High performance materials made of concrete

Concrete is a material that has been used successfully and in a variety of ways for centuries. For this reason, Martina Schnellenbach-Held and her team at the University of Duisburg-Essen undertake detailed studies of this material.A high-performance aerogel concrete (HPAC) was developed in cooperation with the Institute of Materials Research at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) by embedding fused-quartz aerogel granules into UHPC matrices. This novel material meets the requirements of the Energy ­Conservation Ordinance (EnEV) in single-shell applications even using comparatively small component thicknesses accommodating con­struction-relevant compressive strengths.

In her lecture, Martina Schnellenbach-Held described the research con­ducted to develop suitable concrete formulas and a concept for manu­facturing concrete cogwheels and roller bearings

As a university professor, she has been head of the Institute of Concrete and ­Masonry Structures of the University of Duisburg-Essen since April 2004.