jędrzejewska

  2. Technical Specialist Services, Materials, ARUP, London, UK

    Fragkoulis Kanavaris

  3. ISISE, University of Minho, Guimaraes, Portugal

    Miguel Azenha

  4. Laboratoire de Mécanique Paris-Saclay, ENS Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Farid Benboudjema

  5. Institute of Structural Concrete, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria

    Dirk Schlicke

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Meoni, A., Fabiani, C., D’Alessandro, A., Pisello, A.L., Ubertini, F. (2023). Smart-Earth Multifunctional Cement Composites for Sustainable Constructions: Thermal and Sensing Characterization. In: Jędrzejewska, A., Kanavaris, F., Azenha, M., Benboudjema, F., Schlicke, D. (eds) International RILEM Conference on Synergising Expertise towards Sustainability and Robustness of Cement-based Materials and Concrete Structures. SynerCrete 2023. RILEM Bookseries, vol 43. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33211-1_107

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33211-1_107

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-33210-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-33211-1

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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