Composite Rebar

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A 19-century innovation, steel-reinforced concrete sought to make concrete structures more secure and stable. But as history shows, this approach to reinforced concrete hasn’t stood the test of time like its predecessors.

Concrete structures in Rome stand to this day, close to 2000 years after their creation. By comparison, many concrete highways, bridges, and buildings with steel reinforcement have already begun to crumble.

We know concrete is durable with a long lifespan. So, what’s the issue?

The fact of the matter is there are several concerning disadvantages to using steel-reinforced concrete.

Disadvantages of Steel Reinforced Concrete

While developers can save on upfront costs with steel reinforcement, they often don’t consider the long-term costs for maintenance, repairs, and replacement.

Steel’s main component, iron, is rust prone. As a result, corrosion remains a unique disadvantage when using steel-reinforced concrete.

This corrosion is difficult to detect in concrete structures, but it destroys the durability of concrete, leading to a shorter lifespan of only 50 to 100 years, with deterioration starting in as little as 10 years. Compared to the ancient concrete structures in Rome, 50 to 100 years is not nearly enough time for modern-day structures to last.

As a result of this shorter lifespan; crumbling buildings, bridges, highways, and other infrastructure are costly to repair. The repair and rebuilding cost of steel-reinforced concrete structures will only get worse over time as more structures deteriorate and lose structural integrity.

Other Limiting Factors Regarding Rebar:

· High Cost: Steel is expensive and considerably increases the cost of structure.

· High Temperatures: Steel shows a tendency to melt in extremely high temperatures. This is also one of the reasons that steel is tied and not welded.

· Reaction: Too little concrete cover allows the water to penetrate and react with steel rebar causing concrete to crack. Occasionally concrete aggregates react with steel causing concrete to spall.

· Rust: Steel exposed to weather rusts and reduces the strength of reinforced concrete. When rust starts building up around steel rebar it causes severe internal pressure on the surrounding concrete, leading to cracks in concrete.

· Weight: It is not a lightweight material.

Surity Composite Rebar:

Surity has  a composite/resin-based Rebar that has been tested to demonstrate that it will outperform steel-based Rebar and do so at a greatly reduced cost to that of steel Rebar. 

ADVANTAGES OF COMPOSITE REBAR:

· It will not rust.

· It is 4 x stronger than steel and 1/3 the weight of steel.

· Unlike Steel based Rebar, Composite Rebar expands at the same rate as concrete so there is no cracking and no corrosion inside.

· It can be bent on site to meet construction requirements.

· Independent tests have proven that Composite Rebar matches or exceeds the strength of Steel based Rebar.