Platforms › DuCoS – Saint-Nazaire
Experimental platform · DuCoS – Saint-Nazaire
Materials durability and structural eco-design
DuCoS is an experimental civil engineering platform with equipment for studying the mechanical and hygrothermal behaviour and the durability of construction materials, in relation to their mix design and placement processes.
Location
Building 17, ground and first floors, GeM laboratory, Saint-Nazaire
Scientific lead
Stéphanie BONNET
Technical leads
Denis FOURNOL & Philippe LEROY
Contact
Key strengths
Multi-scale
Characterisation of durability and hygrothermal transfer, from specimen to full scale
Full scale
Tidal simulation rig (2 tanks, 4 m long and 2 m high), climate chamber on a 2 × 2 m wall
Laboratory and in situ
Non-destructive testing: resistivity, Torrent permeability, corrosion potential and current
7 mixers
Casting from small specimens (4 × 4 × 16 cm prisms, Ø11 × 22 cm cylinders…) to structural elements (beams, walls)
Four main “types” of equipment
The equipment listed below is complemented by controlled-environment chambers and presses of various capacities. In addition, a casting area with 7 mixers of different volumes allows the production of small specimens (4 × 4 × 16 cm prisms, Ø11 × 22 cm cylinders, etc.) as well as structural elements (beams, walls, etc.).
The platform’s equipment
Click on an item to open its sheet in the GeM directory of experimental facilities.
Multi-scale characterisation of the durability of construction materials
Permeability test bench with mass flow meters and cells of various diameters
Multi-scale hygrothermal transfer in construction materials
Hot Disk for local measurements of thermal conductivity and heat capacity
Study of hydration and microstructure
Non-destructive testing: laboratory and in situ
Wenner resistivity meter
