Are you incurring high costs to repair the damaged concrete pads on which your heavy industrial machinery was installed? Read on and discover some of the common ways through which you can reinforce those concrete pads in order to increase their strength and durability.

Glass Fibre Reinforcement

You can ask the civil engineer working on your concrete pads to use glass-fibre reinforced concrete (GFRC) as he or she rebuilds those pads. This type of concrete has glass fibres added into the concrete mix in order to increase the crack-resistance of the civil structure. The glass fibres also enter the pores through which moisture would have caused the concrete to degrade quickly during freeze/thaw cycles.

Steel Fibre Reinforcement

Steel fibres can also be sprayed into a concrete mix in order to reinforce that concrete. The fibres increase the ability of the civil structure to resist tensile cracking. Concrete fatigue, fracturing and disintegration is also greatly reduced when a structure is built using steel fibre-reinforced concrete (SFRC). Steel fibres can also make the concrete pads capable of withstanding heavier loads than the loads that can be carried by pads made using glass-fibre reinforced concrete. However, steel fibre reinforcement is more expensive in comparison to glass fibre reinforcement.

Engineered Cementitious Composite Concrete

You can also build better concrete pads for your industrial machinery by using engineered cementitious composite concrete. This type of concrete is made by using composite fibres that are made from a variety of materials, such as strong plastics. This reinforcement produces concrete that is much lighter than other types of reinforced concrete. Consequently, you can construct a smaller pad without compromising the load-bearing capacity of that pad.

Secondly, this type of reinforced concrete can repair itself in case it develops minor defects, such as small cracks. This is because the concrete will fill the crack by reacting with water and carbon dioxide in its vicinity. This type of reinforced concrete has greater ductility, strain resistance and crack resistance when it is compared with all the other types of reinforced concrete discussed earlier. However, a technical person must analyse your application so that an appropriate composition is tailor-made for you.

As you can see, several options are available in case you would like to use superior reinforced concrete for making long-lasting pads for your machinery. Engage an expert on civil structures so that he or she recommends the most appropriate reinforced concrete for your specific application.