Precast Concrete Column Embedding Recycled Core Components
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for recycling old concrete components are energy-intensive, generate significant CO2 emissions, and require large amounts of cement, with limited recycling rates and inefficient utilization of steel bars, lacking a direct method to integrate these components into new precast concrete columns.
Innovation Solution
A precast concrete column design that embeds recycled components, including old stirrups and steel bars, within fresh concrete, using connectors to integrate them with new steel bars, reducing the need for crushing and smelting, and minimizing cement and energy consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If old concrete components are crushed into small-scale recycled aggregate or demolished concrete lumps, then the old concrete can be reused to prepare recycled aggregate concrete or recycled lump concrete, but the crushing process generates a large amount of energy consumption and powder that is not easily utilized, significantly reducing the recycling rate of the old concrete
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and reuses the old concrete component as a whole unit rather than breaking it down. The old concrete component is taken out from demolition waste and directly embedded into the new precast concrete column, preserving its intact structure and avoiding the energy-intensive crushing process while maintaining its utility as a building material.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention applies nesting by placing the old concrete component inside the new precast concrete column structure. The recycled component is positioned within the fresh concrete matrix, creating a nested structure where the old component serves as an embedded element within the new structural element, enabling direct reuse without size reduction.
2Loss of substance
If old concrete components are crushed and steel bars are recovered, then materials can be reused, but the steel bars need to undergo complicated processes such as smelting before being reused, which consumes a large amount of energy and emits a large amount of CO2
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the steel bars from the old concrete component during the embedding process rather than separating them for smelting. The steel bars are taken out as part of the intact old concrete assembly and directly integrated into the new column structure, eliminating the need for complex smelting and processing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the reuse of old concrete and old steel bars into a single integrated process. Instead of separately processing concrete and steel through different complex workflows (crushing and smelting respectively), both materials are reused together as a combined assembly, simplifying the overall recycling process and reducing energy consumption.
3Use of energy by moving object
If old concrete components are directly used in the production of new components without being crushed, then the above problems of energy consumption and CO2 emissions will be greatly alleviated, but there is currently no precedent for simply, efficiently, and directly utilizing the old concrete components in the production of the new components
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary action by pre-processing the old concrete component through cleaning and surface treatment before embedding. These preliminary actions prepare the old component for direct reuse by removing contaminants and ensuring proper bonding with fresh concrete, making the direct utilization process feasible and efficient without requiring complex on-site processing during column production.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces fresh concrete as an intermediary material that bonds the old concrete component to the new column structure. The fresh concrete acts as a mediator that connects the recycled element to the surrounding new concrete matrix, ensuring structural integrity and enabling the old component to be effectively integrated into the new column without requiring the old component itself to be processed or modified beyond basic cleaning.
Data Source
AI summary
A precast concrete column includes recycled components, column longitudinal steel bars, spiral stirrups, ordinary or composite stirrups, first connectors, second connectors, fresh concrete, and grouting sleeves. The recycled component includes old stirrups, old longitudinal steel bars, and old concrete. A height and a width of the recycled component are respectively less than those of the precast concrete column. A volume of the recycled component is not less than 40% of a volume of the precast concrete column. The column longitudinal steel bar is located within the fresh concrete. The ordinary or composite stirrup is in an area where the grouting sleeve is located. The spiral stirrup is in an area where the grouting sleeve is not located. The second connector connects the old longitudinal steel bar and the column longitudinal steel bar. Apart from the interior of the grouting sleeve, the fresh concrete is cast around the grouting sleeve.