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EPFL - Laboratory of Construction Materials, Lausanne (Switzerland)
The EPFL, one of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology is a leading European research university – the Laboratory of Construction Materials (LMC) consists of about 30 researchers studying various aspects of cementitious materials from hydration mechanisms to the links between microstructure and mechanical properties and durability. It is the world leading laboratory on quantitative methods for the characterisation of cementitious microstructures, including a dedicated SEM and XRD for cementitious materials. It has extensive experience in studying and understanding the mechanisms of hydration.
The Group is also at the centre of the Nanocem network – a European Industrial / Academic Partnership for fundamental research on cementitious materials founded by the partner's principal investigator. Nanocem has funding for a Marie Curie Research training Network under FP6, which involves 9 ESR and 6 ER.
Equipment / Resources
SEM, XRD dedicated for research on cement and concrete
Polishing equipment for SEM specimen preparation
Access to Transmission Electron Microscopy at EPFL
Thermogravimetric Analysis, Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Concrete laboratory, with facilities for mixing up to 1m3
Full range of mechanical testing equipment
Publications particularly relevant to ROCARE include
(2007) Innovation in use and research on cementitious material, Cement & Concrete Research, doi:10.1016/j. cemconres.2007.09.025
(2004) Backscattered electron imaging of cementitious microstructures: understanding and quantification , Cement & Concrete Composites 26 (8): 935-945.
(2004) The interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between cement paste and aggregate in concrete , Interface Science 12 (4): 411-421.
(2004) Quantitative study of Portland cement hydration by X-ray diffraction/Rietveld analysis and independent methods, Cement and Concrete Research, 34, 9, 1541-1547.
Role in the project
The principal role of EPFL within ROCARE is to conduct a fundamental study of the hydration of Roman cement, using SEM, in-situ XRD, DTA-TG, phase analysis by light microscopy, and standard mortar test procedures. This work will enhance and extend the current understanding of the performance of Roman cements established by Partners 1, 2, 3 and 4 within the previous ROCEM project. It will establish correlations and explanations of the observed performance of both laboratory mortars and those applied in practice.
