One of my colleagues has been working on a project that will be one of the first to use shape memory alloys for the plastic hinge region of the bridge to improve seismic resilience: The article by Jed Bingle, P.E., S.E. is
here and demonstrates a very innovative use of non-conventional bridge industry building material on a recently built project in Seattle, WA. SMAs in ECC have the ability to allow bridges to "effectively heal" after damage by allowing the SMA to
transform back to its undeformed shape
after undergoing plastic deformation.
It's no surprise that a wider range of specialized (natural, man-made, precious) materials exist and may already being utilized in specialized technological applications (Biomedical, aerospace). Beyond the usual suspects (Steel, concrete, timber, etc.) commonly used to build bridges, buildings and infrastructure, are you aware of any applications, research, or projects breaking new areas of advancement by applying specialized materials to solve challenges imposed by conventional materials limitations?
Please comment if you're involved with and/or interested in discussing any R+D that could change how our structures respond to environmental demand (I.e. Blast, seismic, wind) to improve resiliency or solve a material limitation (I.e. coating durability, tension capacity, energy dissipation) and what the effective solutions are needed for our industry to adopt and see wider application.
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Michael Roberts M.ASCE
Portland OR
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