mark g alexander university of cape town

Mark g alexander university of cape town

Emeritus Professor Mark Alexander

BSc (Eng), MSc (Eng), PhD

Structural Materials and Structural Engineering

Email: mark.alexander@uct.ac.za


Professor Mark Alexander’s specialities include Structural Engineering and Structural Materials. He has a BSc (Eng), MSc (Eng) and PhD degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. His teaching and research interests are in cement and concrete materials engineering, with experience in fundamental and applied research relating to design and construction.
He is part of the leadership of the CSIRG at UCT, where work is being done on problems of marine concrete durability, amongst others. He has published extensively both in South Africa and abroad.

He is the outgoing President of RILEM, an international organisation concerned with research in materials and structures. He acts as a specialist consultant to industry and the profession on concrete materials problems.
He is a Fellow of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering, the South African Academy of Engineers, and The University of Cape Town.

Postgraduate courses

  • Structural Concrete Properties and Practice (CIV5002Z)
  • Repair and Rehabilitation of Concrete Structures (CIV5120Z)
  • Durability and Condition Assessment of Concrete Structures (CIV5116Z)

Research

  • The science and technology of cemented materials
  • Characterisation of indigenous concrete materials
  • Durability of concrete structures in marine and other aggressive environments; improvement of durability specifications
  • Repair and rehabilitation of concrete construction
  • ‘B’ rated by NRF

Publications (2009 – 2016)

Over the period 2009-2016, I have had 162 publications of different types:

  • 40 Refereed journal papers
  • 61 Conference papers (international and other)
  • 12 Chapters in books or monographs
  • 43 Other publications

A selection is given below:

  • ALEXANDER, M.G  and FOURIE, C.W.,  “Performance of  sewer pipe concrete mixtures with portland and calcium aluminate cements subject to mineral and biogenic acid attack”. Materials and Structures, Vol. 44(1), 2011, 313-330. Online DOI:10.1617/s11527-010-9629-1.
  • Malumbela G, Alexander M G, and Moyo P. Model for cover cracking of RC beams due to partial surface steel corrosion. Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 25 (2), Feb 2011, pp. 987-991
  • MALUMBELA G, MOYO P, AND ALEXANDER M G. “Influence of corrosion crack patterns on the rate of crack widening of RC beams”. Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011), 2540-2553.
  • MUMENYA, S.W., TAIT, R.B., and ALEXANDER, M.G.  “Evaluation of toughness of textile concrete”. Materials & Structures, 2011, Vol. 44 (1), pp. 279-289.
  • MALUMBELA G, ALEXANDER M G, MOYO P. Serviceability of corrosion-affected RC beams after patch repairs and FRPs under load. Materials and Structures, 2011, Vol 44 (1), pp. 331-349.
  • OTIENO M. B., BEUSHAUSEN H. –D. and ALEXANDER M. G. “Modelling corrosion propagation in reinforced concrete structures – A critical review”. Cement & Concrete Composites, Vol 33 (2011), pp. 240–245
  • ALEXANDER, M.G., SANTHANAM, M., and BALLIM Y.  “Durability design and specification for concrete structures – the way forward”.  International Journal of Advances in Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics, Vol. 2, No. 3 (2011), 95-105.
  • OTIENO, M. B., BEUSHAUSEN, H. D. and ALEXANDER, M G., Prediction of corrosion rate in reinforced concrete structures – a critical review and preliminary results, Materials and Corrosion, 2011, Vol. 62(9), DOI: 10.1002/maco.201106282, 14 pp.
  • NGANGA, G., ALEXANDER, M.G. and BEUSHAUSEN, H.  “Performance-based durability design for RC structures”.  3R’s Journal, Vol.2, No.3, Nov 2011, pp.284-290.
  • MALUMBELA G, MOYO P, and ALEXANDER M G. “Load-bearing capacity of corroded, patch and FRP-repaired RC beams”. Magazine of Concrete Research, Vol. 63, No. 11, 2011, pp. 797-812.
  • GITHACHURI, K., ALEXANDER, M.G. and MOYO, P. “Durability performance of a range of marine concretes and the applicability of the South African service life prediction model”. Materials & Structures, 2012, Vol. 45, pp. 185-198.  online DOI 10.1617/s11527-011-9759-0.
  • BEUSHAUSEN, H. ALEXANDER, M.G. and BALLIM, Y. “Early-age properties, strength development and heat of hydration of concrete containing various South African slags at different replacement ratios”.  Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 29 (2012), pp. 533-540.
  • MUIGAI, R.N., MOYO, P., and ALEXANDER, M.G.  “Durability design of reinforced concrete structures: a comparison of the use of durability indexes in the deemed-to-satisfy approach and the full-probabilistic approach”. Materials & Structures, July 2012, Vol. 45, pp. 1233–1244.
  • MALUMBELA G., MOYO P., and ALEXANDER M. G. “Longitudinal strains and stiffness of RC beams under load as measures of corrosion levels”. Engineering Structures. 35: 215-227, 2012.
  • MALUMBELA, G, MOYO, P, and ALEXANDER, M G.” A step towards standardising accelerated corrosion tests on laboratory reinforced concrete specimens”. Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering, Vol 54, No 2, October 2012, pp. 78–85
  • OTIENO, M. B., BEUSHAUSEN, H. D. and ALEXANDER, M G. “Towards incorporating the influence of cover cracking on steel corrosion in RC design codes, Materials and Structures (2012), Vol. 45, pp 1805-1816.
  • MUIGAI, R., ALEXANDER, M. and MOYO, P., Use of Exergy in Evaluating Resource Consumption of Concrete Structures, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, (2012). Manuscript number JLCA-D-11-00213.
  • MALUMBELA, G, MOYO, P, and ALEXANDER, M G. “Longitudinal strains and stiffness of RC beams under load as measures of corrosion levels”. Engineering Structures,. 2012, 35: 215-227
  • GITHACHURI. K and ALEXANDER, M.G.  “Durability performance potential and strength of blended portland limestone cement concrete”. Cement and Concrete Composites, vol 39, May 2013, pp. 115-121. Online DOI 10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2013.03.027.
  • NGANGA, G., ALEXANDER, M.G. and BEUSHAUSEN, H.  “Practical implementation of the durability index performance-based design approach”. Construction & Building Materials, Published online: 6-MAY-2013. Construction and Building Materials. Vol 45 (2013) pp. 251-261. Online DOI 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.03.069.
  • MUIGAI, R., ALEXANDER, M. and MOYO, P.  “A Review of Life-Cycle Assessment Studies on Concrete Frame Buildings”, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, (2013).  RSER-D-12-00160R1
  • MUIGAI, R., ALEXANDER, M.G., and MOYO, P.  “Cradle-to-Factory Gate Environmental Impacts of the Concrete Industry in South Africa”. SAICE Journal, 55 (2), Aug. 2013, pp. 2-7.
  • OTIENO, M.B., BEUSHAUSEN, H. and ALEXANDER, M.G. “Effect of chemical composition of slag on chloride penetration resistance of concrete”. Cement and Concrete Composites, (2013). Online DOI 10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2013.11.003. Cement & Concrete Composites, Vol. 46 (2014), pp. 56-64.
  • ALEXANDER, M.G. and NGANGA, G. “Reinforced concrete durability: some recent developments in performance-based approaches”. Journal of Sustainable Cement-based Materials, 2014. Vol. 3 (1): 1-12. Online DOI 10.1080/21650373.2013.876372
  • BEUSHAUSEN, H, GILLMER, M and ALEXANDER, M.  “The influence of superabsorbent polymers on strength and durability properties of blended cement mortars”.   Cement & Concrete Composites, 52 (2014), pp. 73-80.
  • ALEXANDER, M. and THOMAS, M. “Service Life Prediction and Performance Testing – Current Developments and Practical Applications”.  Cement & Concrete Research, Vol 78 (2015), pp. 155-164.
  • KESSY, J.G., ALEXANDER, M.G. and BEUSHAUSEN, H.  “Concrete durability standards:  international trends and the South African context”.  SAICE, Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering, Vol 57 No 1, March 2015, pp. 47–58.
  • SALVOLDI, B., BEUSHAUSEN, D., and ALEXANDER, M.G. “Oxygen permeability of concrete and its relation to carbonation”.  Construction & Building Materials, Vol. 85, 2015, pp. 30-37.
  • OTIENO, M. and ALEXANDER, M.G. “Chloride conductivity testing of concrete – past and recent developments”. Journal of SA Inst. of Civil Engineering, 57(4), Dec 2015, 55-64.
  • OTIENO, M, BEUSHAUSEN, H and ALEXANDER, MG (2016) Chloride-induced corrosion of steel in cracked concrete – Part I: Experimental studies under accelerated and natural marine environments. Cement and Concrete Research, 79 (2016), Jan 2016, 373-385
  • OTIENO, MB, BEUSHAUSEN, HD and ALEXANDER, MG (2016) Chloride-induced corrosion of steel in cracked concrete – Part II: Corrosion rate prediction models. Cement and Concrete Research, 79 (2016), Jan 2016, 386-394.
  • MUKADAM, Z, ALEXANDER, M.G., and BEUSHAUSEN, H. “The effect of drying preconditioning on the South African durability index tests”. Cement & Concrete Composites, 69 (2016), 8 pp. Online DOI 10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2016.02.015
  • MUIGAI, R., ALEXANDER, M.G., and MOYO, P.  “A novel framework towards the design of more sustainable concrete infrastructure”.  Materials & Structures, 49 (2016), 1127-1141.
  • OTIENO .M., BEUSHAUSEN, H. and ALEXANDER, M.G. “Resistivity-based chloride-induced corrosion rate prediction models and hypothetical framework for interpretation of resistivity measurements in cracked RC structures”. Materials and Structures (2016), 49 (6), pp 2349–2366.
  • LOSEBY, M., ALEXANDER, M.G., and BEUSHAUSEN, H. “The influence of aggregate grading on concrete potential durability and penetrability”. Concrete Beton (147), Nov 2016, 19-27.
  • SCOTT, A. and ALEXANDER, M.G. “Effect of supplementary cementitious materials (binder type) on the pore solution chemistry and the corrosion of steel in alkaline environments”. Cement and Concrete Research, 89 (2016), pp. 45–55

Books or chapters in books:

  • ALEXANDER, M.G. and MINDESS, S.  Aggregates in Concrete. London: Taylor & Francis, 2005, 435pp.
  • BLIGHT, G.E. and ALEXANDER, M.G.“Alkali-Aggregate Reaction and Structural Damage to Concrete – Engineering assessment, repair and management”.  London: CRC Press (Taylor and Francis Group), Jan 2011, 246 pp.
  • ALEXANDER, M.G., BERTRON, A., and DE BELIE, N. (Eds.).  Performance of Cement-Based Materials in Aggressive Aqueous Environments.State-of-the-Art Report, RILEM TC 211 – PAE.  Springer, 2013, 449 pp.
  • “Marine concrete structures. Design, durability and performance”. Ed. Mark G. Alexander, Cambridge: Woodhead Publishers (Imprint of Elsevier). June 2016. C. 400 pp.