Bhubaneswar: Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar is organising the first summer school on the subject of low clinker green cement-based composites from June 13th – 15th at its Argul campus. The training program cum workshop will be inaugurated by a key note address by eminent academician Prof Victor C Li of University of Michigan. Internationally acclaimed for his research in green cement Prof Rabindra Gettu of IIT Madras will grace the concluding session. The program will consist of lectures by eminent experts from India and abroad focusing on the latest developments in this field of research. Green cement-based composites are a class of materials that are also referred to as ‘bendable concrete’. Unlike ordinary concrete, these high-performance materials exhibit metal like ductility through a process known as pseudo-strain hardening which is accompanied by formation of multiple micro-cracks under load. These composites are developed based on performance-based design approach using micromechanics of fiber-matrix interaction. They are used in a large number of applications ranging from high rise earth-quake resistant buildings to link slabs used on bridge pavements. It utilises large quantities of industrial waste such as fly ash and slag besides using the low carbon lime and calcined clay (LC2) material as well as the low clinker lime calcined clay cement (LC3). Thus the topic is of particular relevance to the state of Odisha with its large deposits of coal and fly ash as well as slag. The training program also includes lectures on a new class of cement free material known as inorganic polymers or geopolymers as well as other high-performance materials. Hands-on demonstration is also planned to make the participants familiar with these new generation materials. The summer school will be jointly organised by Prof Dinakar Pasala of Civil Engineering Department of IIT Bhubaneswar, Prof Nilanjan Mitra of IIT Kharagpur and Prof Dhanada Kanta Mishra of KMBB College of Engineering Technology under Biju Patnaik University of Technology. Indian Concrete Institute (ICI) is the partner organisation supporting this maiden initiative to disseminate the latest developments in the field. Cement companies like Ultra-tech, Dalmia and Ramco and others have come forward to sponsor this unique event. About hundred participants drawn from government, corporate and academia are expected to attend the program. Eminent experts to address the participants include Prof Durgesh C Rai of IIT Kanpur, Prof. K Subramanian of IIT Hyderabad, Prof. D. N. Singh of IIT Bombay, Dr. Piyush Chaunsali and Prof R. Pillai of IIT Madras, Prof Christopher Y K Leung, Dr Jing Yu and Pavithra Parthasarathy of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Dr Behzad Nematollahi of Swinburne University. Prof Dinakar Pasala and Prof Hanumantha Rao of IIT Bhubaneswar will also present their research in the field.
Comments are closed.