Researchers Develop a New Bendable, Flexible Concrete

As The Conco Companies have always been at the forefront of implementing and developing innovative technologies involving concrete, we were fascinated to learn about a new invention out of Singapore.  Developed by a research team from the NTU-JTC Industrial Infrastructure Innovation Centre (I³C) at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore), their new ConFlexPave is “bendable yet stronger and longer lasting than regular concrete which is heavy, brittle and breaks under tension.”

 

Along with being more sustainable than traditional concrete, ConFlexPave’s characteristics allow slim precast pavement slabs to be created that will make installation quicker and require less maintenance.  Chu Jian, the Interim Co-Director of the NTU-JTC I³C, stated that, “We developed a new type of concrete that can greatly reduce the thickness and weight of precast pavement slabs, hence enabling speedy plug-and-play installation, where new concrete slabs prepared off-site can easily replace worn out ones." 

 

Furthermore, the Co-Director of the NTU-JTC I3C, Mr. Koh Chwee, explains that the new concrete will reduce labor intensive on-site work, improve workers’ safety and reduce construction time.  In addition the concrete’s longevity will lessen the need for future road repairs as well as the subsequent inconvenience to those who travel the road. 

 

Researchers describe ConFlexPave as being engineered with certain hard materials that are mixed with polymer microfibers.  The synthetic fibers allow the concrete to flex and bend under tension and also improve its skid resistance features.  Asst. Prof Yang En-Hua from NTU's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, states that the technology’s breakthrough occurred once scientists “understood how the components of the materials interact with one another mechanically on a microscopic level.”  Scheduled to begin shortly, there will be a three-year testing period for ConFlexPave involving both pedestrian and vehicle traffic.

 

The Conco Companies are one of the leading concrete contractors in the Western U.S. and offer a wide range of quality services and products.  While we tackle projects both big and small, our experience includes providing the complete concrete package for the Levi’s Stadium along with other notable projects.  We serve California, Washington State, Oregon, Colorado and Nevada.

Source:phys.org/news/2016-08-bendable-concrete-stronger-durable.html