Mechanics of Composites

For the expert group being concerned with the mechanics of composite elements and materials, the material medium is the concrete. The laboratory equipment together with the developed experimental and computing methods enable to perform the research and expertise in the fields:

1. The problems of composite concrete elements, and of strengthening constructions:

– determination of characteristics (e.g. the ultimate load-carrying capacity, allowed stress, etc.) of joints between the layers of concrete of different age, mechanical properties, material’s composition and structure, under the action of repeated or sustained load,
– the calculation of load-carrying capacity of composite elements and strengthened concrete constructions, taking into account the joint action of materials with different rheological behavior (e.g. the different shrinkage and creep of concretes).

2. The problems of quantification of possible consequences of action of abnormal (accidental)
loads, e.g. of explosions of gas or other explosive mixtures, on the concrete load-carrying
structure of buildings:

– assessing the load-bearing capacity of the damaged structure,
– determining the extent of expected secondary damage in precast panel structures,
– proposing the safety provisions for load-carrying structure of buildings being in design,
as well as for structures already damaged during the repair.