IIT Hyderabad scientists develop affordable Ultra-High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete

The cost of UHPFRC developed at IITH is about two times cheaper than commercially available proprietary products

Hyderabad: Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology (Hyderabad) have developed an affordable Ultra-High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) that is used in the construction of bridges and other infrastructure projects.

The cost of UHPRC is made affordable by optimizing the fiber dosage and replacing costly fine aggregates with cheaper, locally available ones, such as fly ash, river sand, and steel. A team led by S Suriya Prakash, CASTCON Lab (Department of Civil Engineering, IIT-H) has developed the product.

“The cost of UHPFRC developed at IITH is about two times cheaper than commercially available proprietary products,” an IIT-H spokesperson said.

“UHPFRC mix can be used in a variety of applications, such as bridges, long-span structural beams, columns, and in off-shore structures where durability is a major concern,” he said.

“Design guidelines are being developed for practicing design engineers, which will promote and increase the confidence of using UHPFRC for various infrastructural applications in the country,” he said in a statement on Friday.

The composition combines the best features of self-consolidating concrete, fiber-reinforced concrete, and high-performance concrete.