Sustainable High-Performance Cementitious Composites

Abstract

The need for an acceptable performance of structural facilities over its entire lifetime need never be overstressed. In fact, the performance of a well-designed structural member is always defined with the performance of the materials of construction in the environmental regime in which it is situated. In addition, it may be too far-fetched to generalize the requirements and still find appropriate material compositions or systems that are suitable for all applications even in the built space. In the present context, it is felt prudent to look for appropriate solutions for the single most ubiquitous construction material, concrete, which could result in high performance in the most severe natural environment of the oceans as well as the highly industrialized and polluted urban localities. It was also felt necessary that one should look at the possible avenues only for the most commonly used structural concretes of normal strength range for construction requirements of small- and medium-range infrastructural facilities which do not have adequate quality assurance and quality control mechanisms in place.