Hongqiang Ma, a visiting PhD student from China University of Mining and Technology joined a group of UC civil engineers in developing a high strength, high ductility bendable green concrete. The strain capacity of this concrete is 760 times greater than normal Portland concrete. This bendable concrete has different potential applications for strengthening earthquake damaged masonry, concrete structures, and construction of new seismic resilient structural components.
Bendable concrete provides a new solution to seismic issues of NZ concrete infrastructures. Unlike normal Portland concrete, bendable concrete does not fall off due to large cracks in earthquakes, it therefore protects internal reinforcements to absorb more seismic energy. More interestingly, the hair-like cracks that might be developed in bendable concrete can be self-healed to restore the capacity of the structure.
Bendable concrete is also a green material made of fly ash, and PVA or PE fibers, which not only reduces the amount of cement but also increases the use of industrial solid waste presenting excellent environmental benefits. The ongoing research of Hongqiang at UC is aiming to achieve higher compressive strength, greater tensile strain capacity and better greenness with natural fibers.
Hongqiang’s acknowledgements go to Timothy Perigo and Alan Poynter for assisting with lab testing, and Associate Professor Allan Scott for insightful research discussions.
This research is supervised by Dr. Chao Wu.
