Programa de Engenharia Civil COPPE/UFRJ
Presentation
Cement Based Composites
a Solution to Sustainable Infrastructure Materials
Barzin Mobasher
School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment
Science Without Borders Visiting professor
Arizona State University
Summary
During the past few years the concerns for Sustainable design of structures has become a main driver
for development of new materials and design methods. Traditional design methodologies ignore tensile
capacity of concrete altogether, treat the cracking and associated durability problems as an
afterthought, and are inherently inefficient, wasteful, and expensive. Innovative fiber reinforced
concrete materials when designed using fundamental aspects of mechanics of composites, and
materials science of durability offer efficient and sustainable structural systems. The presentation
addresses areas of research geared toward developing sustainable construction systems using fiber
reinforced concrete materials which include the following tracks:
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New materials, testing procedures, and applications for fiber reinforced concrete to address
improved ductility-durability measures. Examples include early age properties, shrinkage
cracking, and correlation of ductility with durability.
Testing, analysis, and design guidelines to obtain material models that can be directly integrated
within structural analysis software. Both material and structural design can then concurrently
accomplished. Analytical closed form solutions are instrumental in design and analysis of
composite systems such as beams, slabs, retaining walls, and buried structures.
Solutions for sustainable development of infrastructure systems using blended cements,
thermal energy considerations of concrete buildings, blast, impact, and high ductility required
designs, use of natural fibers, and statistical process control.
Materials with higher strength, ductility, and stiffness are addressed using a combination of alternative
ingredients, production technology, and life cycle costs of structural systems.
Biosketch
Barzin Mobasher is Professor of Structural Materials at the Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering at Arizona State University. He has more than twenty five years of research experience in
construction materials and experimental mechanics, and has published more than 150 papers in various
journals and conference publications. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1990 from Northwestern University and
joined Arizona State in 1991. His research interests include modeling the mechanical properties of
cement based composite materials, structural testing, experimental mechanics, and durability of
construction materials. He is a member of American Ceramics Society, American Concrete Institute, and
American Society of Civil Engineers.