Institute for Building Materials Research at RWTH Aachen University (ibac)

As the year 2024 comes to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for the successful collaboration. We wish you a Merry Christmas, moments of relaxation, and time for reflection on the truly important things in life. For the new year, we wish you health, happiness, and success – both professionally and personally. Yours sincerely, Institute for Building Materials Research --- Our Christmas card this year was crafted in a unique way: The letters were cast in mortar, digitized, and overlaid with a shading gradient, creating a seamless transition between tactile and digital elements – a symbol of the transformation in building materials science.

Reducing the carbon footprint of concrete while keeping its performance. Is it possible? Discover how in the following article published by Elsevier in “Construction and Building Materials”: https://lnkd.in/e6iaiytb #SustainableConstruction #Innovation #legacy #Omya Institute of Building Materials Research at RWTH Aachen University (ibac)

🌉 #MultiTexBridge – Fortschritte auf dem Weg zur multifunktionalen Leichtbaubrücke Heute geben wir Ihnen gern weitere Einblicke in unser gemeinsames Forschungs- und Entwicklungsprojekt #MultiTexBridge. Ziel des Projekts ist die Entwicklung einer multifunktionalen Carbon-UHPC-Brücke, die aus modularen Universalfertigteilen besteht und eine integrierte Heizfunktion bietet. 🔍 Unser Fokus liegt auf: Materialkombination: Erforschung und Optimierung der Kombination aus ultrahochfestem Beton (UHPC) und elektrisch beheizter Carbonbewehrung, um nicht nur die Tragfähigkeit, sondern auch zusätzliche Funktionalitäten zu gewährleisten. Integrierte Heizfunktion: Entwicklung einer innovativen Heizfunktion, die durch die elektrische Leitfähigkeit der Carbonbewehrung ermöglicht wird. Diese Funktion trägt zur Vermeidung von Streusalz bei und unterstützt den nachhaltigen Einsatz auch bei schwierigen Witterungsbedingungen. Temperaturanpassung: Untersuchung der Einsatzmöglichkeiten und Anpassung der Heizfunktion an Temperaturschwankungen, um die Effizienz und Lebensdauer der Brücke weiter zu steigern. 🌱 Warum ist das wichtig? Durch diese Innovationen schaffen wir nicht nur ein nachhaltiges Brückensystem, sondern leisten auch einen Beitrag zur Erreichung von Klimazielen. Die modulare Bauweise ermöglicht eine ressourcenschonende Herstellung, geringere Bauzeiten und eine hohe Flexibilität bei der Anwendung. Projektstand oder Neuigkeiten aus dem Projekt Erste Einblicke wurden von Annette Dahlhoff auf dem Aachener Baustofftag 2024 vorgestellt mit dem Fokus auf Potenziale und Perspektiven von elektrisch beheiztem Carbonbeton. Über den LinkedIn-Kanal von matrics engineering wird fortlaufend über das Projekt informiert. Zusätzliche Informationen sind auf der Website von Texulting GmbH unter https://lnkd.in/dGpDAjzr zu finden. 🙏 Danke an unsere Partner und Unterstützer: Unser Dank gilt den Partnern Institute for Building Materials Research at RWTH Aachen University (ibac) und Texulting GmbH sowie den Förderern und Unterstützern, die dieses wegweisende Projekt ermöglichen: AiF Projekt GmbH (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz) Die Autobahn GmbH des Bundes Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen (BASt) Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wohnen, Bau und Verkehr Staatliches Bauamt Weilheim Wir sind stolz darauf, Teil dieses innovativen Projekts zu sein und freuen uns auf die nächsten Schritte! #Innovation #Sustainability #UHPC #Carbon #Brückenbau #ModularesBauen

RWTH scientists have now the opportunity to tackle these transformative research projects – developing a new, robust, and efficient power supply; creating eco-friendly concrete; and mapping the Milky Way – with the support of highly competitive Synergy Grants. These grants are designed to fund projects with the potential to significantly impact society. Synergy Grants support outstanding research teams of two or more principal investigators who combine complementary expertise and resources. 👍 One standout project is SAFEr Grid (Store-and-Forward Energy Grid), helmed by RWTH professors Antonello Monti, Frank Piller, and Klaus Wehrle, alongside their colleague Frede Blaabjerg from Aalborg University (📸 1). Their mission: to engineer a future-proof energy supply that outperforms the current power grid in stability, robustness, efficiency, and scalability, while unlocking new avenues for innovation and smart applications. The team aims to disrupt the existing electrical power supply paradigm, enabling a gradual transformation of the current grid to these cutting-edge principles. RWTH is leading this project, which has secured 8.1 million euros in funding. Researchers led by Professor Thomas Matschei, Institute for Building Materials Research at RWTH Aachen University (ibac) (📸 4), and Professor Rostislav Chudoba, Lehrstuhl und Institut für Massivbau (📸 3), are collaborating with Brno University of Technology (BUT) and Technische Universität Wien on the project “FATRESCON – Concrete Matrices for High-Cycle-Fatigue Resistant, Eco-Efficient Infrastructure.” This initiative seeks to close the gap between eco-friendly concrete materials and the longevity of critical transportation and energy infrastructure. The sub-projects undertaken at RWTH connect the development of low-CO2 concrete binders for future construction with the modeling and prediction of load-bearing performance under fatigue conditions. Led by BUT, the project has secured five million euros in funding for RWTH researchers. In another groundbreaking endeavor, Professor Philipp Mertsch (📸 2) from RWTH’s Institute for Theoretical Particle Physics and Cosmology, in collaboration with Torsten Enßlin of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) in Garching and Vasiliki Pavlidou (📸 2) of the Institute of Astrophysics at the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (IA-FORTH) in Heraklion, Greece, will work on the project “mw-atlas – The First Comprehensive Atlas of the Milky Way”. This project aims to create the first comprehensive 3D atlas of our Milky Way, a groundbreaking achievement poised to revolutionize our understanding of the universe. The Max Planck Institute is leading the project, with RWTH receiving 2.8 million euros in funding. Read more: ➡ https://lnkd.in/eNW_Seeh 📸 1: RWTH 📸 2: IA-Fourth 📸 3: Martin Braun 📸 4: Angela Alvarez #erc #grants #research #energy #concrete #physics #cosmology

A promising binder for your Net Zero 2050 strategy: learn how calcined clay and calcium carbonate can help substitute cement clinker in your concrete formulation with this article published by Elsevier in “Construction and Building Materials” A big thanks to Prof. Thomas Matschei, Prof. Anya Vollpracht , Steffen Overmann from the Institute of Building Materials Research at RWTH Aachen University (ibac) and Manuel Eggimann from Omya for embracing our vision of #ThinkingOfTomorrow and creating new Sustainable concrete formulations for the Construction market. #SustainableConstruction #Innovation #legacy #Omya

I´m very excited that we have been awarded with a prestigious Synergy Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). Our #FATRESCON project will connect cement chemistry to structural engineering and decode the microstructural origins of concrete fatigue to facilitate the use of eco-efficient binders. I´m convinced that collaboration across disciplines and scales is the only way forward paving the way towards climate-neutral civil engineering. I´m very grateful to my colleagues Miroslav Vořechovský, Rostislav Chudoba and Bernhard Pichler for our great discussions during that amazing journey. I also extend my appreciation to all colleagues at the Institute for Building Materials Research at RWTH Aachen University (ibac), Technische Universität Wien and Brno University of Technology for their invaluable support. I look very much forward to start our collaboration and will keep you updated on our progress!

🎉 We did it! Today, the European Research Council (ERC) announced that Prof. Thomas Matschei (ibac, RWTH Aachen University), along with colleagues Prof. Rostislav Chudoba (Institute of Structural Concrete at RWTH Aachen University), Prof. Miroslav Vořechovský (Brno University of Technology), and Prof. Bernhard Pichler (TU Vienna), has received the prestigious ERC Synergy Grant! 🌍🔬🇪🇺 The ERC Synergy Grant is one of the EU’s top research awards, supporting only a few projects each year that tackle complex scientific challenges. Their project, FATRESCON, will dive into the link between the hydration and microstructure of eco-efficient concrete and the fatigue resistance of critical infrastructure, like wind power plants and railway bridges. 🚆 Exciting updates ahead! We’ll soon announce open positions for those interested in contributing to this project. Read more here: https: //europa.eu/!TPhxF3 #ERC #SynergyGrant

This week we celebrated at the Institute of Building Materials Research at RWTH Aachen University (ibac) the first CONTRABASS MSCA Doctorate Network residential week. The first contact between doctoral candidates, advisors, partners… A fantastic and productive week organized by Fabien Georget, Thomas Matschei and David Faux, and the participation of a great group. The perspectives for the CONTRABASS MSCA Doctorate Network are awesome!

Hi, I attended CONTRABASS meeting led by Prof. Hegoi Manzano. The discussion seen in the meeting was so exciting. I will contribute to this project as an advisory. Looking forward to seeing the coming results!

🌟 Exciting Week Ahead with the CONTRABASS Consortium! 🌟 This week, the CONTRABASS Consortium is taking place at Institute of Building Materials Research at RWTH Aachen University (ibac) for our 1st Training School & Workshop and Consortium meeting. Today, we welcomed all our DCs and had our first in-person Consortium meeting. 🤝 In the coming days, our DCs will have the opportunity to learn about greener construction materials: solutions and hindrances, in the workshop that will take place tomorrow. During the training school, they will be introduced to cement science and instructed in essential research skills. 🏫🔬 Let’s enjoy this week ahead of us! 🎉✨ A special thanks to our External Expert Advisor, Ippei Maruyama, for being here with us. 🙏 #MSCA #HorizonEU #H2020 #cement