{"id":1872,"date":"2018-09-11T09:46:29","date_gmt":"2018-09-11T08:46:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cclresource.wpengine.com\/?p=1872"},"modified":"2019-03-26T09:52:44","modified_gmt":"2019-03-26T09:52:44","slug":"the-key-to-stronger-concrete-carrots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cclresourcecentre.com\/innovations\/the-key-to-stronger-concrete-carrots\/","title":{"rendered":"THE KEY TO STRONGER CONCRETE: CARROTS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers at England’s Lancaster University have discovered a simple, cost-effective way to make concrete much stronger: carrots. The discovery that adding nanoparticles from root vegetables to a traditional concrete mix \u2018significantly improves\u2019 its strength could result in significant savings, reduced carbon emissions and lower energy consumption for construction projects across the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Research showed the increase in strength to be so great, that \u2018Carrotcrete\u2019 outperformed all other concretes tested, including those made using graphene which has long been touted as a wonder material for its strengthening properties.<\/p>\n

To carry out the tests, researchers engineered\u00a0the vegetable-enhanced concrete by adding \u2018nanoplatelets\u2019 from carrots to an ordinary concrete mix made from water, aggregate and Portland cement.<\/p>\n

The researchers found that the vegetable fibres\u00a0boosted the volume of calcium silicate hydrate in the composite, which resulted in a notable increase in strength.<\/p>\n

Most encouragingly, the addition of the\u00a0carrot\u00a0fibres\u00a0allowed for a reduction of 40 kg of Portland cement for every cubic metre of concrete made. On sizeable construction projects, this could deliver significant cost savings, reduced carbon emissions and lower energy consumption.<\/p>\n

Engineering professor Mohamed Saafi, who is lead researcher on the project stated:<\/p>\n

“The (carrot) composites are not only superior to current cement products in terms of mechanical and microstructure properties but also use smaller amounts of cement. This significantly reduces both the energy consumption and CO2<\/sub> emissions associated with cement manufacturing.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lancaster University has secured \u00a3195,000 from the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 programme to continue the research.
\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

From Carrots to Apples
\n<\/strong>The strengthening of concrete with vegetable fibres could have a significant impact on future construction if early research indications are accurate, but what about strengthening existing structures? Simple. Call CCL.<\/p>\n

Our strengthening solutions are used on structures throughout the world where change of use, the need for additional capacity, design code changes, site defects, fire damage, environmental factors and even age, have required remedial action.<\/p>\n

Below are some examples of projects that the CCL team has undertaken recently:
\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Catherine House, Portsmouth<\/strong>
\nThe owner of this 15-storey student accommodation block and car parking facility was adding extra capacity to the structure, which involved creating additional living space within the area of the southern-most lift core by adding a new floor slab at each level.<\/p>\n

Once the new slabs were in place fourteen new window openings, each measuring 750 x 1800 mm, were created in the south-facing wall to let natural light flood into the new living areas. CCL carried out the structural strengthening around the openings using CFRP to accommodate additional builder\u2019s work in the complex floor plates.<\/p>\n

\"CatherineImage courtesy of McAleer & Rush<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Grosvenor Crescent, London
\n<\/strong>Grosvenor Crescent is a 19th century grade ll listed building in Belgravia, London. As well as designing and installing five floors of post-tensioned slabs behind the retained fa\u00e7ade, CCL also carried out strengthening using CFRP.<\/p>\n

\"Grosvenor<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Apple Store, Liverpool (Liverpool One)<\/strong>
\nWhen the masters of product design needed a store remodelling, CCL was called in. Before moving in, Apple wanted to double the height of a retail unit in Liverpool One, which meant removing part of the floor above and cutting post-tensioned beams.<\/p>\n

CCL analysed the new loadings, located and installed resin anchors to the PT tendons, cut the tendons and removed part of the beams. CFRP was then applied to the beams to accommodate the new load.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

To learn more about our repair and strengthening services, please click the link below:<\/p>\n

>\u00a0Download the CCL Repair & Strengthening Brochure<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers at England’s Lancaster University have discovered a simple, cost-effective way to make concrete much stronger: carrots. The discovery that adding nanoparticles from root vegetables to a traditional concrete mix \u2018significantly improves\u2019 its strength could result in significant savings, reduced carbon emissions and lower energy consumption for construction projects across the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cclresourcecentre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1872"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cclresourcecentre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cclresourcecentre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cclresourcecentre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cclresourcecentre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cclresourcecentre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cclresourcecentre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cclresourcecentre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cclresourcecentre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cclresourcecentre.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}