Structural engineering innovations with emerging materials for a carbon-neutral future
ABSTRACT: While steel and concrete are still the main structural materials today, several promising new options have emerged as alternative or supplemental materials for structural use. These emerging materials include fiber-rein-forced polymer composites, fiber-reinforced cementitious composites, fabric-reinforced concrete, seawater sea-sand concrete, ultrahigh-performance concrete, ultrahigh-performance steel, and various types of green materials. Although these materials hold great potential for stronger, lighter and more durable structures, their adoption in structural engineering has been slow. In this presentation, I will first examine the merits and potential of the major categories of emerging structural materials, the obstacles for their wider/faster adoption, and the way forward for overcoming these obstacles. I will then focus on the combined use of these materials among them-selves, or with traditional materials, to create new types of hybrid structures where two or more materials are com-bined in an optimal manner to maximize performance while minimizing the consumption of natural resources and carbon emissions. A number of examples of such new-material hybrid structural forms will be discussed to illustrate their advantages. The presentation will conclude with observations on future trends in the structural use of emerging materials within the perspective of a carbon-neutral world, suggesting that these emerging materials will play a major role in achieving a low-carbon future for structural engineering.
BIO: Professor Jin-Guang Teng, President and Chair Professor of Structural Engineering of The Hong Kong Polytech-nic University (PolyU), is a Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a Corresponding Fellow of the Royal Soci-ety of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences. He received his BEng Degree from Zhejiang University in 1983 and his PhD degree from the University of Sydney in 1990. His main research areas include the structural use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites in construction and steel structures. Many of his research findings have been adopted by relevant design codes/guidelines in China, Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States. The research awards he has received include the State Natural Science Award of China (Second Class) and the inaugural IIFC Medal from the International Institute for FRP in Construc-tion (IIFC).
CIRCLE: The Center for Infrastructure Resilience in Cities as Livable Environments is one of three research themes supported by the joint Dynamic Research Enterprise for Multidisciplinary Engineering Sciences (DREMES), estab-lished between the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and Zhejiang University (ZJU). The CIRCLE Distinguished Lecture Series is intended to provide opportunities for faculty and students to meet and interact with internationally renowned experts in the field.
Date： April 20, 2022 9:00pm Beijing Time
Venue：ZOOM
