IIT Hyderabad, Professor S Surya Prakash of CASTCON Lab, Department of Civil Engineering and his research group developed an economical special ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete using locally available materials like cement, fly-ash, river sand, ground granular (UHPFRC) has been developed. Blast furnace slag, micro-silica, water, steel fiber, polypropylene fiber and High Range Water Reducing Agent (HRWRA).
The cost of UHPRC has been made economical by reducing the amount of cement, fiber and replacing it with cheap locally available fine aggregates through proper gradation. The structure combines the best features of Self-Consolidating Concrete (SCC), Fiber-Reinforced Concrete (FRC) and High-Performance Concrete (HPC).
The cost of UHPFRC developed at IIT Hyderabad is almost two times cheaper than commercially available proprietary products. UHPFRC, developed at IITH for pre-stress applications, produces a cubic compressive strength of 150 MPa and a direct tensile strength of 8.0 MPa. Several full scale post-stressed UHPFRC concrete bridge girders were tested to understand the shear behavior.
Test results show that providing a minimum web shear reinforcement ratio and adequate steel fiber dosage leads to improved serviceability, ultimate strength and rigidity of bridge girders. The overall cost of UHPFRC girders in bridge applications can be further reduced by providing minimum web-shear reinforcement of 0.6 percent and hybrid fiber volume dosage of about 1.0 percent.
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“Strong and sustainable infrastructure is a must for the overall development of any nation. Developing building materials with superior strength using locally available raw material is a credible step towards realizing our dream of a self-reliant India. I am sure that such innovation will not only benefit the local development in terms of economic and efficient infrastructure but also enhance its benefits in the infrastructure sector at the global level,” said Professor BS Murthy, Director, IITH.
Listing out the uniqueness of UHPFRC, Professor S Surya Prakash, Castcon Lab and Chandrashekhar Lakvath, Research Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, IITH said, “It aims to develop an economical ultra-high-performance concrete using locally available materials. To do. A thorough material classification to understand the behavior of UHPFRCs in compression, stress, fracture, and direct shear. Several full-scale bridge girders made of UHPFRC were tested. Our test results have given deep insight into the shear behavior of pre-stressed bridge girders, which will be used to develop design guidelines for practicing engineers. Our research is expected to increase confidence in using UHPFRC India for various infrastructure applications”.
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