Recent Advances on Green Concrete for Structural Purposes: The contribution of the EU-FP7 Project EnCoRe (Research for Development)

This book is mainly based on the results of the EU-funded UE-FP7 Project EnCoRe, which aimed to characterize the key physical and mechanical properties of a novel class of advanced cement-based materials incorporating recycled powders and aggregates and/or natural ingredients in order to allow partial or even total replacement of conventional constituents. More specifically, the project objectives were to predict the physical and mechanical performance of concrete with recycled aggregates; to understand the potential contribution of recycled fibers as a dispersed reinforcement in concrete matrices; and to demonstrate the feasibility and possible applications of natural fibers as a reinforcement in cementitious composites. All of these aspects are fully covered in the book. The opening chapters explain the material concept and design and discuss the experimental characterization of the physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of the recycled raw constituents, as well as of the cementitious composite incorporating them. The numerical models with potentialities for describing the behavior at material and structural level of constructions systems made by these composites are presented. Finally, engineering applications and guidelines for production and design are proposed.

Enzo Martinelli is Associate Professor of Structural Analysis and Design at the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Salerno, Italy. In 2003 he completed his PhD in Structural Engineering with a Thesis on the numerical simulation of the structural response of steel-concrete composite beams in partial interaction. In the last fifteen years he has been working on various subjects of relevance in civil and structural engineering, such as the experimental characterisation and theoretical modelling of concrete structures, the seismic response of structure, with emphasis on retrofitting of existing ones, the mechanics of fiber-reinforced composite materials and their use in strengthening existing concrete and masonry members and structures. More recently, he has been Principal Coordinator Contact in the EU-funded projects “Environmentally-friendly solutions for Concrete with Recycled and natural components” (EnCoRe, FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IRSES n. 295283), granted as part of the 7th Framework Programme, and “SUstainability-driven international/intersectoral Partnership for Education and Research on modelling next generation CONCRETE“ (SUPERCONCRETE, H2020-MSCA-RISE-2014 n. 645704), financed within the framework of Horizon 2020. 
He has supervised and co-supervised a total of 12 PhD theses and he is regularly invited to take part in PhD defense committees, both in Italy and abroad. He has been member of the scientific committee in a number of national and international conferences and he is currently member of the editorial board of several international scientific journals. He regularly serves as a reviewer for both international scientific journals and research institutions. He is author of more than 200 publications, among which more than 50 peer-reviewed papers published in ISI journals.

Liberato Ferrara  is associate professor of Structural Analysis and Design and has been Fulbright visiting scholar at the Center for Advanced Cement Based Materials, Northwestern University, IL, USA and visiting professor at Beijing Jiaotong University, PRC. He has been responsible of the PoliMi research group in two FP7 projects, and coordinated bilateral scientific cooperation projects Italy/South Korea (advanced fiber reinforced cement based materials) and Italy/India (IITMadras - self-healing of cementitious materials), funded by the Italian ministry of Foreign Affairs; Italy/Israel (with BGU-cementitious composites for blast energy dissipation), funded by the Lombardia Regional Council, and Italy/Germany (with TUD - numerical modelling of fresh concrete flow), funded by the Italian-German Athenaeum. He is involved in technology transfer, through collaborations with industrial partners (Penetron Italia, Laterlite) and has served as consultant for public bodies and private engineering and construction companies, also in the field of large scale projects (consultant for Technical Ltd. Mose project-Venice).
He is currently chair of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) TC 544-Fiber Reinforced Concrete and co-chair of fib (Federation Internationale du beton) Task Group 4.3-Design with highly flowable concretes. He is member of ACI TC 237-Self Consolidating Concrete; 239-High performance concrete and 241-Nanotechnology of concrete; of fib WG 4.2-modelling of fiber reinforced concrete structures; of RILEM TC SHE-Self healing evaluation in cement based materials; DFC-Digital fabrication with cement based materials and MRP-Measuring rheological properties of cement based materials. He is Italian representative in the COST Action 15020 SARCOS- Self healing as preventive repair in concrete structures.
He has served in international scientific conference committees and as reviewer for international journals and for different research foundations worldwide. Author of more than 40 peer-reviewed journal papers, 3 book chapters and more than 200 conference papers, he has given seminar talks in about 40 universities worldwide and has served in 9 PhD defense committees in Italy and abroad.

Joaquim A. O. Barros is Full Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Minho University, Braga, Portugal and coordinator of the Structural Composites Group. He is a voting member of American Concrete Institute (ACI) Technical Committees 440, “Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Reinforcement”, and 544, “Fiber-Reinforced Concrete”. He is also a member of various Technical Committees of the International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib): TG 4.1, “Fibre-Reinforced Concrete”, TG 5.1, “FRP Reinforcement for Concrete Structures”, TG 4.3, “Structural Design with Flowable Concrete”, and Convener of the fib TG2.4.2-Modelling of Fibre Reinforced Concrete Structures. He is a member of RILEM, and was a council member of the International Institute for FRP in Construction (IIFC). His research interests include structural strengthening, composite materials, fiber-reinforced concrete and the development of constitutive models for the simulation of the behavior of cement- and polymer-based materials, and their implementation in software based on the finite element method. He is the author of more than 650 scientific papers, including 150 in ISI journals. He is co-founder of the FEMIX computer package.