Materials Science and Structure

Cambodian Context 

Cambodia has a long history of engineering skills in materials and structures. Looking back at Angkorian times, the Khmer empire built a considerable amount of constructions in bricks and sandstone: religious buildings, bridges, dams (barray), some of them now in a bad state because of the deterioration of the materials and damages to the structures. The preservation of Khmer heritage is an important issue for the tourism industry and Cambodian universities have an important role to play to develop solutions.

In the present days, new challenges have to be met: the construction sector has boomed in 2016 with a total investment of 8.5 b$. There are over 900 high-rise buildings (more than 5 floors), the majority of them in Phnom Penh. This fast evolution of Cambodian cities causes issues of quality (qualified human resources, redefining building standards) and of sustainability (depletion of local resources in construction materials).

Research in materials science and structures for civil engineering is needed in order to develop eco-friendly concrete or building components adapted to local resources, but also to study and reinforce the stability of embankments, dams, slopes, especially in a context of variable conditions of soils between the rainy and the dry season.

But materials science is not limited to the building industry, as there are also big challenges in recycling or recovering materials from waste, replacing polymers from fossil origin with biopolymers, and producing sustainable products from local materials.

Materials Science and Structure Research Unit was established to build up researcher group with the same skill and work with other researcher groups as interdisciplinary to create new materials and structures which serve for various applications. 

The Research Unit

The Material sciences and Structures Research Unit focuses on the innovation and trends in construction material, especially with low carbon impact materials and light structures, including geotechnical engineering, underground structures, roads, embankments, … to address specific Cambodian needs.

 

The whole set of available natural materials in Cambodia (silk, wood, agricultural by-products, starch, bamboo, clay, limestone,…) is also reconsidered to produce sustainable goods and products. The Research Unit works among an international network on heritage preservation with a specific dedication on materials science (sandstones, ceramics, iron, bronze, …). An important effort is made on modelling and simulations with high standards numerical tools associating mechanics, heat transfer and fluid mechanics. 

Vision

MSS Research Unit will be nationally and internationally recognized for one of the first destination for education and research in materials and structure by industries and academic institutions. MSS Research Unit will be a source for technical innovation transfer, scientists and engineers.

Mission

• To strengthen research capacity in field of materials and structure

• To enlarge and improve Materials and Structure laboratory 

• To boost the research activities through local and international collaborations (Universities, Government, SMEs, NGOs) 

• To promote technology transfer and provide training and consultancy services

• To increase national and international publications

• To host scientific events

Research Theme

• Numerical modelling and experimental analysis of infrastructure and materials

• Polymer composites and plastic waste recycling, eco-materials for construction (concrete, binder…)

• Failure analysis of steel structure

• Soil improvement for various applications using binder and waste products

• Slope stability analysis and deep excavation

• Heritage preservation (structure, source of rock…)

Projects and Research Topics

Table: Research topics in MSS unit for the academic year 2018-2019

 

No.	Project/Research Topic	Fund
1	Valorization of natural resources and local by-products for the manufacture of sustainable eco-materials	ITC and BGF
2	Development of three points binding fixture for Shimadzu AGX 10 Plus	Nikko-Kinzoku (Cambodia) Co., Ltd
3	Characterization of Bamboo’s properties for telecommunication tower’s structure	Edotco Cambodia Co., Ltd
4	Thermal comfort assessment and enhancement in the lecture rooms of the ITC	ITC
5	Fabrication of passive solar shading for energy saving in glass building	Government of Cambodia
6	Effect on capacity of RC beam and column strengthened with Fibrwrap® system by cyclic exposure to water and salt water	Fyfe Asia Pte Ltd
7	Mechanical properties of RC beam and column strengthened with Fibrwrap® system after being submerged to different exposure solutions	Fyfe Asia Pte Ltd
8	Development of bending and compressive testing fixture for determining mechanical properties of material	Nikko-Kinzoku
9	Initiating scientific investigation to understand and prevent the failure of the Cambodian railway	Government of Cambodia
10	Developing of electrically conductive Nanocomposite paper wood-based Nanocelluloses	Government of Cambodia
11	Development screw pressing machine for monitoring oil extraction	Pierre Fabre
12	Atmospheric corrosion test in Cambodia by considering the effect of environmental parameters	Pierre Fabre
13	Applications of Cambodian natural rubber latex-mineral composites as pillow	Government of Cambodia
14	Development and optimization of ceramic tile using Cambodian clays incorporating with industrial wastes	Government of Cambodia
15	Identification and control of slope failure along Mekong river in Cambodia	Government of Cambodia

Researchers

Dr. CHHIT Sao Sameth, Ph.D in Material Engineering, University of Ghent, Belgium

Mateiral Sciences

Dr. HIN Raveth, Ph.D in Material Engineering, University of Rennes 1, France

Mechanical behaviour of Materials, Mechanics and Civil Engineering

Dr. KRUY Sothea, Ph.D. in Engineering, Keio University, Japan

CAD/CAM, Manufacturing system, Integrated design engineering

Dr. HAN Virak, Ph.D in Civil Engineering, KOCHI University, Japan

Civil engineering materials, concrete, modelling 

Dr. BUN Kim Ngun, Ph.D. in Materials Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia

Materials science, ceramics

Dr. YOS Phanny Ph.D. in Materials Engineering, Kyushu University, Japan

Polymers, composite material

Dr. SEANG Chan Sopheak, Ph.D. in Engineering, INSA de Rennes, France 

Non destructive testing, numerical Analysis, welding

Dr. CHEA Savuth, Ph.D in Civil Engineering, INSA de Rennes, France

Non destructive testing, pavement, deflectometry

Dr. PROK Narith, Ph.D in Civil Engineering, KOCHI University, Japan

Soil-structure interaction; earthquake; tsunami

Dr. RATH Sovann Sathya, Ph.D in Civil Engineering, KOCHI University, Japan

Self-compacting concrete

Dr. SRY Vannei, Ph.D in Materials Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technologyl Japan

Mechanical properties of Fiber

Ms. BUN Polyka, Master in Applied Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

Simulation of thin wall structures

Academic and Research Partners

Universitat de Girona, Spain

INSA de Rennes, France

Université de Paris 13, France

Ecole des mines d'Alès, France

Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France

Kochi University, Japan

Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Kyoto University, Japan

Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA, USA

Ecole Française d'Extrême Orient, France

National Museum, Cambodia

Universiti Sians Malaysia

Non-academic partners

Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Cambodia

Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Cambodia

Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, Cambodia

Ministry of Industry and Handicraft, Cambodia

Ministry of Mines and Energy, Cambodia

CDRI (Cambodia Development Resource Institute)

Ministry of Environment, Cambodia

General Directorate of Rubber, Cambodia

Industrial Partners and NGOs

Dassault Systèmes, France

Minebea (Cambodia) co.ltd

Edotco Cambodia Co.,Ltd

Nikko-Kinzoku (Cambodia) Co.,Ltd

Fyfe Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore

Pierre Fabre