„IAB Days on Concrete“ in Weimar with special edition

Resource-conserving and climate-friendly construction took center stage at the „IAB Days on Concrete“ held in Weimar on 10 and 11 November 2021. The two-day specialist conference of the Weimar Institute of Applied Construction Research (IAB - Institut für Angewandte Bauforschung) was one of the first industry events held this year, which was organized as a special edition with actual attendance exclusively. “We are pleased to see so many familiar faces again after such a long time,“ said Dr. Ulrich Palzer, the director of the IAB institute, welcoming the 95 guests from Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland at the Leonardo conference hotel in Weimar.

“The limited number of participants we had this year even more benefits intensive exchange among each other and initiating contacts, although we could have expected twice as many participants under normal conditions.“ The program of the 2021 “IAB Days on Concrete“ comprised 17 technical presentations, an accompanying trade exhibition with nine exhibition booths and companies of the building materials, construction machines and concrete construction industries as well as an evening event at the IAB institute headquarters.

Special edition began with news and a new design

The 2021 special edition of the concrete conference was opened by Dr. Ulrich Palzer, the director of the IAB institute. At first, he presented the new umbrella brand for the institute‘s trade events and then gave the floor to Peter Kleine, mayor of the city of Weimar.

So far, the manifold expertise of the Weimar research institute was reflected by the six professional events organized annually – all of them, however, under different event titles. “It was therefore all the more important to us to create a recognition factor with the marketing concept by a common brand for all events,“ emphasized Palzer. Specialist subjects and specialist fields will be bundled on an event level under the umbrella of “IAB Days“ (IAB-Tage) in the future. These events range from building materials and concrete, to energy and recycling, through to shell construction and simulation. In his welcoming speech, mayor Kleine afterwards gave an insight and an overview of the current coronavirus situation in Weimar and once again warmly welcomed the conference participants in the university and classic city of Weimar.

New challenges due to CO₂ optimized cement and concretes

The keynote speeches and technical presentations of the subsequent building materials panel were entirely dedicated to sustainability and climate protection. At first, keynote speaker Dr. Arno Schimpf of Wasa Compound GmbH, presented “innovative formwork for organic concrete elements“, before Dr. Wolfram Schmidt of the German Federal Institute of Material Research and Testing (BAM) started the lecture series on building materials with his presentation on “options for the implementation of material-saving and sustainable methods in concrete construction“. In this series, also Dr. Oliver Mazanec of Master Builders Solutions Deutschland GmbH informed about the „decarbonization of concrete with the aid of admixtures“.

Conversely, fewer participants meant more and above all more intensive discussions. “This is favored by the useroriented technical presentations and topics on all matter relating to concrete which were absolutely brought down to the point“, stated Mirko Landmann, department manager concrete at IAB.

“The many questions of the audience show that we set up an excellent program with the selected topics and speakers.”

Digitalization and technologization are proceeding

The program of the lecture series in the afternoon featured 3D printing and automation in the construction industry. With the presentation of the planned project on a cable robot, Dr. Tobias Bruckmann of the University of Essen and Dr. Justus Lipowsky of the IAB demonstrated what the future on the construction site may look like. Used in the future, this robot shall transfer large construction volumes and complex geometries while reducing manpower requirements. The first day of the “IAB Days on Concrete“ event ended in a social get-together, an evening event at the headquarters of the Weimar research institute. This provided the opportunity to enter into conversations with industry colleagues in a relaxed atmosphere.

Modern process technology and optimized process development

At the beginning of the second day of the event the focus was on the development of procedures and technical equipment. Dr. Thomas Wocadlo (IBU-tec AG) and Steffen Liebezeit (IAB) used the IAB technical recycling center to illustrate the „process development of thermal recycling processes in a rotary kiln“. A “positive centering system on molds for concrete block machines“ was presented by Jonas Jacob of Kobra Formen GmbH.

Use of concrete products and precast concrete element beyond construction

Practice-oriented projects from research and development were the main focus of the concluding lecture series on concrete products and precast concrete elements, too. The “mobile vehicle barrier made of heavyweight concrete“ (BlockMaxx) is a newly developed system protecting public places against truck attacks. “BlockMaxx has already been tested in practice and passed several crash tests successfully“, explained Markus Tenwinkel of Tenwinkel GmbH, who gave the lecture together with Maximilian Ettel of IAB. Series production and marketing of the system are planned in the near future.

The last lecture series of this special edition was concluded by the presentation of Tobias Riffel and Nina Häußler (both of Rimatem GmbH) on “industrialized wall production using concrete blocks“. “Two days of professional exchange in actual presence and a familiar atmosphere are behind us“, summarized Dr. Ulrich Palzer with satisfaction. “We would be very glad to welcome you again on the next edition of our “IAB Days on Concrete“ in Weimar on 9 and 10 November, 2022.