Simon A Austin

Loughborough University | Lough · School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering

Materials’ requirements for 3D concrete printing centre around printability and buildability. The concrete must be pumpable, extrudable, yet retain its shape after extrusion (fresh state) and stack over each other without yielding and buckling failure (plastic state). The nature of 3D printed concrete materials has driven research into adapting var...

When manufacturing free-form concrete parts, casting approaches are most commonly adopted. While casting allows good surface finish, geometric repeatability and easy replication of parts, it is inflexible and costly to setup. Expensive mould tools, with limited life, must be created before manufacturing can begin. These mould tools must then be saf...

Purpose A substantial amount of research argues that built environmental interventions can improve the outcomes of patients and other users of healthcare facilities, supporting the concept of evidence-based design (EBD). However, the sources of such evidence and its flow into healthcare design are less well understood. This paper aims to provide in...

Cement production is estimated to be responsible for 5–8% of global total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Geopolymer concrete (GC) is claimed to release up to 45% less CO2 for a comparable concrete, but is more difficult to manufacture. This study investigated the effect of factors other than mix design on the slump and strength development of GC p...

3D concrete printing (3DCP) enables automation of construction manufacturing through digital design and workflow, adding value through high degrees of form freedom. The process constraints during the printing, however, hamper the application of reinforcement and hence limit the ductile behaviour that is achievable in 3D printed concrete structures....

Purpose The re-use of good design solutions is a key source of evidence and knowledge in the design of healthcare buildings. However, due to the unique nature of healthcare built environments, the critical application of this evidence is of paramount importance. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the features of such critical application a...

This paper evaluates the effect of electric curing on the mechanical properties and microstructure of steel fibre reinforced concrete. Specimens subjected to electric curing, steam curing and without curing were tested for compressive and residual flexural tensile strengths at different ages. The fibre-matrix contact area after pull-out was charact...

Sprayed steel fibre reinforced concrete (SSFRC) is a material that tends to present anisotropy, due to the action of the spraying process inducing preferential fibre orientation. Despite numerous applications worldwide since the 1980s, no study has been found of the assessment of fibre distribution and its influence on the residual tensile strength...

The size effect is a well-known phenomenon in the design of reinforced concrete structures. Although it has been studied extensively for conventional concrete with or without traditional reinforcement, its influence on the post-cracking behaviour of fibre-reinforced composites is scarcely reported in literature. This is particularly true in the cas...

Underground structures and foundations, including piles, constructed with reinforced concrete may be in contact with sulphate-rich soils and water. Structural elements exposed to these conditions may be affected by an expansive process known as external sulphate attack (ESA) that generally leads to an increase in volume, hence displacements and cra...

The increasing use of crushed concrete aggregates (CCA), formerly referred to as recycled concrete aggregates (RCA), has led to research into the effects of coarse CCA in higher value structural applications. Concerns exist regarding the effect on chloride ion ingress which ultimately can cause deterioration of reinforced concrete. This concern is...

Crushed concrete aggregates (CCA) are an increasingly popular replacement for natural aggregates (NA) in structural concrete due to industry demands for more recycled, low carbon footprint and responsibly sourced materials. There is uncertainty regarding chloride-ion ingress, which can ultimately cause deterioration of reinforced concrete. This is...

The use of crushed concrete aggregate (CCA), formerly referred to as recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) is increasing, particularly with a recent push towards sustainable sourcing of materials. Further research is required to understand the effect of coarse CCA on the mechanical properties and durability performance of structural concrete. The elect...

Purpose Despite being a common term in the literature, there is little agreement about what the word “adaptability” means in the context of the built environment and very little evidence regarding practitioners’ understanding of adaptability. This paper aims to examine what practitioners in the building industry mean when they talk about “adaptabil...

In the UK, healthcare built environment design is guided by a series of long-established design standards and guidance issued by the Department of Health. More recently, healthcare design focus has broadened to encompass new approaches, supported by large bodies of credible research evidence. It is therefore timely to rethink how healthcare design...

In this paper, a non-conventional way of additive manufacturing, curved-layered printing, has been applied to large-scale construction process. Despite the number of research works on Curved Layered Fused Deposition Modelling (CLFDM) over the last decade, few practical applications have been reported. An alternative method adopting the CLFDM princi...

The maturity method provides a simple approach for assessing the strength evolution of concrete. Although it is already used in the precast industry, no reported applications with sprayed concrete may be found in the literature. Such concrete presents singular characteristics due to the spraying process and, in some cases, due to the introduction o...

Galvanic anodes can be used to limit the extent of concrete replacement and extend the service life of patch repairs to reinforced concrete (RC) structures. They respond to changes in environmental conditions and this attribute has been employed to extend their use. Traditionally, galvanic anodes are installed within the repair area itself. Althoug...

Silanes can act as hydrophobic pore liners for Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures. They can significantly reduce the depth of chloride penetration, a major cause of steel reinforcement corrosion. There is little published information however, on their long-term performance. For this study, 32 concrete cores were extracted from eight full-scale RC...

Relatively little is known about how the concept of sensemaking is triggered by knowledge of human values during the multi-stakeholder decision-making process of construction projects. The emergent, complex and dynamic nature of a cultural value and values system is modelled on a longitudinal case study to demonstrate stakeholders' unique perceptio...

A valuable asset in sustainable regeneration is the 'community' with their developed networks, bonds and ties or in other words its social capital which is a useful resource. Braunstone in Leicester is typical of many disadvantaged areas in the UK, with persistent socioeconomic problems exacerbated by a poor physical setting. With a large regenerat...

This chapter presents an introduction to six construction management schools of thought: the Project Management Book of Knowledge, Simultaneous Management, Lean Construction, a Theory of Construction as Production by Projects, Collaborative Working and the perspective of Peter Morris one of the leading researchers and practitioners of Project Manag...

Recent decades have witnessed various industry-focussed government reports that have urged construction stakeholders to look further ahead by focusing on future-oriented issues such as continuous performance improvement, sustainability, training, and research and development. Evidence from a recent industry workshop of senior construction managers...

A relatively neglected aspect of sustainable development is the creation of an enduring built environment that can be adapted to suit changing circumstances. This presents a significant challenge: how to evaluate a building’s adaptability. The premise is introduced that adaptability is enhanced through the use of analytical tools which can provide...

Discrete galvanic anodes are traditionally embedded in the patch repairs of steel reinforced concrete (RC) structures to offer corrosion prevention. This research investigated the performance of galvanic anodes installed in the parent concrete surrounding the patch repair, in order to explore the performance of such a new arrangement and identify i...

Both industry and academia consider Evidence Based Design (EBD) to be a positive way forward to improve the quality of the health service through better utilisation of rigorous evidence during the design process. The use of rigorous evidence is not a distinct activity of the design process; it materialises on different routes and activities scatter...

Silanes can act as hydrophobic pore liners for reinforced concrete (RC) structures. They can significantly reduce the depth of chloride penetration, a major cause of steel reinforcement corrosion. However, there is little published information on their long-term performance. Thirty-two concrete cores were extracted from eight full-scale RC bridge s...

This paper examines and evaluates design methodologies applicable to pre-cast reinforced concrete (RC) panels subjected to eccentric axial load. Theoretical capacities derived from existing regulatory guidance are compared against those determined from experimental investigations, showing that slender RC walls have load capacities significantly hig...

This study investigates the incorporation of lightweight sintered pulverised fuel ash (SPFA) as a partial/ complete replacement for natural sand and aggregates within full-scale precast elements. It focuses on selfcompacting concrete (SCC) mixes after short periods of strength development, owing to the lack of published experimental data for these...

Both industry and academia consider Evidence Based Design (EBD) to be a positive way forward to improve the quality of the health service through better utilisation of rigorous evidence during the design process. The use of rigorous evidence is not a distinct activity of the design process; it materialises on different routes and activities scatter...

Purpose For over a decade, UK public sector construction policy and industry rhetoric has advanced a value agenda that advocates the development of project‐specific understanding of value. This study aims to examine construction practitioners’ collective cognition of value to determine how their facilitation may bias this intent. A value continuum...

The incipient anode (or halo) effect often occurs on repaired reinforced concrete structures. The diagnosis of this problem is widely reported to be macrocell activity. This diagnosis is based on very limited data. Indeed potential measurements on field structures repaired with proprietary materials have provided data that suggest that macrocell ac...

Recession and higher costs of education have over the past few years raised increasing concerns over employability amongst engineering and construction students. International students can face particularly difficult problems securing placements and internship which improve their employability. UK employment law can prohibit, or at best discourage,...

A range of methods exist to assess the condition of steel reinforcement in concrete. The analysis of the transient response to a small perturbation has been employed successfully in laboratories to assess corrosion. This work examines a simplified method for the application of transient analysis to in situ reinforced concrete structures. The comple...

This paper presents the experimental results concerning the mix design and fresh properties of a high-performance fibre-reinforced fine-aggregate concrete for printing concrete. This concrete has been designed to be extruded through a nozzle to build layer-by-layer structural components. The printing process is a novel digitally controlled additive...

This paper presents the hardened properties of a high-performance fibre-reinforced fine-aggregate concrete extruded through a 9 mm diameter nozzle to build layer-by-layer structural components in a printing process. The printing process is a digitally controlled additive method capable of manufacturing architectural and structural components withou...

Chapter 1 explored the forces and pace of change facing organisations and the implications for those responsible for managing their buildings. This chapter looks in more detail at the relationship between buildings and change, and examines how this relationship can be managed. In doing so, it provides a foundation for Chapter 4, which looks at how...

Graduate researchers are an essential part of higher education (HE) in terms of its contribution to knowledge and the wider economy, but how the work environment influences behaviour and productivity in this work domain is poorly understood. Nevertheless, building programmes continue with a detectable trend towards more open office designs. Beyond...

In multi-organisational contexts, scenario building has been used to engage stakeholders in a critical discussion on issues of mutual importance, and to gain their support with regards to possible future responses. A review of existing literature suggests that much has been written regarding the process of scenario development and the benefits of t...

Car parks constructed with in-situ concrete are generally characterised by very shallow (typically wafer type) slabs which enables fast construction and keeps the self-weight of the structure to a minimum. However, many of these car parks are now displaying signs of significant structural deterioration, mainly due to corrosion damage of the reinfor...

This paper explores the adaptability of buildings in Japan from the perspective of three distinct practice typologies: large general contractors, large architectural design firms, and small design ateliers. The paper illustrates the cultivation of adaptability in Japan revealing a maturing of concepts into current innovations, trends, priorities, a...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of two different academic office environments in supporting collaboration and privacy. Design/methodology/approach – The approach takes the form of case studies involving post-occupancy questionnaire surveys of academic occupants. Findings – The combi-office design was found to be...

A novel Concrete Printing process has been developed, inspired and informed by advances in 3D printing, which has the potential to produce highly customised building components. Whilst still in their infancy, these technologies could create a new era of architecture that is better adapted to the environment and integrated with engineering function....

The aim of this paper is to investigate current practice in preconstruction planning. Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted over a four-month period. Through these interviews, two major findings were revealed: first, guesses are frequently made in preconstruction planning process, neither the initial planner nor the downstream planner wi...

Additive manufacturing in construction is beginning to move from an architect's modelling tool to delivering full-scale architectural components and elements of buildings such as walls and facades. This paper discusses large-scale additive manufacturing processes that have been applied in the construction and architecture arena and focuses on ‘Conc...

The UK government has committed itself to demanding CO2 reduction targets. There is an expectation that significant carbon savings can be achieved in the construction and operation of buildings through the application of low carbon technologies. Current concentration on low carbon technologies to reduce operational energy requirements has overlooke...

This paper looks at change from the perspective of building design (i.e. building adaptability), and how a better understanding of product architecture can bring about an easier accommodation of change for an unforeseeable future. The work explores the use of a design structure matrix (DSM) to understand the building's capacity to accommodate chang...

Impressed Current Cathodic Protection (ICCP) has contributed significantly to the repair and maintenance of motorway structures in the U.K. By polarising the steel reinforcement it can arrest and prevent corrosion activity and can take away the necessity to remove chloride contaminated but otherwise sound concrete. The aim of this research was to c...

This paper attempts to widen our understanding of the relationship between social capital and the physical environment through an exploration of the intersection of theory, urban design practitioner guidance and empirical research on social capital that considers the built environment as a variable. Theory suggests that social capital in a neighbou...

The collaborative project management is becoming popular in West. China is acutely aware of the need to improve its management skills in all field. Collaborative project management are developed for better dealing with those complex projects that often consist of many dissimilar, highly interdependent components and involve many different disciplin...

Purpose Construction sector competitiveness has been a subject of interest for many years. Research too often focuses on the means of overcoming the “barriers to change” as if such barriers were static entities. There has been little attempt to understand the dynamic inter‐relationship between the differing factors which impinge upon construction s...

In the emerging digital economy, the management of information in aerospace and construction organisations is facing a particular challenge due to the ever-increasing volume of information and the extensive use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This paper addresses the problems of information overload and the value of informatio...

This experimental field study interrupted the protection current offered by Impressed Current Cathodic Protection (ICCP) to ten in-service reinforced concrete structures. The study aimed to identify the longterm effects of ICCP after it was recognised that some of the systems are now reaching the end of their design life and require a significant l...

Thinking and planning for the future is critical in a competitive business world. Scenarios are a common technique for investigating the future, but can be time consuming and challenging to develop, particularly when more than a single organisation is involved. An approach is presented here which shifts the focus of scenario building from the compa...

Centre for Educational Research and Development Research Report

The ubiquitous drive towards a more sustainable future has resulted in major changes in the planning and design of urban environments. Government strategies on sustainable development, published in 1999 and 2005, are thought to be driving the development of new legislations that are aimed at delivering a sustainable future for the UK. As a result,...

There has recently been a reappraisal of value in UK construction and calls from a wide range of influential individuals, professional institutions and government bodies for the industry to exceed stakeholders’ expectations and develop integrated teams that can deliver world class products and services. As such value is certainly topical, but the i...

The construction industry is acutely aware of the need to improve its management process. Currently, construction management is facing four major schools of thoughts. This paper reports the recent study results, the aim of which was to compare these approaches. The focus will be on the questions: What is the theory root for this school of thoughts?...

The construction industry is a major generator of waste material. Construction waste should be minimized at source and if we are to significantly reduce the level of construction waste designers should consider reducing construction waste during the design process. The majority of construction waste is generated from the concreting process. In gene...

Pedestrian-oriented and mixed-use neighbourhoods enable residents to interact with each other while walking and therefore enhance the frequency of contact. It is widely accepted that people living in walkable neighbourhoods are more likely to have a higher level of social capital and tend to live longer and healthier lives than those living in car-...

This paper reports on the results from a series of laboratory tests assessing the rate of deterioration for concrete cracks and joints under low-intensity, high-cycle loading, typical of that found in industrial flooring, external hardstandings and rigid pavements. The testing incorporated a variety of crack geometries, reinforcement types, reinfor...

This paper describes the findings and lessons learnt from three adaptable non-residential buildings, as part of the Adaptable Futures research project, at Loughborough University, UK. In each case the business needs of adaptability, technical features of the buildings to enable these and changes achieved during the lifecycle are presented. The buil...

This is a conference paper, it was presented at the 25th ARCOM conference. Further information is available from: http://www.arcom.ac.uk/ The future is by its very nature uncertain and unknown, and only by discussion and debate regarding how the future may develop can we adequately prepare for what may lie ahead. A collaborative scenario developmen...

This is the author's own final version of a book chapter. The book, Collaborative construction information management is available from: http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/shopping_cart/search/search.asp?search=0415484227 Process modelling has become an established tool whereby the information requirements of the design team may be identified, mapped,...

This is paper was presented at DSM'09: http://www.dsm-conference.org/ This paper builds on the introductory paper (Schmidt et al., 2008) submitted for the 2008 DSM conference. Not specified

This report was published by Constructing Excellence: http://www.constructingexcellence.org.uk/ Published

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore critical success factors (CSFs) in interdisciplinary building design projects from the view point of the project members themselves. While there is a plethora of research on CSFs, there is a paucity of studies that examine CSFs within this unique project context. Design/methodology/approach Semi‐stru...