Newly created ductility concrete helps resist earthquakes

Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology headquartered in Xi’an, Shaanxi province in Northwest China, announced an internationally leading scientific research achievement, reinforcement technology of high ductility concrete, on Sunday.

Professor Deng Mingke introduces the achievements of high ductility concrete. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

After 10 years of painstaking scientific research, professor Deng Mingke, School of Civil Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, and his team developed a high ductility concrete reinforcement technology, which can resist earthquakes above nine degrees.

"After walls of traditional houses are built, do not plaster mortar on the wall surface rather just plaster 1.5 cm thick high ductile concrete, this can help resist earthquakes above nine degrees and the house will not have cracks, not to mention collapse,” Deng said at the press conference held on Saturday.

The high ductility concrete is a type of fiber reinforced composite material based on micromechanics, with cement and quartz sand as matrix. Compared to ordinary concrete, it has higher strength, higher toughness, higher crack resistance and higher damage resistance, and its tensile properties can reach 200 times of ordinary concrete. It is also known as "bendable" concrete.

Up to now, the application of such concrete in more than 20 provinces and cities throughout the country has proved that high ductility concrete not only has very high application prospects, but also has very obvious cost and technical advantages. In the future, this technology will be widely used in transportation, water conservancy and other fields.

Gao Zhen delivers a speech at the press conference.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Gao Zhen, director of Performance Recognition Department of the Science and Technology and Industrialization Development Center of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said that high ductility concrete can improve the earthquake resistance and disaster prevention ability of urban housing buildings. Its popularization and application will provide strong support for the timely realization of the overall goal of guaranteeing housing security.

Liu Xiaojun, president of Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, said that in the process of supporting and promoting the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, relying on the case of transformation of technological achievements of membrane separation, the school explored the "research Institute + company" achievement transformation mode based on team holding, which effectively promoted the transformation and industrialization of high ductile concrete technology.

Liu Xiaojun delivers a speech at the press conference. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

During the conference, Liu Zhiyuan, general manager of Xi'an Wuhe Civil Engineering New Materials Co., Ltd., explained in detail the cooperation mode of "high ductility concrete application technology" promotion to the guests on site, and signed cooperation agreements with enterprises from the provinces, municipality and autonomous region of Yunnan, Chongqing, Zhejiang and Ningxia.