Made lightweight:
polymer fibres replace steel reinforcement in concrete – and reduce weight and CO2

Conventional steel reinforcement in concrete floors or components is expensive, energy-intensive, and prone to corrosion. Polymer fibres offer a sustainable alternative with design advantages.    

Over the course of many decades, concrete has become the most widely used building material. In its pure form, however, it has a physical weakness: although it has a high compressive strength, its tensile strength leaves much to be desired. To compensate for this disadvantage, various types of reinforcement in concrete have been established as tools of choice, mostly in form of steel mesh or fibres. However, steel as a material has potential for optimisation; its production is energy-intensive, and it is comparatively heavy and susceptible to corrosion.  

Therefore, a modern, much more sustainable alternative are polymer fibres. These are added to the liquid concrete and then form a three-dimensional reinforcement network inside the concrete. They can be used to replace conventional steel reinforcement completely or partially in certain fields of application. Typical applications include industrial floors, agricultural floors, traffic areas and precast elements.

Positive effects

The physical and functional advantages of polymer fibres include especially their low weight. Components with polymer fibre reinforcement are lighter, and processing is significantly faster, as time-consuming laying of steel mesh, for example, is no longer necessary. In addition, polymer materials are insensitive to corrosion, which significantly improves the durability of concrete components and thus also the overall service life of components and structures.

Regarding the sustainability of constructions, the energy advantage is particularly significant. Polymer fibres contribute to CO2 reduction because their production requires significantly less energy than steel.

In figures

By using polymer fibres in industrial floors, 20 kg of steel fibres can be replaced by 5 kg of polymer fibres per m3 of concrete. Regarding the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of the reinforcement, this results in a possible CO2 reduction of 75 %. Converted to the approximately 8 million m2 of concrete floor that are installed annually in Germany, this results in a savings potential of around 63,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Another example are precast concrete elements in which polymer fibres can also partially or completely replace steel reinforcement, such as prefabricated earth retaining walls. In an element around 1 metre high, 0.6 kg of polymer fibres replace around 8 kg of steel. This results in a CO2-reduction of around 70 % of the GWP for the reinforcement. Focusing on the demand of around 360,000 m3 of concrete for such elements in Germany, this would result in a reduction of 5,500 tonnes of CO2.

Conclusion

Thus, modern polymer fibre reinforcement in concrete can provide noticeable sustainability advantages compared to conventional steel. At the same time, it makes components lighter and shortens processing times, reduces construction costs, and increase the service life of structures.

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Martin Ludescher
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