ITA-doctoral candidate Kira Heins awarded Hanns Voith Foundation Prize 2020 in the field of “New Materials”

Development and realisation of concepts for manufacturing of intelligent textile reinforced concrete pipes

Textile reinforced concrete is lightweight, high-strength and durable and allows the direct integration of sensor technology

With her work, Ms. Heins is researching the implementation of textile reinforced concrete pipes with leakage detection integrated into the reinforcement for the first time.

Compared to conventional steel-reinforced concrete, high-strength concrete with textile reinforcement is lighter (up to 80 percent), stronger (up to a factor of 6), more durable (> 80 years) and more resistant against corrosion and is therefore an excellent alternative for conventional building materials.

The reduction of concrete and thus cement content by up to 80 percent facilitates a significant contribution to the sustainable use of resources in the construction industry. Conductive fibres as sensors in the textile reinforcement enable the location of leakages. This principle paves the way for the development and production of sustainable water pipe systems made of textile concrete.

Implementation of sensor-integrated textile concrete pipes in the field of drinking water supply

In her Master’s thesis, Ms Heins defined technological and economic requirements for sensors and composite for the application in drinking water supply. On this basis, Ms Heins examined textile configurations, considering factors like costs, industrial availability and processability and carried out practical trials at the ITA. Within her tests she determined a suitable textile architecture, proved the functionality of the integrated senor technology and created the basis for structure component tests with the developed manufacturing concept.