FRP manufacturer Composite Advantage has commissioned FiberSystems to supply fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) pile jackets for a waterfront application.
‘We specialize in very large FRP composite parts up to 100 ft for bridge and waterfront infrastructures,’ said Composite Advantage president Scott Reeve. ‘This was an application where the best approach was to source a pipe expert like FiberSystems.’
The New Zealand waterfront structure’s circular piers were eroding due to salt water, air and sun exposure. Concrete stay-in-place forms were used to repair the piers but corrosive conditions dictated the need for pile jackets for each of the piers.
Twenty-four oz fabric knitted from carbon and glass fibers, 50 in wide by 17 ft long, was hand laid up in two sections around mandrels 18 in, 20 in, and 24 in, in diameter. Once the sleeves were custom fabricated, they were removed and split lengthwise. The outer edge of one side of the cut and the inner edge of the opposing cut were pre-sanded for eaier bonding. Once installed, a special mortar was used to fill the space between the FRP jacket and the concrete pillar, creating a corrosion resistant armor against the elements.
FiberSystems used unpigmented vinylester resin to produce a total of 17 18-in, inside diameter, five 20-in, inside diameter, and seven 24-in inside diameter pile jackets. The FRP sleeves were shipped to New Zealand in October.
This story is reprinted from material from Composite Advantage, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
