UHPC - Construction material for floating homes, cities and sailing boats

In times when the living space in all major cities is

becoming ever more limited, architects, designers

and municipalities are discovering the living space

on the water whether it is a river or a coast. Yes, at

sea there are also plots and designs for floating

giant leisure facilities and living space.

These floating homes, hotels or leisure facilities are

designed to be sustainable and environmentally

friendly in terms of energy, water and waste

management.

Traditionally, floating homes are based on hulls of

various designs and materials as well as on existing

pontoon constructions.

Most metal or plastic hulls are used.

It has almost completely forgotten a very old and

proven technology in ship hull construction, the

Ferrocement.

Unfortunately, modern boat designers and designers

have not realized that concrete technology has

changed dramatically in the last twenty years.

UHPC Ultra High Performance Concrete materials

have long replaced industry standard concrete,

plastics and metals with success.

concrete hulls. Concrete hulls had advantages in the

past but also a lot of disadvantages. Older boat

builders may remember that they have made sleek

sailing yacht and motorboat hulls out of concrete

and still some of these yachts are sailing the seas

today.

UHPC products have been used in the offshore and

many other industries for decades, under the

toughest temperature, wear and corrosion conditions.

In architecture, UHPC is used for high-strength and

extremely thin structures. UHPC is already much

more environmentally friendly in processing than

previous plastic, glass fiber and metal processing.

Houseboats can be constructed entirely from

prefabricated UHPC hull and structures. Prefabricated

elements made of UHPC can be manufactured precisely

down to a fraction of a milimeter.

The advantage during processing is

• Low to no dust
• No hazardous raw materials
• No filtering or suction systems are necessary
• No odor nuisance
• No hazardous waste

Installation methodes

• Casting
• Spraying 

Most of the time it is possible to use glassfiber or

ceramic fiber reinforcement also as a construction

structure it is possible to use glassfiber or ceramic

fiber mesh.

Here UHPC offers ship builder and ship designer new

opportunities in the future. 

The advantages of UHPC ship structures are:

 - No porosity

  - Absolutely sea water resistance 
 - Over 70% of the nominal strength is reached 
    48 hours after spraying or casting 

 - Very smooth surfaces can be achieved without complex

    grinding work 

 - Anti-fouling painting is not necessary 

 - The life time surpasses that of all other marine materials

     several times 

 - Wall thicknesses of 10 mm or more are possible

     depending on the crosstalk and load 

 - An extremely high compressive and tensile strength

    compared to standard concrete

 - Extremely corrosion resistant
 - Extremely temperature resistant
 - Easy to work with 

 - Use of fiberglass and ceramic fiber reinforcement.

 - Metallic reinforcement is not necessary

 - Any body geometry and size can be made

 - We can combine UHPC concrete with special thermic

     insulation products

 - Resistant to environmental pollution

 - High mechanical load capacity

 - Shortly we will introduce a UHPC material that is

    unsinkable. We poured a big cube without a cavity

    and it floated. We knocked out parts of the cube and

    all parts swam.

At the moment we are also testing whether it is possible

to produce complete hull and superstructure constructions

in a special 3D printing process.

 

 

 

WPE DK International

Phone: 0049 176 601 73146
E-mail: info@wpe-dk.dk
Homepage: www.wpe-dk.com

Living and working on water and under water with UHPC as construction material

Since than 30 years, UHPC Ultra High
Performance Concrete has been used
worldwide in the offshore sector as
a foundation, repair and construction material.
In offshore wind power technology, UHPC
is used as a floating foundation construction.

Deep sea constructions with UHPC have
also been successfully tested down to a
depth of 3500 m / 11480ft. Together with a  
German university, we tested dome 
constructions with different concrete 
qualities and UHPC. Only UHPC was able 
to withstand the enormous water pressure.

Likewise, energy storage systems for

offshore wind turbines are currently being
developed, which consist of hollow concrete
balls measuring over 30 m in diameter,
which are sunk to a depth of 300 m. These
energy storage systems would also be ideal
for supplying energy to floating cities.

Living and working on water and under water
can be realized sustainably and without an
problems with UHPC Ultra High Performance
Concrete materials.

The first serious projects are already planned
and are about to be realized. International
architect groups are already working on
self-sufficient cities above and under water.
UHPC is an important building construction
material for the designs, which are designed for
extreme longevity with very little to no
maintenance.

The advantages are

• Absolute seawater resistance
• Extreme corrosion resistance
• Extreme compressive strength
• Extreme tensile strengths
• Almost any design geometry can be made
• Material combinations of all kinds are easily possible
• Installation methode same as standard concrete

UHPC Navy Concrete - Ferrocement

The technique of using fine wire mesh as a 
reinforcement for concrete (ferroconcrete) 
structures is already very old. This 
technique has been used above all in the 
manufacture of boat and ship hulls, simple 
construction elements and in the design 
sector.

Today, less so-called chicken wire mesh is 
used and more plastic and ceramic mesh is 
used, which exceeds the tensile strengths 
of steel several times over.

With UHPC (Ultra High Performance 
Concrete) Navy binder it is also possible to 
use very fine aggregates, which in turn make 
it possible to use very fine meshes. Modern 
high quality UHPC Navy materials are a 
multiple times superior to standard concrete 
in all technical values.


UHPC has been used in the offshore industry 
for more than 25 years as a construction 
material and as a corrosion protection material 
under the harshest environmental conditions. 
In many areas, UHPC is superior to steel and 
replaces it there.

UHPC Navy offers the professional navy 
architect, boatbuilder and shipyard a more 
than interesting alternative to steel, plastic 
and wooden constructions.
Production methods such as casting and 
spraying and the rapid development of 
strength can save enormous costs.


This new development also makes it possible 
to manufacture boats or ships in series. 
Special hulls are possible. UHPC designs for 
floating windmill systems are in production today.

 

Statement on Ferrocement	Statement on UHPC Navy
Ferrocement = Steel reinforcement plus   mortar concrete   Small dia high tensil steel rods sandwiched   between layers of wire mesh (chicken mesh)	UHPC Navy = Steel, cermic fiber or plastic fiber   reinforcement plus   Ultra High Performance Concrete   Extreme high tensil strength ceramic or glasfibre   mesh and ceramic rods
The shell structure of mortar and steel would   be sufficiently impermeable, strong and   impact resistant and with the right degree of   flexibility	The shell structure of UHPC Navy and   reinforcement would be high sufficiently   impermeable, extreme strong, very high impact   resistant and with a extreme high flexibility.
Ferrocement boats are produced in Britain,   Canada, South Africa, Hong Kong and USA	Hong Kong, Singapore, United Arabs Emirates
Ferrocement hulls do not rot, nor do such   marine animals as bores and tered worm   have any effect on the mortar	UHPC Navy hulls are absolutly sea water resistant, absolutly restinstant      against marine animals high dense structure and extreme high corrosions resistant
Ferrocement hulls are stronger than hull    build in wood or glassfibre	UHPC Navy hulls are much stronger than hulls in wood or glassfibre
A partical characteristic of ferrocement,   unlike others, is that if gains strength with   age rather than loose it.	UHPC Navy already reaches more than 70% of final strength after 48 hours and gain strength with age.
Ferrocement   Tensil strength 37 MPa   Compressive Strength 83 MPa	UHPC Navy Tensil strength 52 MPa+ or 755 psi (depends on reinforcement system)   Compressive strength 140 MPa+ or 2300 psi   (depends on reinforcement)
Ferrocement is high temperature resistant	UHPC Navy is very high temperature resistant. In a special high temperature resistant version UHPC Navy it temperature resistant up to 1200°C or 2192°F
Ferrocement has a very low thermal  conductivity	UHPC Navy has a low thermal conductivity in   combination. With special insulation aggregates   UHPC will have a extreme low thermal conductivity
Absence of maintenance cost for the hull	UHPC Navy hulls are maintenace free
A problem would be the difficulty of   achieving complete penetration of mortar   through the mesh matrix	UHPC Navy mortar, spray and castable products are selfcompacting. The penedration through the mesh is nearly to 100%
Portland cement, Slag cement	UHPC Navy Binder
Water/cement ratio 0,35	Water/ cement below 0,25
Aggregate: Sand which pass 3/16 in sive	Aggregate: 0 – 3 mm Quarzsand or insulation   material in the same grain size or desert sand
Mixing ratio cement : aggregates 1:2	Mixing ration UHPC Navy binder : aggregates 1:1
Density 2400	Density 2400
Admixtures: for improve workability,   durability, acclerate or retard setting and   hardening   Such admixtures are only introduced in   minute qualities to produce the desired   effect, therefor the degree of control must be   very high.	Admixtures are not necessary for UHPC Navy
Recommended mixer is that which has a   paddle attached to the inside of the drum to   keep the mortar mixing evenly.   The mixer is often referred to as a plaster´s   mixer	Pan pot mixer or shaft mixer
Min. boat size approx. 18 ft	Not known
Hull skin thickness 3/4 in	Hull skin thickness max. 3/4 in
Salary rates for mortar work very high	Labor costs much lower, installation as shotcrete, casting and mortar possible. UHPC Navy material is self-compacting.
No serial production possible	Series production easily possible

 

 

 

 

 

 

WPE DK International

Phone: 0049 176 601 73146
E-mail: info@wpe-dk.dk
Homepage: www.wpe-dk.com

The future of floating architecture with HPC and UHPC

With our HPC and UHPC Navy material system we offer architects, designers, construction companies and shipyards special materials with high strength and extreme resistance as an alternative to conventional construction materials such as steel, plastic and wood.
HPC and UHPC Navy is a high performance concretes and by no means comparable to standard concretes. HPB and UHPC Navy surpasses standard concrete by up to ten times in all technical aspects.
The material systems consists of an HPC or UHPC binder with quartz sand as an aggregate.
HPC and UHPC Navy can be processed as shotcrete, castable or mortar. As a reinforcement fiberglass, carbon fiber, plastic fiber or steel fiber mats can be used. In a multi-laminate construction of HPC or UHPC Navy they have very high strength and at the same time high elastic properties. HPC and UHPC Navy is waterproof from a layer thickness ofless than a 1/2 inc (10 mm). After 48 hours, UHPC Navy has reached 70% of its final strength.
You do not need special machines for processing. The processing should be carried out by professional companies. For private individuals, we always advise a supervisor of us or our partner to request for the manufacture of the hull.

Properties of HPC and UHPC Navy binder systems

• High pressure resistance
• High bending tensile strength
• Absolutely seawater resistant
• Frost and de-icing salt resistant
• Extremely high thermal shock resistance
• Constant temperature resistant up to 400°C /750°F
• In a special high temperature version resistant up to 1200°C / 2190°F
• As floating, very low dead weight
• Very fast curing
• High impact and wear resistance
• All kinds of installations are possible in the construction
• Very accurate production of prefabricated element is possible
• Very thin-layered structures can be poured off

This UHPC Navy material offers the possibility to design boat hulls, houseboats, pontoons, marinas, port facilities and transfer hotels, restaurants, schools, industrial facilities, entire residential areas and airfields on the water.

The lifetime can be assumed with 100+ years.



 

Aggregate, fibers and reinforcements for UHPC

Over the course of more than 25 years, we have combined and applied a large number of materials with our UHPC materials. The material combination was used as wear protection material, offshore material, floor material, building material (for buildings, bridges, halls, etc.), safety technology, shipbuilding, tunnel construction, etc.

We would like to show a small selection of aggregates, fibers and reinforcements, which we have used. The aim of our development work in the combination of UHPC with other materials is the possibility to create country-specific materials with UHPC.

For each of these aggregates, fibers and reinforcements, there is a little story why we chose the combination, how we processed it and the results. if you are interested write us and we will send you this collection of little stories.

Further information on the aggregates, fibers and reinforcements


www.hhbc-consulting.de
info@hhbc-consulting.de