Abstract
The construction industry is one of the main contributors to the increasing carbon emissions globally. With an increasing interest in optimising the embodied carbon of superstructures, very little attention is paid to optimising the embodied carbon of substructures although foundations are responsible for a considerable share of the total carbon emissions within any structures. This research focuses on minimising the embodied carbon of reinforced concrete piles and introduces a novel multi-level modelling tool that can be used by designers to discover the full range of feasible design scenarios with optimised environmental impact. Results show that adjusting design parameters like concrete grade (fck), pile slenderness ratio (L/D) and steel-to-concrete ratio (As/Ac) can lead to a significant cut in the final value of embodied carbon. The modelling tool is applied to a case study of a monorail bridge and showed that a 51.4% potential carbon saving can be achieved through adjusting the design parameters, moreover, a significant 72.4% cut is achievable if this is coupled with switching to cleaner materials.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 105476 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Structures |
Volume | 58 |
Early online date | 10 Nov 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 31 Dec 2023 |
Funding
This work is a part of a PhD project supported by EPSRC DTP studentship [number EP/T518013/1] and UK FIRES [number EP/S019111/1].
Funders | Funder number |
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FIRES | EP/S019111/1 |
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council | EP/T518013/1 |
Keywords
- Design parameters
- Embodied carbon
- Modelling tool
- Optimisation
- Reinforced concrete piles
- Slenderness ratio
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
- Building and Construction
- Civil and Structural Engineering
- Architecture