Repair of dams and hydroelectric power plant constructions with UHPC concrete

Hydroelectric power plant

UHPC Concrete has been used as a construction or

repair material in offshore, port construction and

coastal protection worldwide for more than 25

years. UHPC concretes are far superior to standard

concretes in their application and service life

expectations.

Typical areas for UHPC concrete repairs

 - Core walls
 - Deflection tunnel
 - Spillways
 - Stilling basins
 - Slope protection

Advantages of UHPC compared to standard concrete

 - Extremely high compressive strength
 - Very good adhesion
 - Waterproof from a layer thickness of 15 mm
 - Very high wear resistance
 - Very high corrosion resistance
 - Very high resistance to frost and ice
 - Very good impact resistance
 - Quick and easy installation, even of large areas
 - Thanks to the extremely fine UHPC binder, even the

   smallest joints and cracks can be closed well and permanently
 - UHPC can be processed as shotcrete, castable or as mortar.
 - UHPC reaches more than 70% of its maximum nominal

   strength after 48 hours.

Dams
Especially the slides of a dam are subjected to high amount

of wear as a very high volume of water is running over

these. UHPC can easily withstand this water. UHPC is the

ideal material for dam reinforcement and repair/maintenance.

UHPC materials can be quickly and extensively processed

as mortar, cast or shotcrete.

The rapid and high strength development favors a quick

restart of the system.
In the lake in front of the dam, the dam will be subjected

to impact by debris, which can deteriorate concrete. Placing

a layer of UHPC will end the deterioration.

New build and repair of sewage treatment plants and sewers with UHPC concrete

Sewage treatment plants and sewers are exposed
to a permanent chemical and mechanical attack
by sewage from households and industry. Due
to the changing climate conditions and the resulting
extreme rain or flood masses, the systems and
channels are extremely stressed and damage that
their function is no longer guaranteed.

A material with high resistance to chemical and
mechanical attacks is necessary for the maintenance
of these systems.
This material should also be able to be processed

flexibly on site and should not require any complex
machinery.

Damage causes in a sewage treatment plant
- due to mechanical wear
- through frost and de-icing salt
- due to chemical attacks or solvents
- due to concrete corrosion in closed systems

UHPC Ultra High Performance Concrete
UHPC are special concrete products with a minimum
compressive strength of 130 MPa and a water/cement
ratio of less than 0.2.UHPC products can be used very
well for the rehabilitation of concrete - and steel structures.
UHPC products can increase to be rehabilitated
construction next to the corrosion protection even
with admixture of ceramic aggregates the static
bearing capacity.

Benefits of UHPC
- Easy installation as spray, mortar, cast
- Very high corrosion resistance
- Extremely wear-resistant
- Extreme low to no carbonation
- Usable at very high humidity
- Very high impact strength
- Extreme low chloride permeabilit
- Very high resistance to mechanical loads
- No pore formation
- Maritime and port water resistant    
- Installation in the water possible
- Duration resistant
- The standard drying time is under 48 hours
- Penetrates into the smallest joints and cracks,
   and closes them permanently
- Joint less installation
- Very good thermal shock resistance
- Absolutely frost and de-icing salt resistant

Machining UHPC concrete like metals

UHPC is a very unusual material that is still

far too little considered by architects and
designers. It is still viewed and processed
like a normal concrete.
Our view is more that we design and
manufacture UHPC to treat it more and more
like metal. UHPC in the right quality can
already be machined with tools from the metal
industry. Very high accuracies can be achieved
here whether in surface processing or in shape
processing.
The surface treatment can either be carried out
using special UHPC casting molds or by
identical processing steps as for metals, or
combined casting and subsequent processing.
There are no limits to the design options here.
In terms of shape, metalworking tools or machines
can be used with the same objective as metals.

Architects, designers and artists have not even
used a fraction of the technical possibilities.

One example is the use of computer-controlled
water jet cutting machines. For a customer, we
should test the possibilities of making special
bevel cuts as plate slots that cannot be cast in
this way. Additional cutting tests were carried
out to check which geometries can be cut and
what minimum wall thicknesses can be achieved
between the individual cuts. With the right
combination of UHPC binder, unit quality and
setting of the cutting machine, amazing results
can be achieved. The tested UHPC plates had a
plate thickness of 15 - 25 mm, no metallic
reinforcement and were dried for 48 hours in
normal ambient temperature before they were
processed.

With the UHPC binder-aggregate combination
used in the test, cutting distances of 5 mm could
be achieved.
As soon as possible, further cutting tests will be
carried out with UHPC desert sand binders.
Water jet cutting enables complete "images" to be cut in UHPC panels or special construction elements.
With this type of material / machine technology, it is possible to produce a large number of facade panels with an elaborate cut design at low cost in a short time.

WPE DK International

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

HPC Leight weigth and standard products systems for architecture, civil construction and design

In addition to our UHPC offshore, industrial
flooring, wear protection, security product
systems, we will produce HPC product
systems for architecture, civil construction.

These products will not have the extreme strength
values ​​like the UHPC industrial qualities but have
all the characteristic properties of a high quality
UHPC, such as verygood corrosion resistance,
high early strength development, very good flowability etc.

The new HPC product qualities are:
HPC Leicht 25   Compressive strength 20 - 25 MPa (Lightweight)
HPC Leicht 35   Compressive strength 20 - 35 MPa (Lightweight)
HPC 45              Compressive strength 45 - 50 MPa
HPC 85              Compressive strength 80 - 85 MPa
HPC 135            Compressive strength 130 - 135 MPa

We will offer these HPC qualities in various
packaging sizes, most likely from 25 kg paperbag
to 1 to big bags. We will produce these HPC
products as mortar, castable and shotcrete or as
interieur or exterior plaster.

We can offer private customers as well as
industrial customers all UHPC qualities as
pure binder material or as a mixed material
binder + aggregate.

 

WPE DK International

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

Yearly training semiars for handling of UHPC material

At the customer's request, WPE DK and

hhbc-consultingtrained customer supervisors in

handling of UHPC materials in a two-day seminar

in our workshop or in customers workshop.

Supervisor and Fitter
The theoretical lessons taught the knowledge of the

what is Ultra High Performance Concrete,

manufacture of UHPC and processing of UHPC

materials under the most varied conditions on site.

The supervisor and fitters were then trained in the

practical handling of all of our UHPC materials

such as UHPC Cast, UHPC Mortar and UHPC

Shotcrete.

Special training for different industrial areas

At the customer's request, the practical processing

of UHPC wear protection material, offshore material

and UHPC industrial floor material should be

concentrated, as orders have been placed for this.

Various situations were also worked through on the
construction site and repair methods with UHPC
materials were also trained.

At a later point in time, training in the processing

of UHPC Phalt (combination of asphalt and UHPC
binder) should be carried out.

It was the first of several seminars and training

courses every year. From this year on, WPE DK

and hhbc-consulting will not only train supervisor

and fitters in our workshop.

Architects and Engineers

Seminars for architects, designers and civil

engineers are also held. Such seminars are also

offered by our local partners in the USA and Asia.

Students and Universities

For universities and students we have a special
program where we provide different UHPC
material qualities for projects free of charge and
also accompany the projects free of charge on
request.
We can also offer seminars for students, which
can then be held at the university or near to the
university.
Universities and students are welcome to contact

us at any time for detailed information.

Anja Wolfmann will be happy to answer any
questions and information you may have. You can
always reach Anja at a.w@hhbc-consulting.de.

Test your UHPC Know How - Learning Module

This is one of our learning modules for UHPC Concrete. A new version will be released this year. We use such modules for training purposes. New ones are added every year. This year there will be four new modules. 

You want to check your answers for correctness? Send us an email service@hhbc-consulting.de with the password "LMS 1/6" and we will send you an answer sheet.

Module no. 1/6

What are the main components in UHPC?

1. Cement, microsilica, superplastisizer
2. Cement, flyash, superplastisizer
3. Epoxy, microsilica, dispersant
4. Cement, sand, epoxy
5. Cement, sand, microsilica

Acid will deteriorate UHPC

1. True
2. False
3. Only if pH is below 5
4. Only if pH is above 5
5. Only if pH is below 3

Alkali will deteriorate UHPC

1. True
2. False
3. Only if pH is above 12
4. Only if pH is below 12
5. Only if pH is above 13

The following aggregates are used in UHPC Standard wear protection?

1. Quarz
2. Bauxite
3. Corundum
4. Silicium carbide
5. Titanium carbide

The wear resistanse of UHPC increases with these aggregates?

1. Quarz, bauxite, corundum, silicium carbide
2. Bauxite, quarz, corundum, silicium carbide
3. Silicium carbide, bauxite, quarz, corundum
4. Bauxite, corundum, quarz, silicium carbide
5. Silicium carbide, corundum, bauxite, quarz

What is the lowest temperature at which it is ok to install UHPC?

1. 20°C / 68°F
2. 10°C / 50°F
3.   5°C / 41°F
4.   0°C / 32°F
5. - 5°C / 23°F

What do you need to protect UHPC against when installing it?

1. Drying out
2. Freezing
3. Wind
4. Direct sun
5. Rain

What should you focus on when mixing UHPC in regards to water?

1. The product cannot seggregate
2. The product must remain dry
3. There must be free water on top of the product in the mixer
4. You cannot add too much water to UHPC
5. Any mixing problem can be solved by adding more water

You notice lumps in a bag of UHPC Binder, what do you do?

1. No problem, I just add more water when mixing
2. I contact hhbc-consulting or to have a new bag
3. I control the storage environment
4. I discard the bag
5. I check the date on the bag to see age of product

When mixing UHPC lumps are formed shortly after adding of water?

1. No problem, I just add more water
2. I wait a while to see if they mix out, if not I will add a little more water
3. I throw away the mix
4. I check if the mixer is proper prepared for mixing UHPC
5. I increase the speed of the mixer

When mixing UHPC I notice free water on the surface of the mix?

1. No problem, Just need to use the product fast
2. I allow the mixer to run for longer time, untill the free water is no longer there
3. I will try to scoop out the free water
4. I throw away the mix
5. I add more powder untill the free water disappeares

What is the purpose of Microsilica in UHPC?

1. It is packing between cement particles, increasing density and displacing water
2. It is like little ball bearings making the mortar more flowable
3. It reacts with Ca(OH)2 from the cement hydration and create a denser material
4. It has no significant effect, just a filler to make the product cheaper
5. There is no microsilica in UHPC

What is the purpose of superplasticizer in UHPC?

1. It makes the product more flexible
2. It charges all particles so that they repell each other. At the same time it makes stearic hinderence so that particles cannot bridge build on each other, and in this way it displaces water.
3. There is no superplasticizer in UHPC
4. It is a polymer, added to make the product easier to mix
5. It is lubricating the particles so that they can react better

UHPC Binder can be installed over head?

1. True
2. False
3. Sometimes if you are lucky
4. Only during the weekend
5. Only if you use a special throwel

HT products can be used in temperature areas of

1. Up to 1200°C / 2192°F
2. Not above 1000°C / 1832°F
3. Not above 600°C / 1112°F
4. Not above 400°C / 752°F
5. Not above 200°C / 392°F

UHPC (not HT) can be used in temperature areas of

1. Up to 1200°C / 2192°F
2. Not above 1000°C / 1832°F
3. Not above 600°C / 1112°F
4. Not above 400°C / 752°F
5. Not above 200°C / 392°F

It is important to know what chemicals UHPC will be subjected to

1. True
2. False
3. Only acid or alkalies
4. Especially if there are salts present
5. Only if temperature is above 100 deg C

When mixing you notice the wetting time is increased. What do you do?

1. No problem, I just add more water
2. I wait it out for a while to see if it wets through, and I adjust the water accordingly
3. I throw away the mix
4. I ignore it
5. Cross my fingers and hope everything will be ok

What happens to UHPC if too much water is added?

1. Nothing, you can add as much water as you like
2. The product will most likely seggregate, but properties will in general be reduced in direct correlation with the amount of water added.
3. Especially if we are working with a UHPC Cast product, installation will be a lot easier
4. Strength will increase as we will hydrate more cement
5. The stickyness of the product will increase a lot

How does UHPC differ from cement/concrete?

1. It is the same, no difference
2. UHPC is stronger in terms of compressive strength
3. UHPC is more dense
4. Concrete is more flexible
5. UHPC can be installed under water

How does UHPC differ from refractory?

1. It i the same, no difference
2. Refractory needs heat to finalize its reactions, UHPC does not
3. UHPC is more wear resistant
4. The insulation properties of UHPC is better than that of refractory
5. UHPC can withstand higher temperatures compared to refractories
    
    
   WPE DK International
   
   Phone: 0049 176 601 73146
   E-mail: ber@wpe-dk.dk
   Homepage: www.wpe-dk.com

Roman roads and modern roads construction system

Old roman road

A "Römerstrasse / Roman road" runs not far
from our office. As the name suggests, this
road was built by the Romans.
Expert estimates the completion of the road,
approximately 100 km long, in the year
200 AD. This road is about 1820 years old
and is still used as a country road today,
despite a large number of local European wars
and two world wars in these 1820 years. The
structure of this Roman road was never changed,

Roman road structure

the only thing that was "modernized" was an
asphalt layer.

If we look at our "state-of-the-art" roads in
most countries of the world today, it can
easily be said that none of these roads will
last for a century. In many cities, the
pavement lasts less than 10 years and in
some highly developed countries of the
world, the pavement lasts less than a year.
Sad but true.


What was important for these Roman streets?
It was the underground structure and the road
surfaces that have survived these roads for so
long. The Romans already knew concrete, but
not only as a road surface, but also as part of
the underground structure.

Roman road today

As without a proper underground structure and
high quality road surface, modern roads cannot
get better but only worse than the Roman roads.


UHPC road surfaces, whether as UHPC concrete
or as UHPC Phalt surfaces, are extremely resistant
and are far superior to all previous road surfaces,
but they still need a correct, stable substructure.
This quality underground structure is particularly

Modern road structure

important for industrial roads and industrial storage
areas.

The interesting thing is that the layer thickness of
a modern, efficient road construction corresponds
in its total layer thickness to that of Roman roads.

 

WPE DK International

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


 

Elegant and luxury design furniture made out of UHPC

More and more designers around the world
are fascinated by concrete. It is a material
that we believe is much more sustainable
than plastic and also has a much longer
service life than plastic. Concrete is easier
and more environmentally friendly to recycle
than plastic.

Concrete can be used in all climates, even the
most extreme. For some time now, experiments
with concrete have been carried out in space.
It is a possible building material for the extreme
conditions on the moon and on Mars.

The only problem for many designers and artists is the necessary wall thickness and weight. Today, furniture is thick-walled with metal reinforcement. A simple bench without a backrest for two people can weigh up to 1500 kg for some manufacturers. Many tables, chairs, etc. have an enormous weight and cannot be moved by one person. You can not say that the previous concrete furniture is gracious and elegant, it really is not. Apparently old natural stone art elements are copied with concrete today, at least that is how they look.

The architects, designers and artists may not even have the knowledge that UHPC Ultra High Performance Concrete has beenavailable to them for several decades. A concrete material that is extremely strong
and stable but also has a non-concrete flexibility. UHPC is superior to concrete in all areas.

With a UHPC material, designer furniture can be created that was previously only available in terms of wall thickness for metals and plastics.

New concrete design

The first designers are now working with UHPC desert sand concrete. Unique one-of-a-kind pieces are made with an unprocessed natural material.

UHPC design element could be sunk in the
sea and they would remain there unchanged
until the end of time.

A bench as described above would weigh less than half of concrete with UHPC.
Surfaces of outstanding fine structures can be achieved. Art objects can be produced in an unimagined richness of detail, both large and small, up to the jewelry ring on the finger in which one or more gems are
embedded.

New concrete design

Furniture could be combined with wood,
metal or glass in a new way.
UHPC is a concrete material that can be
bent in a specific construction. 

 

 

WPE DK International

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

 

Recycling of old building materials with HPc and UHPC bindersystems

In our fast-moving times, old houses, some of
them historical houses, are being brutally torn
down to make room for new, more modern,
larger, higher and often not more beautiful but
more effective new building designs. Very
often there is no time left and there is often no
will to secure the valuable and reusable old
building material.

The end of an old building is a heap of rubble
that is only suitable as gravel material for the
subbase material of streets.

The architects in particular could campaign
for the reuse of such materials. It would be
entirely possible to reuse these old materials
in modern design concepts and to save some
valuable raw materials.

This year we will start some attempts to
combine UHPC with a variety of old used
materials. We are very sure that this is
possible without any problems, both in terms
of statics and construction. Of course, with
UHPC we can copy old materials in
appearance and design extremely precisely,
in some cases this is certainly sensible and
necessary. However, we want to reuse old
materials and hand them over to a new
design function. Even building rubble could
become a very interesting concrete material

in combination with UHPC. We also want
to give architects and designers new design
options using old and ultra-modern materials.

UHPC ThermCombi lining systems

UHPC ThermCombi lining system consists of

a highly effective insulating layer and UHPC

wear protection layer

For a cement plant in Europe, we should

create a technically optimal possibility that
a complicated hot gas line is provided with

wear protection against a very abrasive

material and at the same time the gas

temperature must not drop below 700°C /

1292°F. A similar project we had years ago

for a steel plant in Asia.

In order to meet these customer requirements,

we have chosen a UHPC ThermCombi lining

system.

We reduced the temperature for the steel

structure to 80°C / 176°F. That was no problem

with the insulation material we chose. A high

temperature resistant UHPC wear protection
layer was installed on the insulation layer.

The advantage over a traditional refractory
lining is:
 - The combination lining was about 60% lighter
      in weight than a refractory lining.
 - The total layer thickness of the combination
      lining was 400% less than that of a standard
      refractory solution.
 - This meant that the steel pipe diameter was
      much smaller than with a refractory lining
      and the supports had to carry much less weight.
 - UHPC HT wear protection can withstand

      temperatures of 1200°C / 2192°F, which was

      an additional security in this project.

 - UHPC HT wear protection is several times more
      wear-resistant than refractory concrete, which
      has resulted in a significantly longer service life

      and much less maintenance.

 

Today, the new UHPC ThermCombi systems are not only used in the steel, power plant and cement industries. The construction industry has also recognised the enormous advantages for building structures and façade constructions. It is not only the insulating properties that save energy, the significantly lower material consumption and the very light precast weight - it is especially the fire and heat resistance that makes UHPC ThermCombi building constructions very safe constructions.

 

 

UHPC Concrete is an ideal material for tactile design

With UHPC Ultra High Performance Concrete, incredible structures and surface fineness can be achieved in combination with other technical advantages for the tactile design specialists or architects and designer. Since UHPC is a material from nanotechnology, the finest particles are processed here which make it possible to achieve previously unprecedented structures and you can produce these structures in large and small dimensions with a very low and simple effort.

UHPC can push model technology to its limits. Because only the quality of the model construction limits the possibilities of UHPC concrete.

Further advantages of UHPC for tactile designer are

- the extremely high strength, which makes even the finest 
  structures stable.
- the fast curing of the material with high early strength
- the very high resistance to almost all environmental conditions
- the asolute seawater resistance
- the extremely high corrosion resistance
- the very good combinability with almost all metals, minerals 

   and plastics
- desert sand UHPC concrete
- extreme white UHPC concrete

For the processing of UHPC concrete no special tools or special knowledge are required.

 

 

An unusual adhesion and tensile test with UHPC Cast

 An unusual adhesion and tensile test with UHPC Cast

A customer asked us to demonstrate the exceptional adhesion and tensile strength of our UHPC Cast binder. Our test idea was also unusual. For this test in our workshop we needed a Monster can, two simple rusty flat irons, some UHPC Cast binder, a few steel fibres and bigbags with different fillings.
The Monster can was cut at the top and bottom and the flat irons were put in without touching each other in the can, then the UHPC cast binder material was filled in. We left the material to harden for 24 hours.

After 24 hours a flat iron should be attached to a crane hook and at the other flat iron weights of 1to, 2to and 3 to were attached. The respective weight should hang in the crane hook for at least 2 days without releasing one of the flat iron from the UHPC.

All three weights hung a week in the crane hook without any problems.

We also did a similar experiment with polished metals. The loads were increased in these experiments to 10 to without causing damage.

UHPC Security projects in south of Europe

Two new UHPC security projects are
scheduled for the coming year. Both
projects are to be carried out in Europe.



The first project is a concept for securing
private property. In a former mine in the
Alps, securing rooms of the highest security

class are to be installed in former tunnels
on different levels of this mine. In order to
maintain this safety class by insurance
companies, investors have specified the
extension of the tunnels and individual
rooms using UHPC concrete.
In the first stage, about 8000 tons are to
beinstalled.



The second project also applies to the
protection of private property. In this
concept, a former military nuclear bunker
is being rebuilt. Again, most of the new
structural alterations are planned with
UHPC.
For both projects, UHPC concrete is just
one part of the backup work. We have
developed a new UHPC material quality
for both projects, which can be optimally
processed in very large quantities in both
very different locations.