C-GRID
It Takes Jet Fighters Past Mach 2. Imagine What It Could Do For Your Buildings.
C-GRID carbon fiber reinforcing is the “enabling technology” that allows CarbonCast to be thinner, lighter, more durable and less costly overall than conventional precast and other building systems.
Developed by Chomarat North America, non-corrosive C-GRID has a tensile strength over four times higher than steel by weight.
C-GRID is an epoxy-coated composite grid made with cross-laid and superimposed carbon fiber. Carbon fiber has been limited to applications where low weight and high strength are imperative, such as aerospace and sports equipment. Only since the development of industrial-grade carbon fiber materials and new high-speed rotary-forming technology has carbon fiber become feasible as an economical reinforcing material for new construction.
While C-GRID, as a component, costs more than the steel it replaces, it enables changes in precast design that make CarbonCast components equal or lower in cost than conventional precast. For example, C-GRID requires only 1/4″ of concrete cover compared with steel reinforcing, which generally requires 3/4″ to 1 1/2″ to protect it from moisture-induced corrosion.
C-GRID also creates a fully structurally composite section between the outer and inner wythes of insulated sandwich wall panels so that they can be thinner or taller. And C-GRID controls shrinkage cracks up to 50 percent more effectively than steel mesh because of its strength and excellent mechanical bond to concrete. C-GRID can also be placed closer to the surface and has a more closely spaced mesh pattern than steel.
