Building bridges with composites
The growing role of advanced materials in infrastructure.
Scott Francis
Contributing Editor, CompositesWorld
USQ holds composite rebar workshop
Internationally-renowned expert provides Australian civil and composite engineers with workshop on the use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials in infrastructure.
Passion, persistence and patience – winning the long game
The American Composite Manufacturers Association (ACMA) and others have been pushing for the widespread use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) rebar in infrastructure construction for decades. Now, the industry is starting to see some major wins.
Special events round out CAMX experience
CAMX offers several special events for show-goers, which may fit your schedule.
CAMX 2018 preview: Olin
Epoxy manufacturer Olin Corp. (Clayton, MO, US) is unveiling several new technologies for composite applications, which will be shown in finished products on display in Olin’s booth
Can we achieve global standards for composites?
It is the relative lack of such standards that presents one of the highest hurdles to composites adoption, and also is incredibly difficult to address.
Pultruded composites market growing, says EPTA
The European Pultrusion Technology Association (EPTA, Frankfurt, Germany) has published an in-depth report on its highly successful 2018 conference, held in Vienna on March 1-2, 2018. The 12-page document, World Pultrusion Conference 2018: Attractive Long-Term Prospects for Pultruded Composites, is available to download from the EPTA website.
The markets: Civil infrastructure (2020)
Aging infrastructure continues to offer a potentially huge market for composite materials. According to a 2019 report from the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, more than 47,000 bridges in the U.S. are in poor condition and in need of urgent repairs.
Staff
Five highlights from JEC World 2018
It’s not Spring without a trip to Paris, France for the JEC World 2018 composites conference. It’s become a very big show, and thus, offers some big announcements and some developing trends.
KraussMaffei opens second R&D pultrusion line
KraussMaffei’s TechCenter in Munich now features two pultrusion lines, one to fabricate rebar and the other to fabricate flat profiles.
Composite fendering piles fit the bill
Composites replace wood in New Jersey marine fender project.
Another opportunity to meet, and learn, in Paris
At the JEC World 2017, improvements in materials and processes were present at nearly every stand, with the emphasis on automotive-capable production speeds.
EPTA’s World Pultrusion Conference spotlights innovation
The European Pultrusion Technology Assn. (EPTA) held its bi-annual World Pultrusion Conference, March 3-4, in Prague, Czech Republic.
The fiber
The structural properties of composite materials are derived primarily from the fiber reinforcement. Fiber types, their manufacture, their uses and the end-market applications in which they find most use are described.
Composites 2020: A Multitude of Markets
The manufacturing world likes to think of composites fabrication as a single, global entity that operates to serve its customers’ needs with a variety of highly engineered parts and structures.
How have composite bridges measured up?
The latest US highway bill includes a provision to assess performance of composite bridges built years ago, bridges that CW wrote about.
Composite rebar strengthens riverbed “catfish houses”
Basalt-reinforced polyester rebar eliminates rust and spalling and extends the useful life of concrete catfish spawning and habitat units in Chicago River environmental restoration effort.
The markets: Civil infrastructure (2015)
Aging infrastructure offers a potentially huge market for composite material, but the pace of adoption is halting, at best, due to continuing budgetary concern about the upfront cost of composites.
The fiber (2015)
The structural properties of composite materials are derived primarily from the fiber reinforcement. Fiber types, their manufacture, their uses and the end-market applications in which they find most use are described.
The markets: Civil infrastructure (2014)
Aging infrastructure offers a potentially huge market for composite materials.
GFRP rebar replaces steel in parking garage
Composite rebar in replacement concrete slab the key in life-extending and less-costly structural rehabilitation project.
National Composites Week: Sustainability
As we celebrate National Composites Week, here are just a few of the many ways the composites industry is working toward a sustainable world.
Scott Francis
Contributing Editor, CompositesWorld
FRP rebar: Shear reinforcement and detailing
This second column taken from my new book Composites for Construction — Structural Design with FRP Materials (published by John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York, N.Y.) focuses on the design of concrete members that have FRP main tension reinforcing bars and are subjected to transverse shear forces (Chapter 6) and FRP reinforcement detail design (Chapter 7).The flexural concrete members that fall into the scope of this column are slabs and beams.
A hidden revolution: composite rebar gains strength
Fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) replacing coated steel in more reinforced-concrete applications.
Looking for butt-kickers
HPC editor-in-chief Jeff Sloan is looking for that larger-than-life bridge builder or automaker that is willing to take a Boeing-like composites plunge so everyone else takes a whipping for a bit and has to get onboard to keep up.
Composite vs. corrosion: Battling for marketshare
Market trends and tighter budgets are helping to expand the use of composites to repair and replace corrosion-damaged infrastructure — aboveground and underground.
COMPOSITES 2010 Las Vegas Preview
ACMA’s annual COMPOSITES+POLYCON event acquires a shorter name and heads inland to the U.S. Desert West.
Composites and Polymer Concrete Refine Mining Processes for Nonferrous Metal
Cost-effective alternatives to steel-reinforced concrete offer corrosion-resistant acid tanks to electrolytic refinery operations.