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Reinforced Concrete Construction

Reinforced concrete construction defines the use of concrete with steel rebar inside it to add additional strength. Reinforced concrete construction became commonplace with large-scale construction projects in the 20th century and remains in general use today.

While concrete is very durable when placed in areas of compression (like columns or slabs), it is weak in positions of tension. In order to strengthen the material, builders turn to reinforced concrete construction and the addition of steel reinforcement bars, plates or even certain kinds of plastic fibers.

Reinforced concrete construction can be found in many parts of an overall design. Slabs, walls, beams, columns, frames and foundations can all use reinforced concrete construction to ensure that the concrete is able to hold the load placed upon it without failing.

Reinforced concrete suffers less internal stress from changes in temperature than non-reinforced concrete, which reduces the tension placed on it and cuts down on cracking. When the concrete hardens and sticks to the steel, the stress placed on the reinforced concrete construction is evenly distributed, reducing the amount of stress on areas that would otherwise endure greater loads.

The size of the steel bars inserted into the reinforced concrete construction is actually pretty small. They are usually no more than six percent of the cross section of the structure and, in most cases, is less than one percent.

When steel plates are used in reinforced concrete construction, the plates are fabricated off-site and welded together on-site to form a steel wall. The walls then have concrete poured into them, leaving the steel on the outside. This method is frequently faster than using rebar inside concrete columns and is very strong as well.

Fiber reinforced concreted construction is normally used for on-ground floors and pavement, but can be used in other ways. The fibers, which are normally steel, glass or plastic, is cheaper than rebar. The fibers are usually very small, no more than a centimeter long, but still increase the concrete's tensile strength.

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