BAM is developing non-destructive testing methods to make building components reusable.
Source: Adobe Stocke/ festfotodesign
The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) has started its work in the new Collaborative Research Center (SFB) on the modular reuse of existing structures, which is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The aim is to develop innovative testing methods with which used concrete components can be efficiently evaluated and qualified for use in new structures. In this way, BAM is making an important contribution to the circular economy in the construction industry.
Concrete is the most commonly used building material in the world - and also one of the most climate-damaging. At the end of its service life, it is usually crushed and used as filling material. There is hardly any load-bearing reuse. This is precisely where the collaborative research center comes in: Instead of "shredding" concrete, components such as slabs, walls or columns are to be specifically dismantled, tested and reused in new load-bearing structures.
The reuse of such elements requires a rapid and reliable assessment of their condition. However, conventional, mostly invasive testing methods are time-consuming and cost-intensive. The BAM sub-project is therefore developing customized non-destructive methods that enable efficient assessment of the components - precisely, economically and in a resource-saving manner.
"To turn buildings into modular material stores in the future, we need new approaches to dealing with existing building structures," explains Ernst Niederleithinger, who is in charge of the special research area at BAM. His colleague Jelena Bijeljic adds: "In our sub-project, we look inside the concrete and classify it in terms of its safety and service life in order to give it a second chance in a new building."
BAM is contributing its many years of expertise in non-destructive testing. Together with the Ruhr University Bochum, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Stuttgart, the team is developing methods for the precise assessment, characterization and classification of concrete components. This allows the quality and load-bearing capacity of existing elements to be reliably assessed - without damaging them.
The Collaborative Research Center 1683 "Interaction Methods for the Modular Reuse of Existing Structures" is based at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, which coordinates the entire research network. The CRC brings together over 50 scientists from the fields of civil engineering, architecture, mechanical engineering and computer science and is funded by the DFG for four years. BAM is responsible for the development of practical testing and evaluation methods in the sub-project "Evaluation methods and classification models for the reuse of reinforced concrete components".