External repair and structural retrofit for aging infrastructure and aging buildings
Infrastructure in the United States such as bridges are degrading due to the corrosion of steel-reinforced concrete by salty water and deicing compounds. A relatively new and little known repair method for concrete and brick structures, consists of externally bonding flexible sheets of fiber composites. Another application for continuous fiber composites in infrastructure, already well underway in Japan (with organic matrix) is the wrapping of concrete columns to reinforce new construction and damaged bridges and buildings in earthquake and hurricane prone areas. In this application, particularly for beams, interior building columns, flammability is a serious concern. The flammability of organic polymer matrix, fiber-reinforced composites also limits the use of these materials in offshore oil platforms, military vehicles and public transportation where fire endurance and fire hazard are important design considerations.
This susceptibility to fire currently limits the use of polymer composites in infrastructure precluding any useful advantage in specific strength/ stiffness and corrosion resistance compared to steel or concrete. Carbon-fiber reinforced GEOPOLYMER composites did not ignite, burn, or release any smoke even after extended heat flux.The GEOPOLYMER matrix carbon fiber composite retains sixty-three percent of its original 245 MPa flexural strength after a simulated large fire.
For further information download the paper #2 Reinforced concrete beams with Geopolymer-Carbon composite .
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