Staff

Professor, Toyo Miyagawa, Dr. Eng.

Associate Professor, Takashi Yamamoto, Dr. Eng.

Research Associate, Satoshi Takaya, Dr. Eng. 

Strong, Beautiful and Durable Concrete Structure

    The prime research activities of our lab are on the performances and applications of various necessary structural materials in civil engineering field, where a variety of concrete-based materials are focused on because of their enormous adoption in the current civil structures. "From Molecule Structure to Civil Structure" may exactly outline the feature of this lab. It means that our research works span a wide range, from the various concrete materials to the civil structures such as reinforced/prestressed concrete structures and composite ones. Besides, durability and health evaluation of the concrete structures, repair and strengthening of the damaged structures, synthetic polymer materials which are gaining the popularity increasingly in recent years, and other new emerging materials are also contained in our research directions.

    Research topics in this laboratory are as follows;

Researches on performance-based design method of concrete structures

    Performance-based design approach concerns with the failure probabilities of the structures and/or members in the limited states related to various required performances under the specified loading and/or environmental conditions. Under this topic, various investigations on the concrete structures in the ultimate limited state, serviceability limited state, fatigue limited state and durability limited state are being carried out in order to establish a more advanced and precious design methodology.

Researches on mechanical characteristics of concrete structural members

    The prime requirement of the reinforced concrete (RC) and prestressed concrete (PC) members is the safety under the prescribed loading conditions. Especially, it is indispensable for the structure members to possess enough ductility to absorb and dissipate significant external energy, such as seismic force. Investigations on the plastic properties, namely, load carrying capacity, ductility and energy dissipation, of various concrete structure members subject to different loading conditions are being carried out under this topic.

Researches on durability and scenario design of concrete structures

    On basis of deterioration sources of concrete structures, the deterioration mechanisms are illuminated and mathematic models are developed accordingly. Concurrently, the effects of these deterioration factors on the characteristics of the concrete structures and members are investigated by experimental studies such as the in-site exposure tests. Furthermore, the improvement in the simulation technique for deterioration prediction, the establishment of a monitoring system for deterioration mechanisms, and the techniques for the advancement of the high-durability of concrete structures etc. are being investigated in combination. The scenario for controlling the time-dependent behaviors of concrete structures is being composed and developed ceaselessly.

Researches on health evaluation approaches and maintenance management techniques

    Maintenance management of the concrete structures is requisite for the sustainability and feasibility of social development. Exploration and development of health evaluation system for the deteriorated and/or damaged concrete structures is the main purpose of this topic. Based on the requirement of retrofit or upgrade in terms of the durability and load carrying capacity after evaluation, the repair and/or strengthening techniques can be proposed. A systematic selection methodology including the selection of the repair and strengthening materials and the related construction techniques is being proposed and examined depending on the efficiencies of these materials and techniques.

Researches on improvement of concrete performances and applications of advanced materials

    Different types of techniques to improve the performances of concrete are under investigations. Among others, the applications of the high-strength concrete/steel, transversely confined concrete for ductility improvement, various admixtures and polymer materials for durability improvement are some typical ones. Moreover, researches on the applications of eco-materials, for instance, fiber reinforced plastic that has attracted much attention for its excellency under corrosive environment and cement made from urban wastes etc, are also being carried out.