A researcher at the Faculty of Engineering at the Egyptian Russian University invents an alternative to rebar that is lower in cost and manufactured locally….with pictures

Prof. Dr. Sherif Fakhry Mohamed Abdel-Nabi, President of the Egyptian Russian University, in Cairo, Badr City, confirmed that scientific research at the Egyptian Russian University is an important element in the university’s vision and mission…. He indicated that the goals of sustainable development are linked to the plans and research priorities of the university’s faculties. The university also pays great attention to conducting scientific and applied research related to community problems, environmental changes, and national development programs.

In this context, researcher Dr. Mirhan William Adly, in the Department of Construction Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering at the Egyptian Russian University, was able to use the fibers reinforced with polymers manufactured locally as the main reinforcement instead of rebar to reduce iron rust problems and the high cost through the use of glass fibers and the design of a mixture of lightweight concrete. That reduces the total cost of concrete structures and increases their resistance. This research comes under the supervision of Dr. Alaa Gamal Sherif, Professor of Reinforced Concrete at the Faculty of Engineering, El Matareya, Helwan University, Dr. Nasr Zeinhom Hassan, Professor of Reinforced Concrete at the Faculty of Engineering, El Matareya, Helwan University, and Dr. Mohamed Saber El-Sayed, Instructor, Faculty of Engineering, Egyptian Russian University.

The instructor in the Department of Construction Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering at the Egyptian Russian University reported that the thesis, which was discussed under the title “The Behavior of Lightweight Solid Concrete Slabs Using Reinforced Fiber Reinforced Polymers”, discusses the problem of rusting of steel reinforcement inside concrete in constructions that are constantly exposed to moisture factors such as bridges, roof tiles and water tanks, which is a common problem. In addition to the large weight of the concrete structure. For all these reasons, several attempts have been made to overcome these problems, most notably replacing rebar with another material that is resistant to rust, and fiberglass was chosen because it is economical, especially if it is Manufactured locally and in large quantities, and using a new concrete mix to produce lightweight concrete; To reduce the weight of the structure and therefore its total cost.

The researcher, Dr. Mirhan William Adly, indicated that laboratory tests for the thesis were carried out in the concrete laboratories of the Faculty of Engineering in Matariya, Helwan University, and several experimental mixtures were made for concrete until a concrete mixture was produced with a density of about 20% less than the density of ordinary concrete. She explained that The study was divided into two parts, the laboratory part, twelve solid slabs of lightweight concrete were prepared and poured, with different parameters in the lab such as dimensions and type of reinforcement used, and the theoretical part where the finite element program “ ANSYS 15.0″ was used to make several models of solid slabs of lightweight reinforced concrete in order to study the effect of various factors on them. This was done by modeling sixty-six samples of slabs with exposure to various factors, including slab dimensions and loading method. Through this research, a comprehensive analysis of the results of the tested samples and the study of the nature of the collapse and the shape of the cracks was presented.

The doctor in the Construction Department of the Faculty of Engineering at the Egyptian Russian University pointed out that this study showed that lightweight concrete can be designed to meet the standards of compressive strength of the load behavior of concrete and the appropriate solution in construction, in addition to that, lightweight concrete was identified as a suitable material to replace ordinary concrete, At the same time, the density of lightweight concrete can be designed and controlled according to the proportion of the mixture used, in addition to the fact that fiberglass has a high tensile strength “1350 MPa”, which is about three times the resistance of steel reinforcement (520 MPa).

The researcher, Dr. Mirhan William Adly, added that it was recommended to conduct more researches to study the effect of exposure to fire on solid slabs reinforced with glass fibers, and adding fibers in the design of the concrete mixture; To enhance the bonding between reinforcement and concrete, and apply this research to bridge structures; to reduce construction and repair costs and reducing the weight of the concrete structure.