Discarded carpet fibres make concrete more durable
Engineers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia are using discarded carpet fibres to make concrete stronger and more crack resistant.
Lead researcher Dr Chamila Gunasekara from RMIT University said the team has developed a technique using waste carpet fibres to reduce early-age shrinkage cracking in concrete by up to 30 per cent, while also improving the concrete’s durability. The team’s findings are detailed in Construction and Building Materials.
“Cracking in early-age concrete slabs is a long-standing challenge in construction projects that can cause premature corrosion, not only making a building look bad but also risking its structural integrity and safety,” Gunasekara, an ARC DECRA fellow from the School of Engineering, said in a statement. “Scrap carpet fibres can be used to increase concrete’s strength by 40 per cent in tension and prevent early cracking, by reducing shrinkage substantially.”
According to RMIT, lab samples have been created using the various textile materials and have been shown to meet Australian Standards for engineering performance and environmental requirements.
Register now to continue reading
Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of news stories. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our news coverage, as well as premium content including opinion, in-depth features and special reports.
Benefits of registering
-
In-depth insights and coverage of key emerging trends
-
Unrestricted access to special reports throughout the year
-
Daily technology news delivered straight to your inbox
Experts speculate over cause of Iberian power outages
The EU and UK will be moving towards using Grid Forming inverters with Energy Storage that has an inherent ability to act as a source of Infinite...