The roofing of the Montpellier – South of France TGV Station
The 3rd International Symposium on UHPC took place in Montpelier on October 2 to 4, 2017, showing that projects and constructions using UHPC has gained an incresingly importance not only in Europe, but also in Asia and North America. RDC was there to (i) learn the more recently know-how developed by the international research community and companies and (ii) to share our own experience in developing competitive standardised products made of UHPC and also the advances on the Spanish design guidelines in which members of RDC has an important role. In this post we talk about the roofing of the Montpellier – South of France TGV Station. Do you want to know this structure?
What is UHPC? – Part 2: Requirements
A lot of types of UHPC have already been developed worldwide with different mixture compositions, type and amount of fibres, flowability, compressive strength, tensile behaviour, thermal curing, etc. Several standards and recommendations (France, Switzerland) propose their own definition of UHPC. In this post a definition of UHPC is given considering that the most important feature for its classification is not only the compressive strength but algso its ductility and durability properties. Are you interested?
UHPC: a living reality
In this first post of the section “UHPC World Innovation” we are going to see that innovation using UHPC is not a pipedream anymore, that innovation lies in our hands. From first UHPC structural application in 1997 in Sherbrooke, Canada, to date, several UHPC applications in civil engineering and architecture have been carried out proving the huge potential of this material. Far from being an exhaustive list of all of them, this post offers a glimpse into three applications that show UHPC greatest potential. Do you want to see them?
H2020 | SME Instrument. SELMUS Project
UHPC is full of unexplored, unexploited and sometimes unexpected possibilties. If you are reluctant to believe that, read this post! It talks about an innovative project in which we are currently involved, in which UHPC is the main character: the SELMUS project.
The key of this project may be found in being able to think beyond what it is already established, to take concrete beyond conventional beliefs, to make a bold idea possible. Who would have thought that concrete could be used to design an offshore floating structure for bivalve molluscs cultivation? Who would have imagined that UHPC is the most suitable material to solve the current problems of this sector? Who could have guessed that UHPC could make this sector a more sustainable and competitive one? SELMUS Project did.
RDC – The Art of Innovation
We open the section “RDC – The Art of Innovation” with this post. In this blog section, we want to share with you the innovation projects in which we are involved, whenever confidentiality agreements make this possible. Innovation is the key for UHPC development. Do you want to follow the amazing innovative stories of UHPC? Keep reading and see the importance of innovation and what we are capable of.
The beginnings of RDC
In our blog section “Into our everyday life” we are going to share with you our evolution as a company, the more recent activity of us, who we are, what we are doing right now, where we are, in which projects we are involved, etc. As a starting point to getting in touch with us, I think it is important for you to know who we are, our background. Do you want to know the story of the beginnings of RDC?
What is UHPC? – Part 1: Birth of UHPC
The term UHPC stands for Ultra-High-Performance Fibre-Reinforced Concrete. It did not appear from nowhere, but from decades of evolution on concrete technology and the hard and thorough work of both international scientific community and private companies. This term encompasses several properties and technologies which are hidden beyond the literal meaning of each word, requiring a further explanation based on concrete technology history. This post tries to offer a broad perspective of the continuous process that ended up in the birth of UHPC and a definition of what this term really stands for. The way and the reasons why conventional concrete evolved into UHPC are the first step we need to take to start understanding UHPC. Are you ready for it?
UHPC for people- The RDC Blog
This blog was born with the idea to foster the use of new concrete technologies on architectural, civil engineering and industrial applications, i.e. to foster innovation in concrete. Lack of confindence, education and training on these innovative technologies on the part of engineers and architects are probably the main barriers these new materials must overcome to achieve that. These are the barriers we want to help remove using one single tool: knowledge.
