Project
EnCoRe is an International Cooperation Project granted by the European Union within the International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES) of the 7th Framework Programme (PEOPLE branch).
The Project is intended at investigating the physical, chemical and mechanical behaviour of concretes made out of recycled and natural components. This subject is of topical interest in the fields of both buildings technology and structural engineering. Thus, it is clearly multi-disciplinary in nature and can be better approached by settling a Partnership which gather researchers with different and complementary scientific backgrounds. Six Research Units (RUs) are involved in this IRSES-Partnership.
Although several possible solutions to improve both environmental compatibility and sustainability of concrete production in building industry have been already proposed, further research is still needed for addressing various issues related to the compatibility of recycled materials with the traditional ones employed in the common concrete production. In particular, this collaborative research project focuses on the three following objectives:
Objective 1) investigating the physical and mechanical behaviour of concrete with recycled aggregates;
Objective 2) investigating the possible contribution of recycled fibers in concretes with recycled concrete aggregates;
Objective 3) investingating the feasibility and the possible applications of concrete with natural fibers.
This research is characterised by a huge potential impact on both the building industry and the management of wastes in urban areas and industrial districts. Moreover, some of the relevant market drivers demanding innovative solutions for buildings and waste management are briefly listed below:
- strong demand for residential and commercial buildings as a result of both demographic changes and urbanisation processes currently ongoing worldwide;
- demand for sustainable buildings, renewable materials and reduced CO2 emissions;
- emerging need for optimising the disposal procedures of wastes deriving by both the building technology and other industrial processes.
Further information about the EnCoRe Project are available on the FP7 website