We are very pleased to announce that NTNU, through PoreLab and the Department of Structural Engineering, was approved as Partner in ERICA by the EU project officer.
ERICA is an MSCA ITN (MSCA-ITN-2017 – Innovative Training Networks) project funded under the programme H2020-EU.1.3.1. – Fostering new skills by means of excellent initial training of researchers. ERICA is coordinated by the University of Surrey, UK. The project started on November 1st, 2017 and has a duration of 4 years.
ERICA stands for engineered calcium-silicate-hydrates for applications. ERICA offers a transformative materials science approach based on gaining detailed understanding the associated nanoscience. ERICA seeks coherent understanding and control of hydrate nucleation and growth as a means to control properties; of the first water sorption cycle when hydrates undergo structural change the consequences of which for performance are only just becoming apparent; and of water transport in hydrates that severely impacts degradation.
The team at PoreLab Trondheim together with Professor M. R. Geiker and Associate Professor K. De Weerdt from the Department of Structural Engineering, NTNU, had a two-day meeting on March 7 and 8, 2019 with Dr. Fabien Georget and Mr. Khalil Ferjaoui (EPFL – Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland).
The subject of the collaboration has been detailed. The overall theme is chloride ingress in cementitious materials. The detailed mechanisms at the nano and micro scales are not well understood, but progress is being made. It is now time to develop a mathematical description at these scales based on physico-chemical principles. This work is underway at the EPFL.
The main goal of the collaboration with NTNU is to revisit and scale up this small-scale description to an effective transport equation on the macro-level. This effective equation will be anchored in proper non-equilibrium thermodynamics and will presumably be an anomalous diffusion-type equation.
ERICA delegation to PoreLab Trondheim, 7 and 8 March 2019:
From left to right: Professor Mette Rica Geiker (department of Structural Engineering, NTNU), Professor Alex Hansen (Director PoreLab, department of Physics, NTNU), Dr. Fabien Georget (Scientist, Construction Materials Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Professor Miguel Rubi (University of Barcelona), Professor Signe Kjelstrup (department of Chemistry, NTNU), Petter Hemstad (PhD candidate, department of Structural Engineering, NTNU), Associate Professor Klaartje De Weerdt (department of Structural Engineering, NTNU), Dr. Srutarshi Pradhan (Researcher, department of Physics, NTNU), Professor Dick Bedeaux (Professor Emeritus, department of Chemistry, NTNU) and Khalil Ferjaoui (PhD candidate, Construction Materials Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)