Polymer composites in civil engineering applications

Polymers are widely used in civil engineering applications, either as primary or as secondary structural components. Two examples are presented in this talk and appropriate design and life assessment methods are discussed.

Thermoplastic Pipes
Fracture mechanics lifetime and safety assessment of thermoplastics pipes is based on the knowledge of material specific creep crack growth (CCG). However, with common test methods the investigation of this failure mechanism is not possible in modern thermoplastic-pipe materials in a feasible time. For an accelerated generation of CCG an extrapolation concept based on fatigue tests with cracked round bar (CRB) specimens was developed and integrated into a lifetime prediction model for pressurized pipes. In that way it is possible to calculate the lifetime of pipe systems under real service conditions in a reasonable time.

Solar thermal façades
Utilizing façades for energy conversion, distribution, and storage is a key criterion for increasing the energy efficiency of buildings. In this regard, the usage of façade-integrated solar thermal collectors is highly interesting. However, high absorber temperatures during collector stagnation often cause a significant heat transfer from the collector to the interior and thus increase the interior thermal load. Whereas latent heat storage is already well established for active and passive cooling and thus for the heat management of buildings, recent numerical simulations also revealed their high potential to effectively prevent overheating of buildings with solar thermal façades. The proof of concept with appropriate polymeric latent heat storage (PCM-polymer compound) as well as a representative solar thermal façade element will be demonstrated.
 
Bio: Prof. Gerald Pinter is Chair of Materials Science and Testing of Polymers at the Department of Polymer Engineering and Science at the Montanuniversitaet Leoben, Austria and Area Manager of the Polymer Competence Center Leoben GmbH, the leading Austrian Center of Excellence for application oriented research in the field of polymeric materials. He is board member of the European Structural Integrity Society (ESIS-Austria), Carbon Composite Austria (CC Austria) and the European Society of Composite Materials (ESCM). The research of his group deals with the “Reliability of plastics and composites in structural applications” and “Sustainable materials and recycling technologies”.