Business buildings

Stabilisation and strengthening of foundations of industrial buildings

Geopolymers are extensively used in repair and renovation of production and industrial facilities.

Geopolymer resins are suitable both for reinforcing the foundation of facilities that are already operational and for modernising unused facilities prior to introduction of more powerful equipment.

Many industrial and production facilities are regularly subject to overload. Depending on their specific nature, such overload may have both static and long-term dynamic impact.

Such loads result in compacted soil under the floor slabs of ground floor and various parts of the foundation. This is often accompanied by settlement of foundation and floor, causing damage to building structure. Settlement can be eliminated by using geopolymer resins injection method.

Eliminating structural damage of a building

One frequently recurring issue in the course of work is linked to using bridge cranes. When moving heavy loads, crane supports are subjected to uneven dynamic load. As a result, the soil under some supports may become more compact than under other supports, and entire structure faces uneven subsidence. If crane supports are also elements of load-bearing structure, it may lead to potential collapse of entire structure.

In order to strengthen the load-bearing frame of the building and stabilise the condition of bridge crane, it is necessary to insert geopolymer resin in the soil under sunken foundation support. This will most likely improve not only the condition of the crane, but of the structure as a whole.

Strengthening of the foundation of industrial facilities

Geopolymer resins can be injected for strengthening the soil under the foundation of industrial facilities without disrupting production cycle. Injection is performed by means of small mobile devices, inserting geopolymer material through technical holes drilled in the ground floor or surface adjacent to building (soil). Geopolymer resins injection exploits pipes with small diameter. Material expands and hardens within just a few minutes.

Increasing the capacity of undertakings

Re-commissioning of abandoned or unused industrial sites is often accompanied by the need to introduce more powerful equipment. This entails increased load on ground floor and foundation. If such loads exceed maximum limit, the soil under ground floor or foundation needs to be strengthened.

Strengthening foundation with geopolymers uses Deep Injection method, which allows inserting material deep in the soil. Additionally, when strengthening the ground floor, Slab Lifting method can be used for performing the injection. Injection can be performed both before and after installing new equipment. Geopolymer injection is continued until the load-bearing capacity of the soil under the structure corresponds to standard value.

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Stabilistaion of concrete floors in industrial and utility rooms

The floors of industrial and utility buildings may subside over time

Covering consisting in concrete slabs are often damaged at joints or become curved due to large load. Thanks to geopolymers, concrete floors can be repaired without disrupting the operation of the facility.

Subsidence of concrete floor slabs in buildings is allowed only to certain extent. When building such floors, all appropriate preparation works must be performed prior to assembling concrete slabs. However, in case of defective floor assembly or excessive loads on concrete floor, the premises need urgent repairs. Otherwise, sunken, deformed and tilted concrete slabs will obstruct normal work process.

Strengthening and repair of concrete floors

Slab Lifting method is used for stabilisation, lifting and strengthening of concrete floors. This method enables complete repair of concrete floor with the shortest possible time. Furthermore, it does not require dismantling concrete slabs, shelving and installed equipment, which saves much more time and money compared to traditional repair methods.

Slab Lifting method stands out by the fact that when injecting geopolymer resins, the load on concrete floor slabs are no longer considered a disadvantage, but an advantage instead. In some cases, it is even recommended to install new equipment in the room and only then commence lifting and stabilising concrete floor slabs. When concrete floor is exposed to additional load, it is much easier to direct the pressure generated during injection of geopolymer resins into deeper soil layers. This allows better quality of soil compaction and strengthening of concrete slabs.

How concrete floor is levelled

Repairing concrete floor by means of Slab Lifting method allows quick commissioning of restored floor sections. There are no work stoppages that otherwise occur when dismantling and re-installing concrete slabs. Therefore, using this method has minimum effect on client’s business activities.

For lifting, stabilisation and levelling of concrete slabs, geopolymers are injected under the concrete surface through 1–142 mm holes. Geopolymer components are mixed in special compact devices at the time of injection. Almost immediately after reaching the soil, geopolymer components undergo chemical reaction which makes the material expand. The material fills all hollow cavities under the concrete, force liquid from the soil under a structure into other soil layers and expand towards the weakest parts of the soil.

Soil is strengthened at the distance of 500 mm from geopolymer injection point. A new layer with increased load-bearing capacity is formed in the process, which allows lifting the concrete slab. The process of lifting and levelling of the slab is monitored in real time with accuracy of ± 1 mm.

Stabilisation of floor in cold chamber

Cold chambers in warehouses stand out by strict requirements for insulation, including floor insulation. It is not always easy to insulate the floor when converting existing premises into cold chambers. Using geopolymers when levelling and strengthening concrete floor has an indirect effect of improving floor insulation.

The reason for that consists in the fact that geopolymer used for strengthening and compacting the soil spreads evenly under the concrete and forms a hermetic layer with low thermal conductivity. Thus, in addition to strengthening the concrete floors in cold chambers, geopolymers allow reduce the costs of floor insulation.

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Using URETEK technology for solving problems with industrial and construction platforms

Frequently, the equipment on construction and mining platforms lacks reliability due to their poor quality or ineligibility for particular operation. However, the problem may often be related to land subsidence.

Even the smallest deviations occurring in soil due to subsidence may cause disruptions in the operation of machines and mechanisms that require precision and cause excess burden on such equipment. Eventually, such situation may cause remarkable disturbances in operation and be costly in monetary terms. Ignoring the problem may lead to breakdown of the equipment, resulting in work stoppage and costly repairs (technical maintenance), loss of productivity and, in some cases, risk of danger.

First signs of potential problems

Division operator is recommended to check the alignment of equipment. Frequent deviations include:

Unusual noise generated by equipment;
Abnormal wear and tear of equipment, especially in case of conveyor belts and crane tracks;
Excess wear and tear of tracks and surfaces under equipment due to excess vibration that causes land subsidence.

The most common causes of subsidence (gradual collapse, compaction or sinking of ground surface) include problems related to drainage, poorly compacted filling material and mechanical vibration.

It is crucial to apply early countermeasures

It is always advisable to stop land subsidence before equipment fails, as it allows minimising expenses related to work stoppage and repairs. By using modern soil technology methods, it is much easier and quicker than people would think. For instance, URETEK resin injection technology is a reliable, convenient, effective and cost-efficient alternative solution instead of traditional methods such as concreting or cementing. URETEK technology involves using low pressure to insert resin in unstable soil or rock that has fallen apart or suffered structural damage due to compaction, in order strengthen it. Operative and effective URETEK technology can also be applied in a situation, where it is impossible to intervene in the operations on construction site. Depending on volume, the procedure may take a few days and it can be performed parallel to construction works and without taking breaks. That’s what makes the method so flexible.

Light and yet durable resins used in URETEK technology are sustainable, have low environmental burden and help performing variety of technological and geotechnical tasks. Areas of application include e.g. decommissioning of fuel tanks, underground storages, water pressure pipes, stormwater pipes and tunnels, also filling large cavities, voids and even abandoned mines with bulk material.

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Resistance to cracking of reinforced concrete structures

Resistance to cracking is definitely observed when studying the durability of reinforced concrete structures. Builders can ascertain the resistance of the studied material to various internal and external factors. This indicator is expressed by the amount of time until the occurrence of first cracks. The longer the period when the structure remains intact, the greater the resistance of material to cracking. Crack develops when the stress factor significantly exceeds material’s permitted threshold value.

Accurate estimation can be obtained only by expert assessment of concrete samples. That currently most efficient method of study predicts future durability of the structure.

Factors affecting resistance of concrete to cracking

Occurrence and progression of minor defects in concrete can be induced by external factors – humidity and temperature – as well as the properties of the material itself. Determination of resistance to cracking takes into account information regarding the quality, flexibility, creep, settling and other properties of the material. Important factors include structural form and dimensions of the building.

Furthermore, the technology of manufacturing the cement must be considered. Materials with low hardening speed develop cracks less frequently cracking. That is why determination of resistance to cracking is a rather complex process and requires versatile analysis.

Options for increasing resistance of concrete to cracking

Even the appearance of small cracks in concrete structures is considered rather dangerous. Minor damages may cause cement to chip off, leaving the fixture exposed. This leads to corrosion, which causes further degradation. Concrete can be made more durable by using the following methods:

– using additives with special strengthening properties;
– magnetisation of water;
– inspecting the composition of concrete;
– covering the surface with iron;
– installing a special protective layer to avoid occurrence of small cracks;
– creating concrete with the best possible structure for particular purpose.

Optimum concrete composition requires using correct ratio of chosen components, which makes the concrete structure more durable.

If the crack has already occurred

Prior to repairing concrete structures, it is important to ascertain the cause of cracks. Restoration works can be divided in two:

– repair of structural defects;
– erection of new structures to replace the damaged parts.

Injection method represents optimum way of removing cracks. Special mixture is inserted in the problem area by using pressure. Where it is necessary to restore protective layer, shotcreting method is used. In that case a special construction mixture is prepared, which is then applied to prepared surface under pressure.

If the defects occur due to the soil, the problem needs to be solved urgently by strengthening or stabilising the subsoil.

URETEK specialists have everything they need to analyse, repair and restore concrete structures. When you contact us for help, every client may consider all their problems solved.