2018

Sustainable Marine Infrastructure Enabled by the Innovative Use of Seawater Sea-Sand Concrete and Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Composites

Fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are gaining increasing acceptance as a replacement for the steel used in conventional reinforced concrete structures situated in aggressive environments, because of their excellent properties of corrosion resistance. The use of FRP composites in concrete structures opens a new avenue for concrete production as it allows the direct use of locally available seawater and sea-sand (SSC). The project team, initially led by President Prof. Teng Jin-Guang, has proposed design mix proportions for SSC and successfully developed ultra-high-performance SSC with a compressive strength greater than 180 MPa. Various innovative forms of FRP-SSC structural members and connections have been proposed and investigated through experimental and theoretical studies. In addition, the team has developed optical fibre-based humidity and pH sensors for monitoring the moisture content and pH-value inside FRP-SSC structures. To understand the fundamental mechanisms underlying the structural behaviour of FRE-SSC, molecular dynamics simulations of SSC material structures and fibre/matrix interfaces have been carried out.

This project was awarded a grant of over HK$52.4 million from Theme-based Research Scheme.