Malena Thomassen Knudegaard

• Lande, Ingrid; Thomassen, Malena; Akhte, Aram & Thorstensen, Rein Terje (2026). Flexural strength of locally produced ultra-high-performance fibrereinforced concrete (UHPFRC). Proceedings of the fib Symposium. p. 3486–3495. Full text in Research Archive
• Lande, Ingrid; Knudegaard, Eirik Benjamin; Thomassen, Malena & Orts, Guillermo Rojas (2026). Preliminary findings using the Montevideo test for evaluation of flexural strength in fibre-reinforced concrete. Proceedings of the fib Symposium. p. 3748–3758. Full text in Research Archive
• Thomassen, Malena & Lande, Ingrid (2026). Bond and flexural strength of industrial cast UHPFRC-NC deck in Norway. Frontiers in Built Environment. 12. doi: 10.3389/fbuil.2026.1799062. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  A large portion of Norway’s aging bridge infrastructure requires rehabilitation due to environmental exposure. Ultra-High-Performance Fibre-Reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) overlays have emerged as a promising solution; however, their large-scale application using locally available materials remains limited. This study investigates the mechanical performance and bond behaviour of an industrially cast, locally produced UHPFRC overlay applied to a low-strength C20/25 concrete substrate. Composite bridge deck specimens consisting of a 50 mm UHPFRC overlay on a 100 mm conventional concrete layer were produced at industrial scale and tested using four-point bending combined with digital image correlation (DIC) to evaluate flexural behaviour, crack initiation, and crack development. Pull-off teste was conducted to evaluate the bond strength of the composite material. The results showed continuous load–displacement responses without delamination, confirming monolithic behaviour, with crack initiation consistently occurring in the UHPFRC layer at an average flexural tensile strength of 5.7 MPa and reaching 13.3 MPa at maximum load. A multi-cracking phase was observed in most specimens, though strain-hardening behaviour was limited and peak load occurred shortly after the quasi-elastic domain, while failure was governed by interaction between ductile microcracking in the UHPFRC layer and localized shear cracking in the substrate. All pull-off tests resulted in substrate failure, with bond strengths ranging from 2.1 to 2.4 MPa, indicating strong interfacial performance. Overall, the findings demonstrate that locally produced, industrially cast UHPFRC can achieve robust bonding and satisfactory flexural performance, supporting its feasibility for large-scale bridge rehabilitation, although layer thickness and substrate properties influence the structural response.

• Thomassen, Malena; Lande, Ingrid & Thorstensen, Rein Terje (2024). SPRAYED ULTRA-HIGH-PERFORMANCE FIBRE-REINFORCED CONCRETE FOR TUNNEL REHABILITATION. In Bjøntegaard, Øyvind; Beck, Thomas & Hagby, Cecilie (Ed.), 9th International symposium on sprayed concrete modern use of wet mix sprayed concrete for underground support sandefjord, norway 17. – 20. june 2024. Norsk betongforening. ISSN 9788282080804. p. 185–194. Full text in Research Archive
• Bolick, Margaret Ann; Thomassen, Malena; Apland, Jennifer; Spencer, Olivia; Nicole, Fantasi & Tran, Sonja Kim Ngan [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2024). Project-Based Learning in Interdisciplinary Spaces: A Case Study in Norway and the United States. Education Sciences. 14(8). doi: 10.3390/educsci14080866. Full text in Research Archive

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