INNOVATIVE STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS FOR ARCHITECTURALLY EXPRESSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE CONCRETE STRUCTURES

摘要

Fabric formwork is an innovative construction technique which offers the opportunity to build architecturally expressive concrete structures with efficient use of material and improved surface quality. Two main buildability issues arising from the use of such fabric formwork are the uncertainty in providing protective cover to steel reinforcement and anchorage of internal reinforcement in structurally optimised sections over supports, where the bending moments are zero. This paper discusses the opportunity for design and construction of fabric formed elements using non-corrodible advanced composite reinforcement, such as glass and carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP), and presents new experimental results for an anchorage technique using splayed bars confined with helical reinforcement. Fourteen hinged-beam tests were conducted to investigate the bond-slip behaviour of anchored bars. Low carbon concrete based on supersulphated cement was considered as a test variable for its low pH beneficial for the durability of glass FRP reinforcement, which is known to degrade in the high alkaline environment of Portland cement. The experimental results demonstrate that the technique can be effectively used for FRP and steel reinforcement. The combination of low carbon concrete and FRP reinforcement is discussed as the main direction of future research, aiming to create highly sustainable fabric formed concrete structures with very low embodied energy.