The paper presents results of a study on T-shaped composite concrete beams with a variously located interface. Damage to tested beams was caused by shear. The crack patterns and the value of the force causing interface cracking were analysed. Conclusions concerning the failure mechanism were formulated. Moreover, the influence of the interface location and of the difference between the moduli of elasticity of joint materials on stress in the interface was also analysed.

This project’s objective was to create a circular economy in the composites sector by examining the possibility of using wind turbine blade composite materials to construct noise-absorbing barriers for roads. The possibility of constructing road noise barrier panels from components obtained from turbine blades was conceptually examined, and the geometry and construction of wind turbine blades were evaluated for their suitability as filler components for panels. The tensile strength parameters of two types of composites made from windmill blades—a solid composite and a sandwich type—were established based on material tests. The strength of the composite elements cut from a windmill propeller was analyzed, and a three-dimensional numerical model was created using the finite element method. The strength values of the composite used to construct the noise barriers were compared with the stresses resulting from loads operating on the road noise barriers, as determined in compliance with current standards. It was discovered that acoustic screens composed of composite materials derived from wind turbine blades may withstand loads associated with wind pressure and vehicle traffic with sufficient resistance. In order to evaluate the environmental benefits resulting from the use of composite material made from wind turbine blades to make noise barriers, this study presents the values of the embodied energy and embodied carbon for several types of road noise barriers using life cycle assessment.

The study presented constitutes the next step of authors’ investigations on the concrete composite T-shaped beams. The comparison of the failure modes and crack patterns of numerical models and beams tested was performed previously. In this paper, analyses concentrate on determination the proper values of cohesive surface parameters ensuring the high conformity of deformation and strains of the numerical model to the experimental results. In the particular series of beams the interfaces between concrete parts are varied as follows: reinforced joint with normal and tangential interactions only (BZ/S2/A), non-reinforced joint with adhesion (BZ/P), and reinforced joint with adhesion (BZ/P+S). Material properties used in numerical model are based on obtained in the laboratory ones. Furthermore, the ‘traction–separation’ law in the ABAQUS software defining the cohesion surface is used and analysis of the cohesive parameters response to interface roughness is carried out. The results show a strong dependence between the cohesion surface parameters and the response of the composite beam. A very good convergence of the numerical model with the experimental results in terms of ‘force-displacement’ relationship is achieved. Finally the parameters defined in the ABAQUS are determined, which have a key impact on the beams response.

This article presents the results of an experimental study carried out to assess the possibility of using waste wind turbine blades as retaining wall structures for slopes and trenches. The use of Vestas and LM-type blades as retaining wall components was assumed, based on ‘columns’ made of Vestas-type closed profiles filled with concrete and ‘slabs’ of fragments extracted from LM-type blades. The results of the tests and comparisons of the displacement and strain values of the components obtained using different measurement methods are presented in this paper. The force–strain and force–displacement relationships obtained from the tests were used to validate numerical models of slope protection walls and excavations designed from used wind turbine blades. According to our research, there is a high degree of variability in the strength parameters and deformation of the composite elements made from the wind turbine blades. Therefore, in the case of this type of material, characterized by a significant variation in carrying capacity, deformability, and the nature of the failures, the use of different measurement methods makes it possible to obtain much of the data necessary for assessing the reusability of wind turbine blades in building.

The tests results of composite reinforced concrete T-shaped beams with an interface between the web and the flange are presented. The interface in the beams differed in the degree of the adhesion activity and the joining reinforcement ratio. Five series of beams were tested for deflection, displacement of composite parts in relation to each other, strain of main and transverse reinforcement, and crack pattern. The results were compared with the theoretical forces, at which interface cracks and achieves the bearing capacity, calculated in accordance with fib Model Code 2010.

Laboratory tests of concrete composite concrete T-shaped beams with variously arranged interface were performed. In the particular series the interface between concrete parts was reinforced or non-reinforced. Additionally the interface conditions varied as follows: existence of adhesion in the interface, adhesion partly broken using chemical agent and adhesion completely broken with PVE membrane put in the interface. The paper presents the compiled results of all tests and the first stage of FEM analysis concerning the series of beams, where the adhesion was broken. Results of numerical analysis are compared with the crack pattern observed during tests.