Innovative new product enhances the properties of concrete

The tensile strength of concrete is to be increased thanks to a group of researchers who have been awarded the fourth Empa Innovation prize. The new product uses synthetic fibres to enhance the tensile strength of concrete.

Although the process of using fibres to strengthen concrete is not a new development, the current solution of using steel fibres is not without its difficulties: steel fibres are stiff, heavy, can present a health hazard and can rust. However, using fibres is a more economical and innovative means of increasing tensile strength, without compromising practicality.

The research team, consisting of Josef Kaufmann, Joern Luebben and Walter Trindler alongside fibre specialist Eugen Schwitter, developed a ‘power packet’ of synthetic fibres which, when added to wet cement, are dispersed into the mixture once the membrane in which they are contained has dissolved. The fibres are distributed evenly throughout the mixture, and the precise amount can be applied. As Josef Kaufmann explains, the synthetic fibres are both cheaper and more efficient than their steel counterparts: “we use five kilos of synthetic fibre to replace thirty kilos of steel fibres, and at the same time our bicomponent fibres cost about ten percent less than conventional steel fibres.”

For further information on the research, contact Sabine Charlotte Voser Moebus at sabine.voser@empa.ch

Published: Tuesday, 5th January 2010 by Tom Freeman

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