It is known to use reinforced concrete to build various structures. Reinforced concrete is used for example in pre-fabricated and monolithic slabs for floor and roof structures. Ribbed reinforced concrete floor and roof structures are the most structurally effective. However, the known methods of construction of floor and roof slab, particularly pre-fabricated ribbed structures are relatively complex. Accordingly the costs are relatively high due to the relatively high costs for making such slabs, and the expensive delivery and crane involvement needed for the unloading and installation at the construction site. Erection of the monolithic ribbed reinforced concrete floor system with stay-in-place or removable formwork is also very expensive due to high labor costs for the formwork construction and shoring (vertical propping) and if removable formwork, its disassembly afterwards.
To avoid these disadvantages, the ribbed reinforced concrete floor systems are more often used for the monolithic structures with additional elements to form composite structures. Another fabricated element, such as a truss, a girder or steel or aluminum beam is used to provide the designed structural stability and strength to handle the loads during the erection of the reinforced concrete floor and roof structures. These beams are anchored in the reinforced concrete floor integrating them into the ribbed floor system to serve as ribs, but require special devices to provide appropriate anchoring in the standard beams.
For such reinforced concrete floor system, it is known to utilize a stay-in-place formwork from the rigid foam plastic materials, in particular, foamed polystyrene. Thus, such reinforced concrete floor system provides the compliance with the other design requirements, such as thermal and acoustic insulation properties. However, due to insufficient strength of the foamed polystyrene, this stay-in-place formwork requires the construction of supporting structures and their disassembly after unhardened concrete pouring and concrete hardening, which is a highly time-consuming procedure.
Also, known reinforced concrete composite floor structures require the installation of longitudinal and transverse reinforcement bars and their proper positioning in the slab, which is a highly time-consuming and requires skilled laborers and engineer's supervision during installation of the reinforcement prior to the concrete being poured. This increases the overall cost of the construction.
Therefore, the known systems and methods are relatively inefficient, expensive and therefore it is desired to provide improved methods and systems.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds