Knitting bespoke reinforcement for new concrete structures

排放数据表明，所有碳排放的30%-50%来自建筑环境中的活动。到2050年，全球人口预计将达到90亿，其中67%居住在城市地区。因此，满足严格的减排目标(在英国-到2050年减少80%)和促进全球低碳设计是结构工程的主要挑战。混凝土是世界上使用最广泛的人造材料。水泥制造业占全球原材料支出的很大比例，占全球二氧化碳排放量的至少5%。最近的研究使浇注几何复杂的混凝土结构成为可能，利用了这种流体材料的关键优势。这些发展允许新的建筑表达，新的几何形状允许我们通过设计优化节省大量材料。这种新的潜力被目前的加固混凝土方法所抑制。虽然我们使用的钢筋可以弯曲成标准形状，但任何进一步的复杂性都会增加施工过程的相当大的成本。为了实现低碳混凝土设计的目标，存在两大挑战：1)加固具有复杂几何形状的结构；2)提供经久耐用和有弹性的结构。应对这两个挑战将使我们能够利用混凝土的流动性来实现长期减排目标。这将需要一种全新的方法来设计和建造混凝土结构。这项建议将完全用碳纤维丝束编织的复合钢筋笼来取代内部钢筋。通过以正确的几何形状制造这种加固，我们将在需要的地方提供准确的正确的强度。这将对混凝土建筑产生革命性的影响，并将大大简化更高效的混凝土结构的加固，以帮助英国实现其雄心勃勃的减排目标。

Emissions data suggests that 30-50% of all carbon emissions arise from activities in the built environment. The global population is expected to reach 9bn by 2050, with 67% living in urban areas. Meeting strict emissions reductions targets (in the UK - an 80% reduction by 2050) and facilitating global low-carbon design is therefore a major challenge for structural engineering.Concrete is the world's most widely used man-made material. The manufacture of cement accounts for a large proportion of global raw material expenditure and at least 5% of global CO2 emissions. Recent research has made it possible to cast geometrically complex concrete structures, capitalising on a key advantage of this fluid material. These developments allow new architectural expression, and the new geometries allow us to save considerable amounts of material through design optimisation.This new potential is being held back by current methods for reinforcing concrete. Although the steel rods that we use can be bent into standardised shapes, any further complexity adds considerable cost to the construction process.With the goal of achieving low carbon concrete design, two major challenges exist: 1) to reinforce structures with complex geometries and 2) to provide durable and resilient structures. Meeting both challenges would allow us to capitalise on the fluidity of concrete to meet long-term emissions reductions targets. This will require a completely new approach to design and construction of concrete structures.This proposal will completely replace internal steel reinforcement with a knitted composite reinforcement cage made from carbon fibre tows. By fabricating this reinforcement in exactly the right geometry, we will provide exactly the right strength exactly where it is needed. This will be transformative for concrete construction, and will greatly simplify the reinforcing of more efficient concrete structures to help the UK meet its ambitious targets for emissions reductions.