Name: Dr. Quentin Félix Adam
Academic Division: Civil Engineering – Division D
Research Group: Smart materials
Fellowship period: 15th of June 2023 until 22nd of December 2023
Email: qfa20@cam.ac.uk
Youtube: https://youtu.be/ae5p_w6-cvQ
Research Interests:
Dr. Quentin Félix Adam research interest lies within the transition of infrastructures from passive to active. He achieves this through the three following aspects: (i) smart materials that are able to actively change their thermal and mechanical behaviour through the clever analysis of sensors’ data. To do so, he mainly considers first principles-based modelling techniques to characterise the thermo-mechanical behaviour of materials; (ii) structural health monitoring, which is an added benefit of utilising smart materials and that is achieved through mapping electro-magnetic field of materials; and (iii) digital twins, which is an uprising domain in civil engineering. He aims to incorporate all data generated within (i) and (ii) into a digital twin system.
Strategic theme:
Future-proof roads: Data-driven materials for durable and climate resilient pavements
Project title: Ribbons and fibres as a climate resilient solution for pavements
Project abstract:
Due to climate change, pavements in the UK will be exposed to colder and warmer air temperature levels in the winter and summer, respectively. This increase in air temperature amplitude is accompanied by safety concerns for the road network’s users, including the reduction of skid resistance and masking of road markings due to snow and ice in winter, and augmenting of aquaplaning risks due to bleeding and rutting in summer. Pavement materials are designed with current air temperature levels and are thus not proofed for the increase in air temperature amplitude. It is therefore of utmost importance to develop pavement materials that are capable of coping with the upcoming extreme temperature levels. This Fellowship is concerned with delivering a system consisting of embedded ribbons and fibres within pavements; this system is seen as a solution to the upcoming extreme temperature levels. The objectives are to extend my knowledge of heating ribbons to pavements with fibres, take to the next level the proposed system to mitigate bleeding and rutting, implement in full-scale the system to perform largescale trials, and design a route to market for the commercialization of the system. The objectives will be fulfilled through laboratory work with the construction of a full-scale test section on which experimental work will be carried out. Modelling efforts for the automatization of the system will be performed. Implementing the suggested system in full scale is expected to be cost-effective, promote sustainability, prolong the lifetime of the pavement, and provide higher safety for users.
Biography:
Dr. Quentin Félix Adam studied theoretical mathematics and physics with a minor in theoretical computer science at the classe préparatoire Lycée Kléber, Strasbourg, France. He then got accepted for a double master's degree between École Spéciale des Travaux Publics (ESTP, Paris, France) and the Technical University of Dresden (TUD, Dresden, Germany). At ESTP he studied the foundations of Newtonian mechanics applied to infrastructures. He then joined TUD to study Computational Engineering, a specialisation aiming at learning how to implement these foundations and solve them with finite element software. During his Master's thesis, he implemented within the finite element software FEAP a constitutive model to consider the change in thermo-mechanical properties of rubber during the vulcanisation process. The model consisted of an energy-based model accounting for large thermo-viscoelastic deformations. Building upon his knowledge of thermos-viscoelasticity, he joined the Technical University of Denmark (DTU, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark) for a three-year PhD where he promoted an emerging technology that is electrically-heated asphalt pavements; his work there was mainly theoretical and numerical. After completing his PhD he joined Université Laval (ULaval, Quebec, Canada) in the Civil Engineering department to help develop a database for the software AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design targeted at infrastructures in the Quebec province. In parallel to this, he enhanced his expertise in heat transfer applied to insulated pavements. He is still collaborating with this latter university in order to bring the technology of electrically-heated asphalt pavements to Canada.