The search for alternative methods of replacing steel
reinforcement in load-bearing reinforced concrete structures with
composite polymer reinforcement is an urgent scientific and
practical task. Composite reinforcement (basalt-plastic,
fiberglass) is an economically viable alternative to steel
reinforcement; it possesses high tensile strength and chemical
resistance, light weight (more than 4 times lighter than the steel
ones), low thermal conductivity, radio transparency, dielectric
properties. Such properties make it possible to use this type of
reinforcement of concrete structures in civil, industrial, and road
construction. Only in recent years, the specialists in Uzbekistan
have paid special attention to the need for composite polymer
reinforcement in construction. This type of reinforcement makes
it possible to increase the service life of concrete structures and the
building as a whole and to reduce the country's dependence on
imports of steel reinforcement. At present the production of
basalt-plastic reinforcement is localized in the country – its fiber is
made from local basalt. For the possibility of industrial
application of composite polymer reinforcement in construction, it
is necessary to establish a relationship between a customer, a
designer, and a manufacturer. For a customer, the project must be
economically profitable, a designer must understand the physical
and mechanical properties of the reinforcement and know the
regulatory base, and a manufacturer must be interested in
producing quality units and assemblies in accordance with the
interstate standards, and be sure that the reinforcement produced
by him will be in demand. The high deformability of structures
caused by the low modulus of elasticity of composite
reinforcement does not allow the manufacture of structures that
work as bending and eccentrically compressed elements,
embedded in reinforced concrete; however, it is noted that such
reinforcement can be used in structures for which the
requirements for the second group of limiting states are not
determinant. The national standards acting in the CIS countries
and other states limit the scope of application of composite
polymer reinforcement in concrete structures in industrial objects
of the economic complex. An analysis of the actual operation of
prefabricated road panels, taking into account the low
deformation characteristics of basalt-plastic reinforcement,
showed the possibility of replacing steel reinforcement with a
composite polymer one according to the criterion of uniform
strength in terms of design tensile strengths while maintaining the
number of working reinforcement bars and their location in
reinforcing units. The results of testing the pilot panels of the road surface
(prefabricated ones) reinforced with basalt-plastic reinforcement
were considered to determine their crack resistance and bearing
capacity. The test results of experimental road panels show that
the bearing capacity not only decreased but substantially
increased. The high corrosion resistance of basalt-plastic
reinforcement, when used in road panels, contributes to an
increase in the service life of such panels, since the values of crack
opening under operational loads are set lower than the
permissible limit values. The results of this study show that it is
possible to expand the scope of industrial application of
basalt-plastic reinforcement in the production of precast concrete
structures, for example, for road construction. To do this, it is
necessary to create a regulatory framework based on the results of
relevant research work.
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