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What are Reinforced Plastics?
Reinforced plastics are a special breed of plastic. They're used for the production of tough and durable materials for heavy-duty applications like building construction. These materials are very useful in building structures and styles that conventional materials such as lumber, steel, concrete and other similar materials are incapable of satisfactorily or reliably producing.
Reinforced plastics (also called Fiber Reinforced Plastics or FRP) have great potential. They can be generally used to replace conventional construction materials due to their toughness and good resistance to corrosion and wear. Furthermore, they could be molded and designed into almost any form or shape.
History
Fiber Reinforced Plastics have already been used in the building construction industry for decades. In fact it has been used as a building plating material in the Mondial house found in London, near the banks of the Thames River. From 1974 until December 2004, FRP plates covered and protected this building including all of the important equipment it houses. The FRP protective covering was removed to be able to do some renovations and repairs in the building.
Since then, it has been proven that the FRP can withstand so much wear and tear after so many years of exposure to corrosive and destructive environments and conditions.
Advantages
Fiber Reinforced Plastics used in the construction industry work best if they are properly and scientifically engineered to be formed into technically durable and strong structures that are able to withstand extreme conditions and able to support required weights.
Due to the flexibility of the material, the FRP may be twisted and formed into any shape the designer, engineer, or architect wants.
The use of the FRP technology in construction and building materials could bring about the following advantages:
- 1. The use of FRP could prove to be friendly to the environment as it could easily be recycled and used over and over again. This minimizes waste production, especially non-biodegradable waste production, and also saves on lumber usage so less trees have to be cut down.
- 2. FRP is very durable and resists degradation even over a very long period of time.
- 3. FRP is easier to produce as compared to other construction materials like steel. It could minimize carbon dioxide emissions because less fuel is required compared to steel production.
- 4. Non-renewable natural resources such as minerals could be conserved because natural resins and fibers could be used for the production of FRP.
- 5. FRP may be shaped or molded into countless forms. This opens up the possibilities of new and more creative building concepts and styles.
- 6. FRP is very light-weight and therefore dramatically reduces the total weight of the construction setup. It could also make transport and installation of the materials much easier and cheaper.
- 7. FRP building composites could be built off-site and then easily transported to the construction site for quick installation.
Due to the aforementioned benefits, reinforced plastics have very good applications in the construction industry and, ultimately, in other industries as well.
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