Prof. Surendra P. Shah is a Walter P. Murphy Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering, Northwestern University, and was the founding director of the pioneering National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center for Advanced Cement-Based Materials, USA. He was named one of the ten most influential people in concrete by Concrete Construction Magazine.
On 11 December 2017, He gave a talk on “Performance of Fiber Reinforced Materials: Historic Perspective and Glance in the Future”. Firstly, Prof. Shah proposed ideally fiber reinforced concrete should have enhanced modulus of elasticity, higher bend over point, and sustained strain hardening response. Secondly, he pointed that the use of nanofibers such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon nanofibers (CNF) fundamentally alters the nano structure of calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) gel. Reinforcing concrete with CNT can enhance modulus of elasticity as well as toughness, reduce autogenous shrinkage, and delay the corrosion of steel bar reinforcement. Furthermore, he emphasized modeling and interface characterizing at multi-scale is critical in development of high performance fiber reinforced concrete.
