Development of technical guidelines on fire performance of fastenings in low-carbon concrete

If the concrete sector in Australia is to reach net zero by 2050, more sustainable low-carbon concrete needs to be used. However, industry won’t accept these materials unless they can be used safely and to-code.

While the National Construction Code and several road authorities require fastenings for infrastructure projects to be designed for fire conditions, there are no design guidelines under the Australian Standard for such fastenings. That means at present, the only way to build infrastructure with low-carbon concrete is by purchasing expensive fastenings that have been run through time-consuming overseas tests verifying their fire safety.

In this project, researchers at Swinburne aim to make low-carbon concretes more convenient and cost-effective to use by developing clear technical and design guidelines for fastenings under high temperatures. They will conduct extensive tests to assess the performance of fastenings to low-carbon geopolymer and steel fibre reinforced concretes. They’ll then use the data to develop design guidelines for safe and efficient fastenings to low-carbon concrete. The results of the study will lead to standardised guidelines and prequalification procedures that design engineers, manufacturers, contractors and certifiers can use to build infrastructure with low-carbon concrete.