UHPC concrete for new precast bridge construction or bridge repair

For more than 25 years, UHPC Ultra High Performance concrete has been used for the construction and repair of concrete bridges worldwide. The mechanical and durability
properties are absolutely ideal for modern bridge construction.

WPE DK UHPC concrete is used in the production of precast concrete parts and for on-site assembly. With UHPC concrete, very slim and high load-bearing elements can be manufactured quickly, cost effectively and very precisely. All of our UHPC material qualities can be processed with most types of concrete mixer.

Our UHPC bridge material qualities are usually mixed with a water / cement ratio of less than 0.25 and a proportion of steel fibers. Compressive strengths of 150 MPa / 21800 psi to over 230 MPa / 33400 psi are achieved in our standard quality.

Our UHPC material properties meet all required technical data, including in the USA from the responsible DOTs. All of our UHPC material qualities are subject to a permanent quality check of the raw materials used, finished products and processing on site on the construction site.

We use our UHPC castable materials for joint fill solutions or connection of precast bridge elements. With UHPC castable you can minimizse the connection joints.

We manufacture UHPC mortar, UHPC Castable, UHPC Shotcrete and UHPC Rapid material qualities for bridge construction. At the customer's request, we also develop and manufacture special qualities.

UHPC mortar, UHPC Shotcrete and UHPC Rapid are mainly used for repairs. No extensive preparatory work is necessary for repairs with our UHPC materials. After less than 48 hours, our standard materials reach more than 70% of their maximum strength. UHPC is waterproof from a layer thickness of 5 mm.

We use our UHPC TopLayer or UHPC Phalt material qualities for bridge decks. In Europe we use UHPC TopLayer for new wood bridge construction. All UHPC can be mixed on site and processed quickly and inexpensively with standard processing machines.

The mixing is very simple. You mix 1 part UHPC Binder with 1 part aggregates and clear water, that is all. Everybody can mix it. No additional addives are necessary.

 

 

WPE DK International

Phone: 0049 1514 6318334
E-mail: info@wpe-dk.dk
Homepage: www.wpe-dk.com

UHPC Bridge Deck Joint Filler BF

In many prefabricated concrete bridge constructions, the joints between the individual elements are filled
on site with a UHPC joint filler after the concrete elements have been installed. This creates a continuous concrete bridge deck.
Our BF joint filler systems have compressive strengths of 150 MPa - 220 MPa and flexural strengths of 14 MPa - 21 MPa.
The water to cementitious ratio is less than 0,22
Our BF System joint fillers can be processed on site with pan pot mixer, shaft mixer and horizontal mixer.
For very large sites with very large UHPC binder requirements we have mobile production plants for the binder and mobile mixing plants for the UHPC concrete. All plants are housed in containers and are therefore independent of weather conditions. With our mobile production plant for our UHPC joint filler systems, we are able to use local raw materials if suitable.

 

The joint filler BF systems can be used for all connections between adjacent box beams, next D beams, precast deck panels and beam haunch connections.
There is a wide range of concrete element connections. Each state in the USA and therefore DOT has its own specifications for these.

WPE DK International

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

UHPC Shotcrete for new construction and repair projects

UHPC Shotcrete is a high strength, high density, fast curing UHPC concrete consisting of a UHPC nanobinder system and ceramic or mineral aggregates.

Due to the very high compressive strength in combination with a high material packing density and hard aggregates, a flexible and easy-to-process sprayable UHPC concrete with material properties that exceeds those of normal concrete by many times. All UHPC Shotcrete products are selfcompacting.

The high material density of UHPC Shotcrete prevents the penetration of liquid or gaseous foreign substances. UHPC Shotcrete achieves the maximum material properties only by wet spraying.

Fields of application for UHPC Shotcrete

 - Repair of bridges

 - Repair of dams and reservoirs

 - Seismic retrofit

 - Repair of sewers

 - Ground support - Stabilisation

 - Soil nailing

 - Tunneling

 - New construction of pools

 - New construction of foundation

 - Landscape design

 - Pools

 - Tanks

 - Domes

 - Foundation

UHPC the future competitor of steel in many applications

We know many people think UHPC is just
a concrete, possibly a special concrete and
with this concrete you do what you just do
with concrete, nothing more. People which
think in this way, should not continue to
deal with UHPC in the future and continue
to mix their old beautiful concrete.

The philosophy of hhbc-consulting is not
the simple replacement of concrete with
UHPC. That would be like replacing gravel
with diamonds.

We use UHPC in the construction industry
where it makes sense, in very specific areas
but our real competitor market in the future
is the steel market. There are a huge number
of applications where UHPC is better, more
durable, cheaper, easier and faster to
manufacture than steel.
UHPC is corrosion and wear resistant and in a HT Version also high temperature resistant (up
to more than 1000°C).


One example of many from the past years, Rolling bearing systems
A steel mill suffered damage to several rolling bearings in the area of ​​the rolling line (the area where the hot slabs are rolled at high speed and high speed to thinner plates). These rolling bearings are manufactured from a very special casting. The problem was that not enough bearing systems were available. These bearing systems are extremely expensive and have a very long delivery time.
In this case the steel plant would have had to wait more than 4 months. What would mean 4 months, the rolling mill could only be used to 30% of the capacity, a million loss.

By chance, we had heard of this problem in a
meeting for a machine floor renovation. We
looked at the drawings and specifications out
of pure interest. After a short internal
discussion, we made the following proposal
to the plant management:
We can copy the bearing completely made of UHPC. We could mix the UHPC material with graphite balls of a certain quality and size. We could achieve a high compressive strength of the material. We could process it to have similar surface roughness as the original bearing and what was extremely important we were sure to provide such a bearing to the factory in just four weeks.
We have provided the factory with the bearing systems within four weeks at one sixth of the original price. The bearings were in operation for 5 months, by 80% of the production capacity until they could be replaced with the newly made cast bearings. We have saved a lot of money for the plant with our UHPC solution.
´

Comparison of UHPC and concrete during processing to precast concrete elements

The first UHPC Ultra High Performance Binder
was developed more than 30 years ago. Since
then they have been continuously developed.
The UHPC binders have been improved or new
ones have been developed and produced in
accordance with the requirements due to their
experience in a wide variety of application areas
and industries worldwide. From the beginning,
our UHPC binders were produced as mortar,
castable and shotcrete.

UHPC castables are inexplicably used to a much
lesser extent in the production of precast concrete
than standard concrete. These UHPC materials
could offer enormous advantages for manufacturing
as well as in the use of precast concrete parts.
Here are some applications and their advantages
compared to standard concrete:

 - Light weight of the UHPC elements. Due to the
    extremely high strength, smaller component cross
    sections can be selected, which leads to lower
    individual weights.
 - More elements can be loaded per truck, which leads

   to fewer loads.
 - Due to the lower individual weights, lower crane
    capacities are required.
 - The raw material requirement is drastically reduced
    due to the smaller component cross-section.
 - UHPC materials develop high strength values ​​in a
    short time. Our UHPC materials reach 70% of their
    nominal strength after 48 hours.
 - Shorter production times per element, higher cycle
    times - higher quantities per unit of time compared
    to standard concrete - lower unit costs.
 - Shorter delivery times.

UHPC binders are based on nanotechnology and 
are extremely fine.
Advantage:
It is possible to produce much more precise shapes.
Joints, edges do not require reworking. The more
precise the mold, the more precise the UHPC
element.
UHPC concretes do not form pores and are usually
self-compacting. This means that surface structures
can be achieved that cannot be achieved with standard concrete.

UHPC concrete is extremely resistant to most 
environmental influences
Advantage:
UHPC concretes are extremely resistant to
corrosion, de-icing salt and frost, which leads to a
much longer life expectancy than standard concrete
UHPC many times exceeds concrete, marble,
limestone, sandstone and many other natural stones.


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

UHPC Shotcrete system - more than 20 years in use

For large areas that are to be lined in a short time, 
UHPC Shotcrete is here a very good solution. 
UHPC Ultra High Performance Concrete qualities 
easily achieve minimum 120 MPa/1750 psi 
compressive strength.

UHPC Shotcrete material must be mixed before 
actually spraying. It is importance for the quality of 
UHPC Shotcrete that the amount of water is kept 
very precisely. Too much water reduces the material 
quality to a decisive extent. UHPC Shotcrete is using
a water/cement ratio of 0,2.
Our UHPC Shotcrete binders have a continuous 
temperature resistance up to 450°C/850°F. For 
temperatures over 450°C/850°F up to 
max. 1200°C/2200°F, we produce a UHPC HT High 
Temperature binder. The processing of the UHPC HT
version is carried out in the same way as with 
the normal temperature versions.

 

Characteristics of UHPC Shotcrete

 - No dust development, better working conditions
 - Due to the very high strength values, material
   layer thicknesses can be reduced
 - As with all other UHPC grades, a water
    impermeability is achieved from a layer
    thickness of 10 mm.
 - UHPC spray is very resistant to any corrosion
    attac
 - More constant concrete quality due to pre-
   defined water/cement content
 - Higher compressive strength with no
   fluctuations

 - Fast uniform strength development
 - Larger layer thickness due to more effective
   reaction of the additives
 - Low material rebound (below 2%)
 - Extrem good adhesion
 - Significantly larger spray performance
 - Minimal air consumption
 - Easy use of fibres
 - High security

UHPC Shotcrete in the new construction of tunnels or canals
Especially for tunnel construction, the use of UHPC
Shotcrete is an advantage. There is no need for high air
pressures like a standard shotcrete, UHPC Shotcrete is
self-compacting, the adhesive properties are extremely
good, so there is extremely little rebound and material loss.

A possible desired reworking of the surface is easily
possible without any effort. The material dust development during injection is extremely low.

UHPC shotcrete as repair material for existing tunnels or canals
Whether large or small tunnels and channel geometries whether concrete, steel or corrugated metal constructions can be repaired quickly, permanently and cost-efficiently.
Due to the fast development of strength, even larger repairs can be carried out quickly and efficiently with little machine outlay.
Due to the extremely good adhesion and corrosion resistance,
elaborate preparation is not necessary. With a simple high
pressure cleaning device, the loose particles should be
removed and then UHPC Shotcrete material can be installed.
Machines and material for minor repairs can be transported
without a problem with a normal pick-up vehicle.

 

WPE DK International

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

Thermal shock resistant of UHPC material

Container with liquid nitrogen

We wanted to know how good UHPC Ultra
High Performance Concrete is at extreme
fast temperature changes.
We casted ten UHPC concrete plates with a
thickness of 25 mm /1 inch. The plates were
dried for 48 hours at room temperature
(20°C / 68°F).
No reinforcement was used.

The plates were cooled down from about
+20°C/68°F room temperature in a container
with liquid nitrogen (-180°C/-292°F ).
We waited until the plates were completely
cooled. All plates showed no cracking after
removing them from the nitrogen tank.
We immediately heated the plates with a
burner within 5 - 6 minutes to +250°C/482°F.

Even with this alternating load, there were no
cracks visible.
For the test we used a our standard UHPC
Cast material with quarz 1-3 mm sand as
aggregate.

Plate before test

Plate after test

WPE DK International

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

Ultra High Performance Concrete in modern architecture

The future of architecture is designed with products like UHPC (Ultra High Performance Concrete). UHPC is a concrete material with outstanding properties compared to today's standard concrete.
With a water cement value of less than 0.2 a material quality is achieved which is unique in the world.

Compressive strength

Due to the significantly higher compressive
strength (more than three times higher than
the best standard concretes), much thinner
and more elegant load-bearing structures
are possible. Likewise, considerably higher
spans of prefabricated parts are possible.

Accuracy

Facade constructions for example can be produced in a fineness which until now was not possible with standard concrete.
The finished elements produced with UHPC casting compound do not require any or very little surface finishing. The dimensional accuracy is so exact after hardening, that it is only necessary in extreme cases of extremely high production accuracies in the hundredth of a
millimeter range.

The goal is to implement your ideas into reality. For us there are no standards, but only your ideas and requirements we will fulfill.

Do not ask what we can deliver. Tell us which ideas you to have.

Surface structures

We can produce all of our UHPC materials in a variety of colors and in the surface and the structure of natural stones such as basalt, gneiss, granite, limestone, sandstone, travertine marble similar.

The surface design can be carried out with customer requirements (for example, roughened, shape structure, sandblasted, polished). Due to the extremely fine components of UHPC, extremely fine or smooth surface structures can be produced. Only the quality of the mold limits fineness or smoothness.

The advantage of UHPC materials which has a 
very close resemblance to natural stone is that 
with this material a variety of geometries can 
be prepared, which can not or only with great 
effort and cost produced with natural stones.

In addition to interior and exterior design of
buildings, to UHPC material elegant, thin-walled
concrete structures and concrete structures are
ideally suited for the design of gardens, pools,
bridges, waterfalls, filligrane, on or in the sea
water.
   

 

 

WPE DK International

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