The new system of concrete building structures using nanostructures. Image credit: Peter the Great Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University
Scientists at the Peter the Great Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) have created a new construction technique comprised of several types of building blocks based on nanostructured high-strength, lightweight concrete.
The concrete is capable of increasing the load-carrying capability by more than 200 percent and decrease in specific density of the construction by 80 percent. Other advantages to the concrete include resistance to corrosion, aggressive environments and excessive frost resistance.
Researchers calculated that the service life of building structures using this technology could be increased by at least two to three times in comparison to current construction methods.
“Such system allows to ensure the structure integrity even in conditions of seismic activity, since the load is distributed throughout the structure as a whole, and not by individual reinforcement bars,” says Alexander Rassokhin, professor of the Institute of Civil Engineering at SPbPU. “The invention can be used in the construction of bridges and pedestrian crossings, non-metallic ships, low-rise residential buildings.”
