Fire and concrete. Two words most people don't hear together very often (unless you're reading Stephen King's Fire Starter) and rarely in connection to money. But the two are worth $400,000 to one Lawrence Technological University professor.
The National Science Foundation awarded Elin Jensen, an assistant professor in the Civil Engineering Department at Lawrence Tech, the grant for her work on how concrete reacts when exposed to extreme-temperature fires. Think of a situation where an oil tanker crashes into a bridge, like in a Hollywood blockbuster movie.
The effects of fire on concrete are not well understood and there is a lack of engineering data needed to design concrete structures strong enough to withstand such conditions. Jensen is heading up a project that will develop thermo-mechanical models of concrete under fire and loads.
The grant will fund five years worth of experiments at Lawrence Tech's Center for Innovative Materials Research beginning later this month. A new large-scale fire chamber that can produce temperatures up to 2300 degrees and simulate the conditions created by real fires will be used to conduct the tests. The results will be used to help further structural design and the development of fire-safety codes.
Jensen received a Ph.D. in civil engineering at the University of Michigan in 2002 and joined the Lawrence Tech faculty the following year. Her focus of teaching and research is on analysis and performance of concrete materials, structures and pavements.
Source: Eric Pope, spokesman for Lawrence Technological University
Writer: Jon Zemke
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