German building components maker Schoeck recently passed a significant test of strength and material capabilities when its high-strength glass fibre reinforcement survived the impact of a 36-tonne truck during a crash test.

Unravelling the details of the test carried out on a barrier wall in North America, Schoeck ME, its regional subsidiary, said the heavy trailer truck crashed into a bridge barrier wall, installed with its special glass fibre reinforcement ComBAR, at an angle of 15 degrees and a speed of 80 km/h.

Following the crash, the trailer came to a standstill after about 50 metres. However, no bending cracks or any other signs of bending failure could be found on the wall, it stated.

Schoeck had developed the glass fibre reinforcement ComBAR several years ago with bars made up of numerous highly corrosion-resistant linearly aligned glass fibres impregnated by a vinyl ester resin matrix.

Along with the ongoing development of the region, safety concerns have always been a priority, especially elements such as road safety as cities become more densely populated, said the glass fibre reinforcement specialist.

Numerous regional tests have been carried out in line with international standards to develop localised benchmarks for the product, said Christoph Spitz, managing director of Schoeck Middle East.
 
The most recent tests, carried out at Dubai Municipality, accompanied and evaluated by the UAE Higher Colleges of Technology, and at Qatar’s Arab Center for Engineering Studies, as well as independent tests carried out at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran, have shown results of tensile strengths far exceeding those officially quoted by Schoeck, he added.

According to Spitz, corrosion was a clear and present danger in building structures and barriers in the region due to the harsh climate and humidity that prevails.

'Barrier walls are being reinforced more and more often with glass fibre reinforcement due to corrosion problems that often occur when traditional steel-reinforced concrete is used,' he said.

'These issues are eliminated when glass fibre reinforcement has been installed in its place, with the overall strength of the wall remaining the same if not stronger,' he explained.

'Schoeck’s ComBAR has shown time and again that it is ideally suited to the region and we believe that the safety and environmental advantages are starting to speak for themselves,' Spitz pointed out.

'The special manufacturing method used by Schoeck ensures that all bar diameters have a high tensile strength of more than 1000 N/mm². The modulus of elasticity is 60,000 N/mm²,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service