SBIR Phase II: Development of High Speed Process Technology for the Manufacturing of Cost Effective Polymer Rebar

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目将专注于开发大规模生产纤维增强聚合物（FRP）钢筋所需的工艺。 与未涂覆的钢筋相比，FRP钢筋具有显著的性能优势。 这些优点包括重量减轻七倍，无腐蚀-这反过来又允许减少30%的混凝土使用量（并相应减少150亿吨二氧化碳排放量）-以及与钢筋产品相比，在较小直径下具有相同的抗拉强度。 玻璃钢钢筋正在生产，但由于其高成本，市场接受度有限。 该项目中开发的高速工艺与未涂层钢相比将实现价格平价，并使工艺速度比目前的FRP制造提高百倍。 结合起来，这些改进将允许进入1400亿美元的全球钢筋市场，并允许玻璃钢钢筋的大众市场采用。 此外，将探索玄武岩矿废料，并在可能的情况下将其用作纤维生产的原材料。 该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力包括创造就业机会和环境影响。 通过实施这一过程，可以立即创造多达35个制造业工作岗位。 该公司的高速工艺将热固性树脂和玄武岩纤维作为FRP复合材料的主要增强材料。 一个拉挤成型机联盟共同组织了纤维增强聚合物钢筋制造商理事会，并在过去20年中将FRP钢筋开发成一种可行的产品，目前市场价值12亿美元。 目前，没有FRP钢筋产品以与未涂覆的钢筋相同的价格提供，并且为了达到这种价格平价，已经发明了高速工艺。 这一新工艺将在SBIR二期项目完成后得到优化和进一步发展。 玄武岩纤维是一种新兴材料，有可能在各种应用中取代碳纤维和其他纤维，随着该项目的完成，它将被大规模地投入工业使用。 第一阶段项目允许确定在纸浆中不常用的热固性树脂的性能特征，从而使产品验证成为可能。 该二期项目将解决在工业规模生产FRP钢筋时遇到的一系列制造挑战，从而实现商业上可行的最终产品，其价格与钢筋相同。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will focus on developing the process required to produce fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) rebar at scale. FRP rebar offers significant performance advantages when compared to uncoated steel rebar. These advantages include a sevenfold weight reduction, no corrosion - which in turn permits a 30% reduction in concrete usage (and a corresponding 15 billion ton reduction in CO2 emissions) - and equivalent tensile strength at smaller diameters compared to steel rebar products. FRP rebar is being produced but has limited market acceptance due to its high cost. The high-speed process to be developed in this project will allow price parity when compared to uncoated steel and enable a hundredfold improvement in process speeds compared to current FRP manufacturing. Combined, these improvements will allow entry to the $140 billion global market for steel rebar and allow mass market adoption of FRP rebar. Additionally, basalt mine waste will be explored and, where possible, utilized as a raw material for fiber production. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project includes job creation and environmental impacts. With implementation of this process up to 35 manufacturing jobs can be created immediately. The company's high speed process combines a thermoset resin and basalt fiber as primary reinforcements within the FRP composite. A consortium of pultruders has collectively organized the Fiber Reinforced Polymer Rebar Manufacturers Council and has developed FRP rebar into a viable product over the last 20 years, with a $1.2 billion market at present. Currently, no FRP rebar product is offered at price parity with uncoated steel rebar, and to reach this price parity a high speed process has been invented. This novel process will be optimized and further developed by the completion of this Phase II SBIR project. Basalt fiber, an emerging material with the potential to replace carbon and other fibers in a variety of applications will be brought into large-scale industrial usage with the completion of this project. The Phase I project permitted the determination of the performance characteristics of thermoset resins which have not been commonly used in pultrusion, enabling product validation. This Phase II project will address a range of manufacturing challenges that will be encountered in the production of FRP rebar at industrial scale, allowing a commercially viable final product that can be offered at price parity with steel rebar.