Nos acaban de publicar en la revista de Elsevier del primer decil, Journal of Cleaner Production, un artículo en el que se estudia el diseño de muros de contrafuertes optimizados para reducir sus emisiones de CO2. Este artículo forma parte de nuestra línea de investigación BRIDLIFE, en la que se pretende optimizar las estructuras atendiendo no solo a su coste, sino también al impacto ambiental que generan a lo largo de su ciclo de vida.
Abstract:
This paper shows the differences in the design of a reinforced concrete structure when two objectives are considered: minimizing economic cost and CO2 emissions. Both objectives depend on the amount of two high-carbon-intensive materials: cement in the concrete and steel; therefore, these objectives are related. As the balance between steel and cement per m3 of concrete depends on several factors, such as the type of structure, this study focuses on buttressed earth-retaining walls. Another factor that determines the balance between steel and concrete is the wall’s height. Thus, the methodology employs a parametric study of optimal designs for buttressed earth-retaining walls, with the wall height as one parameter. One objective is to show the variation in cost when CO2 is minimized while respecting economic constraints. The findings show that wall elements under bending-compressive strains (i.e., the buttressed retaining wall stem) behave differently depending on the target function. On the one hand, the study reveals an upward trend in steel per unit volume of concrete in emission-optimized earth-retaining buttressed walls compared to cost-optimized ones. On the other hand, it is observed that, unlike cost-optimized walls, emission-optimized walls use a higher concrete class than the minimum available. These findings indicate that emission-optimized walls penalize not only concrete volume but also cement content, to the extent that a higher concrete class outperforms in terms of reduced emissions. Additionally, the paper outlines how and to what extent the design of this typology varies across the two analyzed objectives in terms of geometry and material quantity. Some relevant differences influencing the geometry of design strategies are found.
Keywords:
Carbon emission; CO2; earth-retaining wall; reinforced concrete; Harmony search; Threshold accepting
Reference:
MOLINA-MORENO, F.; MARTÍ, J.V.; YEPES, V. (2017). Carbon embodied optimization for buttressed earth-retaining walls: implications for low-carbon conceptual designs. Journal of Cleaner Production, 164:872-884.