This research project addresses the production of
cement-based materials for residential construction using extrusion so as
to produce functionally graded microstructures and then measure and
compute the engineering properties provided by such microstructures.
The two primary objectives are: to develop
construction components (e.g., siding) with graded cellular structures
that are highly porous in the center and dense on the outer surface,
thereby reducing the density without producing high permeability and low
strength usually associated with highly porous materials, and to produce
components (e.g., beams) with graded fiber reinforcement with a lower
overall fiber volume through efficient engineering of the microstructure.
Co-extrusion of multiple constituents was used to process
graded cellular. Extrusion and pressing were used to fabricate cement
composite beam with graded fiber volume fraction. Specimens
will be examined using scanning electron microscopy and micro-CT (computed
tomography) to determine whether the processing is producing the desired
microstructures. An approach integrating testing and numerical simulations
is adopted to allow development of physically-based computational models.
A relevant broad impact of the proposed research is
its potential to increase the use of advanced cement-based materials in
residential construction. These materials have important advantages over
the more traditional wood-based materials (fire resistance, durability),
however, their use has been limited by their high density and low
toughness, issues addressed directly by this research. An industrial
advisory group will help assure that the research is suitably innovative,
industrially feasible, and economically viable. The proposed research will
also impact education, adding studies of residential construction in the
civil engineering curriculum and making studies of construction materials
available to students in architecture.
