Research & Innovation

Concrete is a living natural material. It is a fresh liquid product which must be consumed locally (within 50km) and quickly (within 2 hours) since it goes off quickly.

It is extracted from natural resources:

• Aggregates (gravel and sand): infinitely varied, they form the main component of concrete. Extracted from the ground, they are available in large quantities throughout the world.
• Water: very little is needed to make concrete (just 20cl for 1 liter of concrete on average), and research has made it possible to reduce its use even further. Water serves to activate the bond between the aggregates in concrete, by hydrating the cement. It is recycled in the concrete manufacturing process.
• Cement: the crucial link in concrete. It is essentially composed of limestone, which represents 10% to 15% of the mixture.

Other elements can be added to the concrete "recipe":

• Additives and superplasticizers: these ensure the fluidity of the concrete. The part they play in making the concrete more fluid firstly makes it possible to reduce the quantity of water required for manufacturing concrete. Other additives also exist which improve the properties of concrete.
• Pigments: this is what gives concrete its color and provides an unimaginable variety of aesthetic finishes!

 
Concrete is now manufactured to measure and exists in more than 500 different formulas, all produced with consistent quality in cutting edge plants. These formulas make it possible to offer customers different concrete in terms of resistance, aesthetics, workability, appearance, hardening time, etc.

Concrete is apparently very simple. And yet what was until recently simply a convenient material tested empirically, concrete is now a product which is studied scientifically in the lab and which reveals considerable development potential. Concrete has entered a new high-tech era!

The last 20 years have seen the invention of very innovative high-tech concretes with extremely varied properties opening new perspectives for the use of concrete. This new technological era has been possible thanks to:

• The pooling of multidisciplinary scientific knowledge: chemistry, rheology, physics, mechanics of construction materials, micromechanics, etc.
• The entry into the digital age: nuclear magnetic resonance, electron microscopy, nanoindentation, atomic force microscopy, etc. These new instruments make it possible to expand our in-depth knowledge of concrete to the heart of the material, down to the nanoscale.

Far from its sad, gray image, in a few years concrete has become a material which lends itself to all sorts of architectural impulses: buildings and furniture magnify concrete, which expresses itself in every shape and color.

Concrete is not just for architectural feats. Due to its high-tech nature, concrete is also used in the largest art works all around the world: bridges resistant to the strongest winds, tower blocks with the most effective anti-earthquake constructions...
For the recent hurricanes, earthquakes and floods from the United States to China demonstrate more than ever that, correctly used, concrete is the only material which can ensure constructions' durability.

Furthermore, in the context of the construction of quality, low-cost homes, the use of high-added-value concretes (self-compacting Agilia®, fast-setting Chronolia™, etc.) is being studied in South Africa.

At a time when towns and cities are considering more sustainable ways of developing, concrete has a promising future, both as a material which is reliable, economic and environmentally-friendly. It is also unrivalled in a rural setting as it enables the opening up of the road network and the development of infrastructures.

Concrete is a material of the future because:

• It has significant economic advantages: manufactured locally, it encourages the creation of local jobs around the world. An economic boom is being witnessed in the emerging markets where it is used.
• It plays an important social role: concrete brings people together in everyday life. Numerous infrastructures are used in the mobility, assembly and sharing.
• It has wide-ranging environmental advantages:
  • concrete has a very favorable carbon and energy footprint since, being a simple mixture, it uses little energy to manufacture and put to use.
  • concrete is recyclable and can be produced using recycled materials.

 
The research also involves better understanding concrete as a material integrated into the constructive system. Avoiding thermal bridges, reducing the energy consumption of buildings, optimizing the recycling and demolition of constructions: these are all factors which make concrete the best ally in sustainable construction!