Composites Use in Construction

A variety of composite materials are used to build structures such as bridges or bridge decking, window components, storage units, exterior cladding and even entire buildings. Composites are also used to reinforce concrete structures, particularly fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) rebar as an anti-corrosive replacement to steel rebar.

Composites offer lightweighting, design flexibility and durability benefits, all of which can help speed construction and improve a building’s sustainability score.

Source: Composites end markets: Construction

Composites are increasingly being used to repair structures built with other materials. Target applications include bridge beams, bridge decks, parking garages and pipelines, including underground systems.

Steel-reinforced concrete can be damaged by seismic events and is commonly compromised by temperature-induced contraction and expansion. This results in cracks, which permit moisture invasion, results in corrosion and spalling (expansion) of the steel rebar. That, in turn, aggravates cracking and leads, eventually, to concrete disintegration followed by structural failure. Composites are increasingly used to repair such structures at significantly less cost than new construction, and also to rehabilitate structures that must bear increasing loads beyond the structure’s rated capacity.

Composites can also be used to repair product pipelines, such as natural gas and petroleum pipes at oil refineries and offshore platforms, and to rehabilitate underground storage tanks without the time and expense of excavation.

Source: Materials & Processes: Composites for repair