Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Fracture Mechanics of Concrete and Concrete Structures - High-Performance Concrete, Brick-Masonry and Environmental Aspects: Preface

Volume 3, High-Performance Concrete, Brick-Masonry and Environmental Aspects, is divided into four parts: (1) High-Performance Concrete; (2) Fiber Reinforced Concrete; (3) Brick-Masonry and other Quasi-Brittle Materials; and (4) Environmental Issues. Concrete technology has developed at a fast pace during the last two decades and material performance has been significantly improved. High-performance concrete (HPC) is now a reality. Initially, attention focused on compressive strength and the enhanced concrete was named “high-strength concrete” (HSC). Later, however, other issues arose, such as workability and durability. There was an increasing demand for enhanced rheology (in terms of flowability and cohesion, i.e. no segregation effects) in the fresh state, and compactness in the hardened state. Researchers responded with the development of self-consolidating concrete (SCC). Since higher strength generally implies higher brittleness, fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC) has generated considerable interest for its enhanced toughness under both static and dynamic loading, as well as for its ability to control concrete cracking. Nowadays, there are many types of fibre on the market, with different material and geometric qualities. The remarkable toughness of FRC, due to its fracture energy, combined with advances of nonlinear fracture-mechanics in modelling the structural behaviour, means that the advantages of incorporating fibres can be fully exploited. Furthermore, by adopting optimized mix-designs (in terms of fibre content and type, and of pozzolanic or hydraulically-active adjuncts) the increasingly important requirements of durability can be met, even under the most severe environmental conditions (like chemical aggression, high and low temperatures, and fatigue). Recently, the field fracture mechanics has extended to other brittle or quasi-brittle materials, such as brick-masonry, glass, polymers and ice, and a more realistic evaluation of the safety level of structures has been obtained.