Abstract:
Transparent concrete is a concrete based building material with light-Tran
missive properties due to embedded light optical elements usually Optical
fibres. Light is conducted through the stone
from one end to the other. Therefore the
fibres have to go through the whole object.
Transparent concrete is also known as the translucent concrete and light transmitting concrete
because of its properties. It is used in
fine architecture as a façade material and
for cladding of interior walls. In this paper, to integrate the merits of concrete and optical fiber, for
developing transparent concrete by arranging the high numerical aperture
Plastic Optical Fibres (POF) or big diameter glass optical fiber into concrete.
The main purpose is to use sunlight as a light source to reduce the power
consumption of illumination and to use the optical fiber to sense the stress of
structures and also use this concrete as an architectural purpose for good
aesthetical view of the building.
I. INTRODUCTION
Just a few decades ago concrete was often misunderstood, disliked and captured by its
image fixed due to the rapid urbanization
of the1960s. But since that time,
concrete has made considerable progress, not only in technical terms, but also in aesthetic
terms. It is no longer the heavy, cold
and grey material of the past; it has become
beautiful and lively. By research and innovation, newly developed concrete has been created
which is more resistant, lighter, white
or colored, etc. Concrete has learned to
adapt to almost all new challenges that appeared.
In 2001, the concept of transparent concrete was first put forward by Hungarian
architect AronLosonzi, and the first
transparent concrete block was successfully produced by mixing large amount of
glass fiber into concrete in 2003, named
as LiTraCon. Joel S. and Sergio O.G. developed a transparent concrete material, which can allow 80% light through and
only 30% of weight of common concrete.
It is worth mentioning that Italian Pavilion in Shanghai Expo 2010 shows a kind of transparent concrete developed
by mixing glass into concrete in 2010.
While the transparent concrete mainly
focuses on transparency and its objective
of application pertains to green technology and artistic finish. Therefore it is imperative to develop
a new functional material to satisfy the
structure in terms of safety monitoring
(such as damage detection, fire warning), environmental protection and energy
saving and artistic modeling.
Transparent or translucent concrete can be seen as a recent answer to the
architects call for more Transparent
Architecture.
II. MATERIAL USED FOR TRANSPARENT CONCRETE
There are two basic materials used for making transparent concrete, one is from
construction field and another from
sensing field. First, concrete is one of the
most important civil engineering materials with the advantages of rich raw materials, low cost
and simple production process and second
the optical fiber has good light guiding
property which can be arrange to transmit
the light and the sun light transmit according to predesign road without
light-heat, light-electrical or photochemical
process, and photo elastic effect which can
be used to study the stress distribution of structures. Combining the advantages of the concrete and
optical fiber, developing a novel
functional material called transparent
concrete has an important value in the application
of construction and sensing.
Types of optical fibre
There are three basic types of optical fibers:
[1] Multimode graded-index fiber
[2] Multimode step-index fiber
[3] Single-mode step-index fibers.
A multimode fiber can propagate hundreds of light modes at one time while single-mode fibers only propagate
one mode as shown below.
III. PRINCIPLE
Transparent concrete or translucent concrete is work Based on “Nano-Optics”. Optical fibres passes
as much light when tiny slits are placed
directly on top of each other as when
they are staggered. Principal can carry because
optical fibers in the concrete act like the slits and carry the light across throughout the
concrete.
IV. CONSTRUCTION
Transparent concrete is produced out of fine-grain concrete
and translucent fabric which is layer cast in prefabricated mould. Because of
relatively small amount of fabric,
solidity and consistency of transparent concrete are the same as the high-strength concrete.
Almost free energy loss light penetration through optic fibres makes it possible
to see light, shadows and even colours through
concrete even by very thick walls. It can be produced
as prefabricated building blocks and
panels. Due to the small size of the fibres, they blend into concrete becoming
a component of the material like small pieces of aggregate. In this manner, the result is
not mixed material like glass in concrete
but a new material, which is homogeneous in its inner structure as well as on
its main surfaces. The optical fibres lead light by points between the two
sides of the blocks. Because of their parallel
position, the light-information on the brighter side of such a wall appears
unchanged on the darker side. The most interesting form of this phenomenon is probably
the sharp display of shadows on the opposing
side of the wall. Moreover, the colour of the light also remains the
same.
V. MANUFACTURING
PROCESS
The manufacturing process of transparent concrete is almost
same as regular concrete. Only optical fibres are spread throughout the
aggregate and cement mix. Small layers of the concrete are poured on top of
each other and infused with the fibers and are then connected. Thousands of
strands of optical fibers are cast into concrete to transmit light, either
natural or artificial.Lighttransmitting concrete is produced by adding 4% to 5%
optical fibers by volume into the concrete mixture. The concrete mixture is
made from fine materials only it does not contain coarse aggregate. Thickness
of the optical fibers can be varied between 2 µm and 2 mm to suit the particular
requirements of light transmission.Automatic production processes use woven
fibres fabric instead of single filaments. Fabric and concrete are alternately inserted
into molds at intervals of approximately 2 mm to 5 mm.Smaller or thinner layers
allow an increased amount of light to pass through the concrete. Following casting,
the material is cut into panels or blocks of the specified thickness and the
surface is then typically polished, resulting in finishes ranging from
semi-gloss to high-gloss.
VI. APPLICATION
A. Illuminate Your Walls
Transparent Concrete can be used as building material for interior and exterior walls. If sunshine
illuminates the wall structure, then eastern or western placement is recommended; the rays of the rising or
setting sun will hit the optical glass
fibers in a lower angle and the intensity
of the light will be bigger. Besides the traditional applications of a wall, the light
transmitting concrete can also be used
as wall covering illuminated from the back.
B. Watch Your Pavement Shine at Sunset
This concrete can be used as flooring a passable surface illuminated from below. During the
day it looks like typical concrete
pavement but at sunset the paving blocks
begin to shine and in different colors.
C. Get Creative with Design
The building units are versatile and can be used in many areas of design. Two successful designs
using the light transmitting concrete
were a jewel and a concrete bench. You can also create a logo with colorful
figures, inscriptions, and pictures and can used for beautification purpose
D. Artsy Reception Desk
If you really want to create a look that stands out, you should
opt for this artsy and vogue reception desk wherelight up in the front and the
sides.
E. A Lighting fixture and Conversational Piece
The transparent concrete cube is, without a doubt, a great
conversation piece. The new cube line consists of four identical pieces of concrete and, due to
its special geometry; the pieces form a
stable structure without fixing them
together
It can be also applicable at:
- · Transparent concrete blocks suitable for floors, pavements and load-bearing walls.
- · Facades, interior wall cladding and dividing walls based on thin panels.
- · Partitions wall and it can be used where the sunlight does not reach properly.
- · In furniture for the decorative and aesthetic purpose.
- · Light fixtures.
- · Light sidewalks at night.
- · Increasing visibility in dark subway stations.
- · Lighting indoor fire escapes in the event of a power failure.
- · Illuminating speed bumps on roadways at night.
VII. ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES
- · The main advantage of these products is that on large scale objects the texture is still visible - while the texture of finer translucent concrete becomes indistinct at distance.
- · When a solid wall is imbued with the ability to transmit light, it means that a home can use fewer lights in their house during daylight hours.
- · It has very good architectural properties for giving good aesthetical view to the building.
- · Where light is not able to come properly at that place transparent concrete can be used.
- · Energy saving can be done by utilization of transparent concrete in building.
- · Totally environment friendly because of its light transmitting characteristics, so energy consumption can be reduced.
·
The main
disadvantage is these concrete is very costly because of the optical fibres.
·
Casting of
transparent concrete block is difficult for the labour so special
skilled person is required.
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