CUT - Concrete Upcycling Techniques

The CUT project focuses on the reuse of reinforced concrete (RC) slab elements saw-cut in obsolete building structures.

Recent prototypes demonstrated the feasibility of the technique and recorded very high CO₂ savings compared to conventional RC construction. However, they also pointed to technical bottlenecks, mainly related to structural design and connection details, that hinder a widespread industrial application.

The CUT project, supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), will address the following research gaps:

• The inexistence of methodologies to evaluate the structural capacity of cast-in-place RC structures when the available information is limited.
   
• The lack of mechanical models to verify structural slab elements saw-cut from existing cast-in-place RC structures and their reuse in new structures, while considering the cut reinforcement bars with a reduced anchorage length.
   
• The absence of proven reconnection methods adapted to the variability of RC reclaimed elements, designed to optimise the structural behaviour of the newly assembled structure.

Finally, building on the knowledge acquired from the construction of the different prototypes, the project will provide benchmarks for the environmental and economic assessment of RC slab element reuse and design guidelines for industry stakeholders.