3. Application Cases of UHPC Ultra High Performance Concrete

01. What is UHPC ultra-high performance concrete

1. Material characteristics

a. Conceptual composition

Ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) refers to a cement-based concrete material with ultra strong mechanical properties, high toughness, ultra-high durability, and excellent pouring and forming performance. UHPC is formulated by selecting highly active micro materials and using the most compact integrated fiber reinforcement technology.

High strength and toughness materials such as Portland cement, silica fume, quartz powder, fine silica sand, high-efficiency water reducing agent, water, steel, or organic fibers are usually used as raw materials.

b. Material characteristics

① Strong plasticity

High density, high surface smoothness, delicate texture, with a warm and jade like feeling, coupled with its excellent physical properties and strong plasticity, it can achieve more complex and varied shapes.

② High strength and toughness

High compressive and bending resistance (can be used as a suspended roof), low shrinkage, high back bolt pull-out resistance, light total weight, high strength, no need for additional structural support, can be used as a large-scale formwork. It has ultra-high toughness, achieving an effective balance between compressive strength and flexural strength.

③ Strong durability

It has ultra-high density and durability, and can prevent harmful substances from penetrating for a long time under conditions such as chloride ion erosion and sulfoaluminate erosion. It also has strong self-healing ability, and has excellent waterproof, impermeable, and anti fouling effects.

④ Fire resistance and impact resistance

UHPC has strong fire resistance, explosion resistance, and impact resistance. It can be widely used in thin-walled engineering such as military engineering and bank vaults, with appropriate reinforcement and steel structure performance comparable.

⑤ Strong sustainability

UHPC has strong sustainability and can reduce building energy consumption, achieve safe and civilized construction, improve construction speed, and shorten construction cycles.
c. Material application

The application range of UHPC materials is very wide, mainly covering the fields of architecture, landscape, bridge construction, municipal pipelines, roads, railway industry, special environments, etc.

① In the field of architecture

Including exterior decorative curtain walls, building envelope structures, structural components, structural reinforcement, soundproof floor slabs, large-span roofs, prefabricated components, etc.

② Landscape field

Including furniture, sculptures, park ornaments, etc.

③ Bridge construction

Including prefabricated prefabricated bridges, steel deck paving, prefabricated bridge components, steel-concrete composite bridges, reinforcement of old bridges, landscape pedestrian bridges, special areas of bridges, and joint filling used in prefabricated bridge slab systems.

④ Municipal pipelines and roads

Including prefabricated rainwater and sewage pipes, prefabricated cover plates, prefabricated pipe gallery sections, concrete pavement, road curbstones, etc.

⑤ Railway industry

Including prefabricated components, track slab self compacting concrete, tunnel reinforcement engineering, etc.

⑥ Special environment

Including coastal and offshore engineering, coastal bridges, housing construction in extremely cold areas, dry areas, and other special environments.

d. Specification type

The common parameters of ultra-high performance concrete standard slabs are as follows:

Size specifications

The standard board is usually 1600mm x 3000mm, and can achieve incremental layout of specifications such as 900mm x 1200mm.

UHPC standard board has extremely high stain resistance, high compressive and bending resistance (can be used as a suspended roof), low shrinkage, high back bolt pull-out resistance, high whiteness and high luminosity, and can be used as a large-scale template. Pure inorganic materials can achieve top-level fire prevention.

Cracked and connected, UHPC standard board will not directly fall off under the action of fibers after fracture, ensuring full safety.

Surface presentation method

The surface presentation methods such as bright surface, rough surface, sandblasted surface, fired surface, and heterosexual processing can all match the stone surface methods, and customized services can also be provided according to the usage environment.

Material type

The common types of materials used in UHPC include UHPC translucent concrete, UHPC artistic concrete, UHPC hollow panels, etc.

02. UHPC construction technology

construction technology 

Ultra high performance concrete is most commonly used in outdoor wall engineering. Taking the external wall dry hanging process as an example, let's talk about its construction process. The specific process is as follows:

Construction preparation → Connection of steel connectors and keel → Lifting and installation of T-shaped steel vertical keel → Installation of T-shaped steel horizontal keel → Installation of aluminum corner code on crossbeam → Measurement and adjustment of aluminum corner code position → Lifting and installation of UHPC board → Adjustment and fixation after positioning → Repair of installation holes → Cleaning and acceptance

03. UHPC Application Cases

UHPC is widely used in projects such as architecture, landscape, bridges, and municipal engineering. Its biggest highlight lies in the application of building curtain walls, which enable the facade of buildings to achieve ultra-high perforation rates and obtain shapes and patterns that traditional materials cannot achieve.

a. The Marseille Tower in France

The facade of the Marseille Tower in France is composed of UHPC shading structures, mainly using 3850 ultra-high performance concrete prefabricated panels as the fence shading components of the building facade. Its delicate texture and excellent weather resistance make it the best material choice for the strong sunlight and sea wind erosion in the Mediterranean.

b. Jean Bouin Stadium, Paris, France

The Jean Bouin Stadium in Paris, France, uses 23000 square meters of UHPC ultra-high performance concrete as the skin, mainly used in three major parts: the facade adopts self bearing hollow panels, the hollow panels at the junction between the facade and the roof, and 600 embedded glass roof panels.

c. The Louis Vuitton Foundation Memorial Hall in Paris, France

The Louis Vuitton Foundation Museum was completed and opened at the end of 2014, using UHPC panels as a curtain wall. The exterior of this building located in the suburbs of Paris still maintains a clean and intact condition, giving the museum a unique and distinctive appearance.



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