Areas of expertise

The members of the Materials and Structures group have skills in the domains of structures and construction materials and carry out applied research and development activities (aR&D) or provide services in the following domains:

Development of new structural elements (modelling, dimensioning, laboratory tests, analysis and optimisation; bearing elements and/or structures).
Digital simulation of the behaviour of structures or parts of structures (static and/or dynamic analysis).
Analysis of existing structures (behaviour of parts of structures, state of damage to materials constituting the structure).
Test and characterisation of materials (carbonation, behaviour under frost-thaw, mechanical properties, damage under the action of UV).

In parallel to the research activity, the group has set the following objectives:

Develop strategies for the design of buildings that can easily be dismantled with the aim of favouring the extraction of reusable materials.
Minimise the consumption of raw materials in construction by favouring the use and development of recycled materials (granulates, excavation materials, etc.).
Optimise the relationship between the bearing structure, the materials used and the shape of the building.
Develop new multi-performance (mechanical, thermal, acoustic, etc.) composite materials, mainly from recycling.
Reduce the embodied energy of structures.

To reach the objectives, it is planned:

to integrate skills in matters of materials chemistry – compatibility, toxicity and processing channels, in collaboration with HEPIA's chemistry laboratory;
to accredit the materials and structures tests laboratory (LEMS) according to ISO 17025 in 2020.