2 Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Via Gradenigo, 6 – 35131 Padova * corresponding author: stievanin@dic.unipd.it, Tel.: +39 049 8275560 Introduction Patented by Joseph Monier in 1867, the reinforced concrete became a highly successful material during the 20 th century, capable of satisfying the most challenging demands of designers and engineers. However, the mechanical behavior of structures made with this material was not fully understood for a long time, giving rise to a variety of structural problems of the buildings built in the first decades of the 20 th century. At the roots of the problem there was not only the empirical conception of the structural calculations, but also the lack of development of standard concrete production technology and the poor attention paid to the choice of raw materials and their mixing methodology. Furthermore, the problem of reinforced concrete behavior to external chemical-physical degrading agents was not considered during most of the 20 th century, due to the wrong assumption of “infinite durability” of this material. Given the complexity of the material, a combined multidisciplinary approach, covering the fields of materials science and engineering, is necessary to obtain a full mechanical and microstructural characterization of reinforced concrete structures and, consequently, to plan and perform proper interventions with adequate restoration materials for the rehabilitation of this modern heritage.
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