What's Hot

    Tempe DRC Recommends Approval for 72-Unit Live-Work Development

    September 12, 2025

    Input Prices Up 0.2% in August

    September 12, 2025

    Arizona Projects 09-12-25

    September 12, 2025
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    AZBEX
    NEWS TICKER
    • [September 12, 2025] - Tempe DRC Recommends Approval for 72-Unit Live-Work Development
    • [September 12, 2025] - Input Prices Up 0.2% in August
    • [September 12, 2025] - Arizona Projects 09-12-25
    • [September 10, 2025] - Goodyear Seeking Developer for Ballpark Village Mixed-Use
    • [September 9, 2025] - Opus Group Planning 300KSF Industrial Park Near Sky Harbor
    • [September 9, 2025] - Multifamily Development Planned in Tucson’s Miracle Mile
    • [September 9, 2025] - Construction Employment Down for Third Straight Month
    • [September 9, 2025] - Industry Professionals 09-09-25
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    • Home
    • News
      1. View Latest
      2. ✎ Planning & Development
      3. 📰 Local News
      4. 🔎︎ Classifieds
      5. 🕵 Editorial Analysis
      6. 💰 Budgets & Funding
      7. 🏢 Commercial Real Estate
      8. 👔 People on the Move
      9. 🌵 Arizona Projects
      10. 🏛️ Legislation & Regulations
      11. 📈 Trends

      Tempe DRC Recommends Approval for 72-Unit Live-Work Development

      September 12, 2025

      Goodyear Seeking Developer for Ballpark Village Mixed-Use

      September 10, 2025

      Opus Group Planning 300KSF Industrial Park Near Sky Harbor

      September 9, 2025

      Multifamily Development Planned in Tucson’s Miracle Mile

      September 9, 2025

      HonorHealth to Build on Former Amkor Site in Vistancia

      September 2, 2025

      Buckeye City Council Discusses Annexing Land for Community Master Plan

      August 29, 2025

      Round 3 of BuildItAZ Grants Announced

      August 26, 2025

      Magazine Tackles Construction Crisis by Inspiring Teen Girls to Enter Skilled Trades

      August 22, 2025

      Scottsdale Hospitals War May Heat Up with New Banner Request

      July 29, 2025

      Glendale Voters to Determine VAI Resort’s Fate

      May 16, 2025

      Legislation Would Effectively Strip NIMBYs of Referendum Tool

      February 11, 2025

      2025 Forecast Tries to Clarify an Uncertain Market

      February 7, 2025

      RTA Funding Proposal Stirs Controversy

      August 15, 2025

      Ariz. LIHTC to Sunset Under New Budget

      July 8, 2025

      State Government Shutdown Averted as Hobbs Signs Budget

      July 1, 2025

      Arterial Life Cycle Program Covers 20 Years of Street Development

      June 27, 2025

      Commercial Real Estate 09-09-25

      September 9, 2025

      Commercial Real Estate 09-02-25

      September 2, 2025

      Commercial Real Estate 08-26-25

      August 26, 2025

      Commercial Real Estate 08-19-25

      August 19, 2025

      Industry Professionals 09-09-25

      September 9, 2025

      Industry Professionals 09-02-25

      September 2, 2025

      Industry Professionals 08-26-25

      August 26, 2025

      Industry Professionals 08-19-25

      August 19, 2025

      Arizona Projects 09-12-25

      September 12, 2025

      Arizona Projects 09-05-25

      September 5, 2025

      Arizona Projects 08-29-25

      August 29, 2025

      Arizona Projects 08-22-25

      August 22, 2025

      Environmentalists Sue ADWR Over Benson-Area Developments

      September 2, 2025

      Pima County Latest to Amend Zoning for Data Centers

      August 22, 2025

      Tucson City Council Likely to Approve Water Restriction on Large

      August 19, 2025

      Ritz-Carlton Paradise Valley Fight Could End in Foreclosure

      August 15, 2025

      Input Prices Up 0.2% in August

      September 12, 2025

      Construction Employment Down for Third Straight Month

      September 9, 2025

      Construction Job Openings Up 77,000 YoY

      September 5, 2025

      Ariz. Construction Lost 400 Jobs in July

      August 19, 2025

      Tempe DRC Recommends Approval for 72-Unit Live-Work Development

      September 12, 2025

      Input Prices Up 0.2% in August

      September 12, 2025

      Arizona Projects 09-12-25

      September 12, 2025

      Goodyear Seeking Developer for Ballpark Village Mixed-Use

      September 10, 2025
    • AZBEX
      • Subscribe
      • Solicitations
      • Classifieds
      • Advertising
    • DATABEX
      • DATABEX Log-In
      • Webinars
      • Monthly Snapshot
    • Events
      • 2025 Hospitality LMS
      • 2025 Public Works Conference
    • About Us
      • Meet the Company
      • Meet the Sales Team
      • Meet the Editorial Team
      • Meet the BEXperts
    • CIP Special Report
    AZBEX
    Home » Economic Development » ASU Develops Concrete to Speed Up Construction
    Economic Development

    ASU Develops Concrete to Speed Up Construction

    BEX StaffBy BEX StaffNovember 8, 2019No Comments4 Mins Read
    Barzin Mobasher, professor in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, is researching fiber-enforced concrete with the goal of saving time and money on construction projects. Credit: Charlie Leight, ASU Now.
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    Source: AZ Big Media

    An Arizona State University engineering professor is trying to promote a method of speeding up the Valley’s endless construction projects that can reduce years to months and months to weeks. Transportation experts say the economic, safety and transit benefits could be huge.

    Barzin Mobasher’s magic bullet is made of fiber-reinforced concrete. Mobasher and his team have come up with a certain set of calculations engineers can use to simplify working with the material.

    Annually, worldwide, 10 billion tons of concrete are used: more than one ton for every man, woman and child on the planet. It’s the cheapest material that can be used in construction of roads, buildings and other things.

    Designs have revolved around the fact that although concrete can withstand a lot of compression, it can’t withstand a lot of tension. Put weight on it and it’s fine. Pull it apart and it breaks. Traditionally, overcoming this flaw has meant putting steel rebar in the concrete. Engineers assume the steel will carry the load the concrete is supposed to take. They completely ignore the issue of tension.

    “Almost every structure you see — every building, every skyscraper, every bridge — is based on that assumption; don’t take any contribution of concrete in tension,” said Mobasher, a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

    Composites have been around for 60 or 70 years. You mix fibers of steel or composites into a carrier (like concrete or epoxy) — typically 40 pounds of fibers in 2,000 pounds of concrete. These are very strong fibers, but also very small. When you decrease the size of something, you decrease the size of flaws that can occur in the structure.

    If the concrete tries to crack, the fibers intercept the crack and act like internal Band-Aids. They hold it together and allow it to carry more of a load. It’s an interlocking mechanism.

    If you’re building a five-story building, each story has to be designed and built one at a time. Rebar has to be craned in, laid out and tied together. You have material costs, inspection, labor, logistics, safety issues and so on when rebar is involved. Add up those costs and they’re significant.

    Now take rebar out of the equation. If you’re only using fibers, you tell the mixing plant how much and what kind of fiber you wanted mixed into each truckload.

    “This way you eliminate a lot of the side costs,” Mobasher said. “You’re paying more for the material on a pound-by-pound basis to be using fibers, but you’re saving so much on all these extra costs.”

    Mobasher decided to do a proof-of-concept experiment in his lab. He made a slab of fiber-reinforced concrete and stress-tested it in a special machine. The parameters were: a line operating seven days a week, 18 hours per day, a three-car train packed to capacity coming along every 10 minutes for 40 years. There was one catch: In the experiment, water has eroded everything from underneath the beam, leading it to carry all the weight on its own.

    Despite cracking, the demonstration showed that fiber-reinforced concrete can go through 2 million cycles of train traffic. And a crack would not derail an entire system. Cut out the cracked section, repour, and it’s fixed.

    “Basically, we offer a solution to reduce the cost, to reduce the weight, to make the material much more ductile, earthquake-resistant, tolerant from a corrosion point of view — so a whole series of added benefits we would get,” Mobasher said.

    Read more at AZ Big Media.

    Arizona State University concrete Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Tumblr Email

    Related Posts

    Buckeye City Council Discusses Annexing Land for Community Master Plan

    August 29, 2025

    Mohave County May Remove Data Centers as Economic Development Goal

    July 23, 2025

    Peoria Moving Forward on Innovation Corridor Land Buy

    July 14, 2025

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

    Our Picks

    Tempe DRC Recommends Approval for 72-Unit Live-Work Development

    September 12, 2025

    Input Prices Up 0.2% in August

    September 12, 2025

    Arizona Projects 09-12-25

    September 12, 2025

    Goodyear Seeking Developer for Ballpark Village Mixed-Use

    September 10, 2025
    Stay In Touch
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube
    Don't Miss
    Planning & Development

    Tempe DRC Recommends Approval for 72-Unit Live-Work Development

    September 12, 20250

    By Roland Murphy for AZBEX The Tempe Development Review Commission earlier this week recommended approval…

    Input Prices Up 0.2% in August

    September 12, 2025

    Arizona Projects 09-12-25

    September 12, 2025

    Goodyear Seeking Developer for Ballpark Village Mixed-Use

    September 10, 2025

    BEX serves architecture, engineering and construction firms as well as all the ancillary product and service categories that market to them. These include manufacturing representatives, public agencies and private real estate organizations, specialty subcontractors and services providers related to our industry.

    Our Picks

    Tempe DRC Recommends Approval for 72-Unit Live-Work Development

    September 12, 2025

    Input Prices Up 0.2% in August

    September 12, 2025

    Arizona Projects 09-12-25

    September 12, 2025
    Contact Us

    Phone: 480-709-4190
    Address: P.O. Box 12196 Tempe, AZ 85284
    Email: sales@azbex.com

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.