Investigating the Effects of Climate Change on Material Properties and Structural Performance

Abstract

One major issue when considering the effects of climate change is to understand, qualify and quantify how the changing climate will likely impact infrastructure assets and services as it strongly depends on current and future climate variability, location, asset design life, function and condition. Expected changes to local climatic conditions may potentially lead to changes in the degradation processes of building materials, affecting the durability and service life of structures. A key question is how climate change may produce changes of vulnerability owing to physical and chemical actions affecting structural durability or changes to exposure in terms of the intensity/frequency of extreme weather events. In this context, this article focuses on the impact on structural resistance and associated challenges, considering some recent activities of members of IABSE TG6.1. Several case studies of infrastructure assets worldwide are presented and discussed in this article.