GRC cladding work for the Nile City complex in Egypt was done by Fibrex.
New technology gets the focus
A number of innovations were presented at the congress held by the International Glassfibre Reinforced Concrete Association (GRCA) recently. RICHARD FERRY, secretary and technical advisor, provides an insight into the event.
01 March 2004
The benefits of the use of alkali-resistant (AR) glassfibres in GRC (glass reinforced concrete) was among the topics discussed at the recent GRCA International Congress.
The Technical University of Dresden in Germany presented three papers on various aspects of AR glassfibre textile reinforced concrete – a form of GRC that is not yet in common use but the basic scientific research of which is producing some interesting results.
The congress saw the presentation of 39 papers on GRC by authors from countries as far apart as China and the Brazil. The topics varied from highly technical research papers on the modelling of the long-term behaviour of GRC to the use of GRC in Chinese sculpture. A number of awards were also presented in which a Gulf company – Fibrex of the UAE – emerged triumphant with the company award.
Among the innovations, participants saw the presentation of the application of GRC sandwich panels with internal lining made of polyurethane, rockwool or glass wool for the manufacture of roof elements. The first applications of the very light elements with spans of up to six metres and weight of 0.4 kN/sq m were described along with installation details of GRC elements for curved roofing and lateral closures.
Also discussed was filament winding, a process used to manufacture high strength-to-weight products. The process is used extensively in the glassfibre reinforced plastics industry and involves pulling continuous glassfibre strands through a matrix bath and winding it onto a mandrel in a prescribed pattern to form a product with specified mechanical properties.
Maryland Composites Corporation of the US shared its past experience using GRC and focused on the development of a commercial production method and machinery for 7 to 15-m-long utility/transmission poles and for inductively-transparent ladles for use with induction furnaces for molten alloys.
The breadth of the GRC industry in China is considerable and the China GRC Association presented an overview which included industrial products such as grain silos and transformer housings, as well as a range of architectural and civil engineering applications.
There were many other fascinating papers and clearly the GRC industry continues to demonstrate that of all the reinforcing fibres available today only AR glassfibre has the range of attributes to generate an industry in its own right.
The congress also witnessed the presentation of merit awards for projects, companies and individuals who had been nominated by GRCA members for having made a significant contribution to the GRC industry.
The company award was presented to Fibrex Company of Abu Dhabi for its contribution to the GRC industry throughout the Middle East as typified by the GRC cladding to the large Nile City hotel/office/apartment complex in Egypt. Fibrex has factories in Abu Dhabi, Egypt and Lebanon and is probably the world’s largest producer of architectural GRC.
The project award was given to Redland Precast of Hong Kong for the complex cladding project at 129 Repulse Bay Road, which incorporated GRC fins on an unusual apartment block. Foster and Partners made the concept design for the project, local architect Arthur C S Kwok Architects and Associates made up the documentation, and Ove Arup and Partners took up the structural engineering work.
The total length of all fins for the Repulse Bay Road project was almost 3,000 m. There was also a requirement for flat GRC panels of a total area 1,500 sq m. The flat panels were used in areas where the fins were very deep and formed the flanks of the fins.
The congress saw the presentation of the personal award to Brian Fagan of Rocmor GRC, South Africa for his dedication to the GRC industry over the last 25 years.
The GRCA International Congresses - as the GRC industry calls these gatherings - started in the 1970s and are a forum for the exchange of ideas and information between a wide variety of people from different countries and professions.
GRCA continues to take its part in supporting the industry though its work on standards, specifications, and new literature. ‘GRC in Action’ a new colour brochure was launched at the Congress that was held at the Spanish city of Barcelona, and is readily available.
GRCA work that is ongoing includes the creation of a new design guide. The progress to date on this valuable aid to designers was presented by Glyn Jones of the GRCA Technical Committee.
Hard copies of the proceedings of the GRC 2003 (CD and booklet) and ‘GRC in Action’ are available from www.concretebookshop.com, or through the GRCA.
