Empa engineers Christoph Czaderski (right) and Robert Widmann measure the concrete beam 50 years after the start of the experiment. Image: Empa
Empa engineers Christoph Czaderski ( right ) and Robert Widmann measure the concrete beam 50 years after the start of the experiment. Image: Empa - Since 1970 a worldwide unique test has been running in the Empa testing hall in Dübendorf, in which the long-term behaviour of bonded steel reinforcements on a concrete beam is being investigated. Investigations such as these have contributed to the fact that adhesive-bonded reinforcement is now state of the art as a strengthening method and that engineers have confidence in this retrofitting method. For half a century now, a long-term experiment has been running in Empa's largest testing laboratory at the Dübendorf site. This involves a reinforced concrete beam manufactured in 1970 which was strengthened with a steel plate bonded to its underside and has since been subjected to a permanent load of just over six tonnes. "After 50 years under 87 percent of the average breaking load, the epoxy resin bonding shows no weaknesses. Bonded steel plate reinforcements have thus passed the long-term test," says engineer Christoph Czaderski, who has supervised the test in recent years.
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