Advances in Composite Materials - Ecodesign and Analysis

By adopting the principles of sustainable design and cleaner production, this important book opens a new challenge in the world of composite materials and explores the achieved advancements of specialists in their respective areas of research and innovation. Contributions coming from both spaces of academia and industry were so diversified that the 28 chapters composing the book have been grouped into the following main parts: sustainable materials and ecodesign aspects, composite materials and curing processes, modelling and testing, strength of adhesive joints, characterization and thermal behaviour, all of which provides an invaluable overview of this fascinating subject area. Results achieved from theoretical, numerical and experimental investigations can help designers, manufacturers and suppliers involved with high-tech composite materials to boost competitiveness and innovation productivity.

Performance Guidelines for Basement Envelope Systems and Materials

Audience
These Guidelines were written primarily for the technical decision-makers in the home building industry. They have been written to appeal to a broad audience, including people involved in the following sectors of the industry:
• home builders and contractors
• materials manufacturers
• codes and standards developers
• warranty agencies
• materials evaluators
• regulators
• building officials
• educators and trainers
Organization
The Guidelines have been organized into six parts:
Part 1 - Performance Requirements for Basements
Part 2 - Basement Envelope System Selection
Part 3 - Selection of Materials and Equipment for the Basement System
Part 4 - Critical Design Details
Part 5 - Quality Assurance
Part 6 - Basement System Cost/Benefit Analysis
The role of the basement envelope is reviewed in Part 1. Our general expectations of what basements are for and how they are expected to perform in what circumstances are laid out – these are the performance objectives of the basement envelope. From these follow the technical performance requirements – the structural requirements, the environmental separation functions, and the qualitative properties of the envelope system: buildability, durability, etc
Part 2 reviews the main construction approaches – the basement envelope systems that can be selected to address the performance requirements. The combination of environmental conditions (inside and out) and occupant expectations, combined with the selected envelope system determines the performance requirements of the materials to be used within the construction system.
Part 3 identifies the roles of the materials within the envelope system and indicates what performance characteristics have to be met by those materials for their given roles.
Part 4 addresses some key detailing issues, and the special requirements put on the design detail and the materials used; e.g., the wall-soil interface, window well detailing, etc.
Part 5 reviews various quality control tools available to the Canadian construction industry. Quality control is an essential element of achieving envelope system performance targets. Its role is to ensure that performance objectives laid out at the design stage are satisfied throughout the production chain: material manufacturing or site forming, assembly and finishing.
Part 6 introduces the concept of cost/benefit analysis as a planning tool for achieving a balance between long-term basement envelope system performance and first cost, for a range of scenarios and locations.

Efflorescence and Discoloration of Concrete

Disfigurement of any concrete surface is at least a source of annoyance, and this publication attempts to mitigate the problem in its chemical and physical aspects. It deals with the broad scope of elemental attack by the vagaries of weather and by salts as they move to the face of a building to result in discoloration and, at times, disruption. Much research has in particular been devoted to the cause and nature of efflorescence, an expressive yet ambiguous word which suggests flowering and fruition but describes an effect that almost vies with vandalism. While elusive, however, it is not an intractable phenomenon and can be cured in more senses than one. Its stalactites or bloom can be alleviated by common sense and scientific forethought, given all the rules of quality control. This largely aesthetic problem is conditioned by factors such as temperature, absorption and lack of imagination, with cement and aggregates of lesser importance. The text covers staining of many kinds, superficial but unsightly, and due to faulty workmanship or detailing. Concrete is too readily assumed to have strength and durability only, with an acceptable countenance underestimated or ignored. This work should help towards an appreciation of its potential in visual as well as structural terms.