Case Study

Civil Engineering and Construction

Carbon fiber's light weight, high strength, high elasticity, and durability enable carbon fiber reinforcing to overcome the difficulties with conventional reinforcement,
especially in confined spaces, high places, and repair and reinforcement sites where it is difficult to bring in materials.

Tunnel reinforcement
Tunnel reinforcement

Repair and Reinforcement of Existing Structures:
Applied to maintenance, repair, and reinforcement of Japanese infrastructure

Since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995, various design and construction guidelines have been published for the repair and reinforcement of existing structures using carbon fiber, due to its excellent workability. It is now in wide use for maintenance and reinforcement of existing infrastructure in Japan, being recognized as a general repair and reinforcement material on the same level as steel and concrete.

Carbon fiber sheet
Replark™
enables simpler construction
and shorter delivery time.

  • Carbon fiber has a specific gravity 25% that of steel, so attaching it results in almost no increase in the weight of the building frame.
  • It is 10 times stronger than steel plate, and at the same time its high elasticity reduces the stress burden on steel bars.
  • It does not rust, is ideal for corrosive environments such as where there is salt damage, is highly resistant to fatigue, and can be attached to various shapes.

Carbon fiber has a specific gravity 25% that of steel, making it lightweight, yet it is 10 times stronger. It is relatively simple to repair and reinforce structures by attaching carbon fiber to bridge piers, beams, etc., and then impregnating and curing it with room-temperature-curable epoxy resin. Conventionally used steel plates are heavy, so reinforcing with them increases the weight of building frames. In addition, the reinforcing work requires use of heavy machinery and welding equipment. Carbon fiber reinforcement overcomes these problems with conventional repair and reinforcement.

Bridge pier

Factory-molded
carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) products
enable infrastructure
to be repaired
and reinforced.

Repair and reinforcement with CFRP plates and rods

  • Easy installation by simply attaching or embedding factory-molded CFRP components
  • Reduces the work needed with resin, and improves construction quality

This is a repair and reinforcement material enabling reinforcement by attaching or embedding factory-molded CFRP components, thus eliminating the need for resin impregnation and lamination of the required reinforcement amount, which are needed with carbon fiber sheet repair and reinforcement, and also reducing the time needed for construction, and increasing the construction quality.

For example, a high-elasticity CFRP plate is equivalent to approximately nine layers of high-elasticity carbon fiber sheets, so there is no need to laminate multiple carbon fiber sheets in the structure. This has the potential to markedly reduce the work, materials, time and costs needed for construction.

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