IIT Hyderabad develops affordable ultra-high performance reinforced concrete

Hyderabad: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad has developed an affordable Ultra-High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) for Bridge and other infrastructural applications.

Professor S Suriya Prakash, CASTCON Lab, Department of Civil Engineering, and his research group have developed the special material using locally available materials like cement, fly-ash, river sand, ground granulated blast furnace slag, micro-silica, water, steel fibre, polypropylene fibres and high range water reducing agent (HRWRA).

Unique features of UHPFRC:

• Cost: The cost of UHPRC is brought down and made affordable by reducing the quantity of cement, and fibres and replacing costly fine aggregates with cheaper locally available ones through proper gradation.
  
  The overall cost of UHPFRC girders in bridge applications can be further reduced by providing a minimum web-shear reinforcement of 0.6 percent and a hybrid fibre volume dosage of about 1.0 percent.

• Composition: The composition combines the best features of self-consolidating concrete (SCC), fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC), and high-performance concrete (HPC). The cost of UHPFRC developed at IITH is about two times cheaper than commercially available proprietary products.
  
  UHPFRC developed at IITH for pre-stressing applications, yields a cube compressive strength of 150 MPa and a direct tensile strength of 8.0 MPa. Several full-scale post-tensioned UHPFRC concrete bridge girders were tested to understand the shear behaviour.

• Results: Test results show that providing a minimum web shear reinforcement ratio and adequate steel fibre dosage leads to better serviceability, ultimate strength, and stiffness of bridge girders.

On the occasion, Director, IITH, Prof B S Murty, said, “Strong and durable infrastructure is a must for holistic development of any nation, complimenting Professor Suriya and his team on the finding. Developing construction materials with improved strength using locally available raw materials is a creditable stride towards realizing our dream of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat. I am sure such innovation will not only benefit local development in terms of economic and efficient infrastructure but extend its advantage to the infrastructure sector globally.”