REINVENTING REBAR
Rebar (short for reinforcing bar) is a ribbed steel bar and is commonly used as a tensioning device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures holding the concrete in compression. Once it is set, concrete is a relatively strong substance, but it has low tensile strength and therefore does not adhere to itself well during expansion and contraction due to changes in the weather or ground conditions. Therefore, rebar is placed in the concrete to compensate for the concrete’s low tensile strength. It keeps the concrete from separating, which can cause cracks and other weaknesses in the structure. Rebar is effective in keeping the structure together because steel and concrete expand and contract at nearly the same rate, which means the two are less likely to separate from each other.
PATENTED TECHNOLOGY
Spiral Rebar for concrete, is the first major improvement in rebar design in nearly 150 years.
Spiral Rebar’s hi-tech Helix design improves surface adhesion and reduces the amount of steel required by 30% to 60% dependent on the rebar grade. Spiral Rebar is made from the same steel stock as standard rebar and has been laboratory tested to meet or exceed existing standards.
Three hundred million tons (210 billion dollars) of rebar was used in 2019. The usage of Spiral Rebar would have resulted in an industry cost saving of approximately 105 billion dollars in 2019. ACT International’s founders have over 50 years of mechanical engineering and construction experience.
US Patents 8915046 & 9243406
Concrete
Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world with annual consumption estimated at between 21 and 31 billion tons. As of 2019, about 9.5 billion cubic meters of concrete are made each year; more than one cubic meter for every person on Earth.
The amount of rebar required to reinforce concrete in 2019 was over 300 million tons.
REINFORCED CONCRETE
Reinforced Concrete is a composite material in which concrete’s relatively low tensile strength and ductility are counteracted by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength and/or ductility. The reinforcement is usually, steel reinforcing bars (rebar) and is usually embedded passively in the concrete before it sets. Reinforcing schemes are generally designed to resist tensile stresses in particular regions of the concrete that might cause unacceptable cracking and/or structural failure.
Modern reinforced concrete can contain varied reinforcing materials made of steel, polymers, or alternate composite material in conjunction with rebar or not. Reinforced concrete may also be permanently stressed (in compression), to improve the behavior of the final structure under working loads. In the United States, the most common methods of doing this are known as pre-tensioning and post-tensioning.
François Coignet was a French industrialist of the nineteenth century and a pioneer in the development of structural prefabricated and reinforced concrete. Coignet was the first to use iron-reinforced concrete as a technique for constructing building structures. In 1853 Coignet built the first iron reinforced concrete structure, a four-story house at 72 rue Charles Michels in the suburbs of Paris.
Many different types of structures and components of structures can be built using reinforced concrete including slabs, walls, beams, columns, foundations, frames, and more.
Reinforced concrete can be classified as precast or cast-in-place concrete.
Designing and implementing the most efficient floor system is key to creating optimal building structures. Small changes in the design of a floor system can have a significant impact on material costs, construction schedule, ultimate strength, operating costs, occupancy levels, and end-use of a building.
Without reinforcement, constructing modern structures with concrete material would not be possible.
Additional historical information may be found at wikipedia.org