RECOMPOSE · Resource Efficient Steel - Recycled Aggregate Concrete Composite Floor Systems

In the global construction industry, the consumption of aggregates (i.e. sands, gravels, or crushed stones) for concrete is ever-increasing, accompanied by the growing outputs of construction and demolition waste (CDW). Immoderate exploitation of natural resources and the disposal of CDW on land (landfill) both jeopardize sustainable development. Recycling CDW into recycled aggregate is a feasible and economical way to close the loop of supply and waste chains. In such context, RECOMPOSE intends to contribute towards the “European Green Deal” launched in 2019, by promoting a large-scale use of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) for stimulating a circular economy in the European construction sector, reducing landfills, and saving natural resources. Due to the inferior mechanical properties and large variability of RAC, it has been mainly used in non-structural construction such as pavement. To promote wider applications of RAC, building slabs as a kind of secondary structural member are a good destination for RAC. By using steel-concrete composite floor systems, the resource efficiency is double strengthened by consuming recycled concrete and reducing the material consumption (CO2 emission) due to the superior load-bearing performance. Shear connections between steel sheeting-RAC composite slabs and steel beams are vital to the performance of composite beams and further to the entire building. The fellow will identify and model the behaviour of commonly-used headed-stud shear connections, addressing stochastic responses caused by high variability of RAC properties. Owing to the supervisor, Prof. Markus Schäfer’s, broad scientific and industrial network and his leadership role as a Eurocode developer, the dissemination and exploitation of the outputs will trigger the development of Eurocode 4 considering profiled sheeting-RAC composite floor systems. This will have a huge impact making possible a large-scale application of RAC in buildings in the following decades.