Summary
Nick Buenfeld is Professor of Concrete Structures (2000- ) and Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (2011- ). He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Structural Engineers.
The Department he leads develops the understanding, tools and people needed to create and maintain sustainable and resilient natural and built environments. Currently there are 58 full-time academics, 20 Visiting and Emeritus Professors, over 250 researchers, 350 undergraduates and close to 300 MSc students.
Nick is an expert in the long-term performance of concrete structures. As a graduate engineer working on the design of large structures he was struck by the mismatch between Society's need for long-life infrastructure and the lack of evidence that this could be achieved. He joined Imperial as an MSc student wanting to discover more, stayed for a PhD and has since been a Research Fellow, Lecturer, Reader and Professor. He was recently awarded a £9M EPSRC grant to establish the Advanced Infrastructure Materials Lab, the centrepiece of a new Centre aiming to develop the next generation of infrastructure materials. More information on his research interests can be found via the RESEARCH tab above and on his research group’s website - http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/concretedurability
Nick has supervised over 30 PhDs and 60 MSc research projects and has taught undergraduates and MSc students the philosophy of design, design and analysis of concrete structures, concrete technology, materials selection and materials science.
He has provided guidance to governments and to the designers and constructors of major infrastructure projects including the Great Man-Made River Project in Libya, the New Los Angeles Cathedral, the Beirut Sea Front Project, the Channel Tunnel, the Jubilee Line Extension, the new Tyne Tunnel, Tsing Ma and Tsing Lung Bridges in Hong Kong, Belgium's high level nuclear waste repository and the UK’s new nuclear power programme.
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Wu Z, Wong HS, Buenfeld NR, 2017, Transport properties of concrete after drying-wetting regimes to elucidate the effects of moisture content, hysteresis and microcracking, Cement and Concrete Research, Vol:98, ISSN:1873-3948, Pages:136-154
Angst UM, Geiker MR, Michel A, et al., 2017, The steel-concrete interface, Materials and Structures, Vol:50, ISSN:1871-6873
Yio MHN, Wong HS, Buenfeld NR, 2016, 3D Monte Carlo simulation of backscattered electron signal variation across pore-solid boundaries in cement-based materials, Cement and Concrete Research, Vol:89, ISSN:0008-8846, Pages:320-331
Alzyoud S, Wong HS, Buenfeld NR, 2016, Influence of reinforcement spacers on mass transport properties and durability of concrete structures, Cement and Concrete Research, Vol:87, ISSN:1873-3948, Pages:31-44
Abyaneh SD, Wong HS, Buenfeld NR, 2016, Simulating the effect of microcracks on the diffusivity and permeability of concrete using a three-dimensional model, Computational Materials Science, Vol:119, ISSN:0927-0256, Pages:130-143
Lee HXD, Wong HS, Buenfeld NR, 2016, Self-sealing of cracks in concrete using superabsorbent polymers, Cement and Concrete Research, Vol:79, ISSN:1873-3948, Pages:194-208
Yio MHN, Mac MJ, Wong HS, et al., 2015, 3D imaging of cement-based materials at submicron resolution by combining laser scanning confocal microscopy with serial sectioning, Journal of Microscopy, Vol:258, ISSN:1365-2818, Pages:151-169
Wu Z, Wong HS, Buenfeld NR, 2014, Influence of drying-induced microcracking and related size effects on mass transport properties of concrete, Cement and Concrete Research, Vol:68, ISSN:1873-3948, Pages:35-48
Wu Z, Wong HS, Buenfeld NR, 2014, Effect of confining pressure and microcracks on mass transport properties of concrete, Advances in Applied Ceramics, Vol:113, ISSN:1743-6753, Pages:485-495
Abyaneh SD, Wong HS, Buenfeld NR, 2014, Computational investigation of capillary absorption in concrete using a three-dimensional mesoscale approach, Computational Materials Science, Vol:87, ISSN:0927-0256, Pages:54-64
Yio MHN, Phelan JC, Wong HS, et al., 2014, Determining the slag fraction, water/binder ratio and degree of hydration in hardened cement pastes, Cement and Concrete Research, Vol:56, ISSN:0008-8846, Pages:171-181
Wong HS, Zimmerman RW, Buenfeld NR, 2012, Estimating the permeability of cement pastes and mortars using image analysis and effective medium theory, Cem. Concr. Res., Vol:42, Pages:476-483
Wong HS, Pappas AM, Zimmerman RW, et al., 2011, Effect of entrained air voids on the microstructure and mass transport properties of concrete, Cem. Concr. Res., Vol:41, Pages:1067-1077
Wong HS, Zhao YX, Karimi AR, et al., 2010, On the penetration of rust from reinforcing steel into concrete due to chloride-induced corrosion, Corrosion Science, Vol:52, Pages:2469-2480
Wong HS, Zobel M, Buenfeld NR, et al., 2009, Influence of the interfacial transition zone and microcracking on the diffusivity, permeability and sorptivity of cement-based materials after drying, Mag. Concr. Res., Vol:61, Pages:571-589