Ready-Stick Wrap Can Repair, Reinforce Existing Concrete Pillars

The technology tackles both the labor and quality control challenges in the building and construction sector.

Nr Banner Fas Ra P
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Scientists and engineers from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), JTC and Prostruct Consulting Pte Ltd. have developed a ready-to-stick wrap to protect concrete pillars.

Called FasRaP—short for Fast Wrapping Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP)—this new technology can be applied to existing structures to easily repair, reinforce and extend their lifespan. It is especially useful for urban cities to rehabilitate aging infrastructure, including buildings and bridges that may have developed issues such as cracks and delamination of concrete.

FasRaP is created using commercially available glass fibers and a proprietary glue-like resin developed by NTU materials scientists that acts as an adhesive for the wrap.

The resin is unique in that it will harden only when exposed to light, making it possible to be pre-applied in the factory and packaged into a ready roll of sticky wrap, similar to double-sided tape. Conventional resin used in other wraps needs to be applied manually on site.

When brought to the jobsite, FasRaP is ready to be applied directly on the wall or pillar. Only three workers are needed to complete the job, compared to FRPs currently available in the market, which typically require a team of up to six workers to install.

Prefabricating FasRaP with resin glue in the factory also ensures consistency in quality since conditions can be better controlled and monitored compared to manual application of resin onsite. In industry-standard blast tests and load tests, FasRaP has proven to be just as strong as conventional FRP. Comparing a bare concrete pillar without reinforcement and a pillar wrapped with FasRaP, the tests show that the latter can withstand an additional 80 percent load.

“Our invention allows companies to save on manpower costs, increase efficiency and make structural reinforcement much easier to execute. This will help them to meet future building standards and prolong the life of older buildings and structures as Singapore and other urban cities age,” says associate professor Ng Kee Woei, lead project investigator from NTU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering. He is also the principal investigator at the NTU-JTC Industrial Infrastructure Innovation Centre (I3 Centre).

Calvin Chung, group director of engineering at JTC, adds: "By combining our engineering knowledge, NTU’s research expertise and Prostruct’s industry know-how, we can address real challenges faced by the construction industry such as manpower constraints and quality control. The development of new advanced materials such as FasRaP will help us meet the growing demand for the repair and rehabilitation of aging infrastructure in Singapore by significantly reducing the time and improving the quality of installation, thereby increasing productivity and cost efficiency.”

The joint research team is now working to commercialize the technology, which has intellectual property protection in the form of a technology disclosure filed through NTUitive, NTU’s commercialization and innovation company. They are in talks with both manufacturers of FRPs and industry contractors using FRPs. To accelerate the adoption and commercialization of this new technology, JTC will identify suitable infrastructure projects to deploy FasRaP.

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