Generally civil engineering claims 50% of the total developmental expenditure and, of this the share of the buildings is quite substantial. There is great scope in development in building materials technology. A large variety of new materials come in to the market. Amongst these new materials composites have a great potential for performance improvement as well as cost reduction. Composite materials with superior quality will not only make for replacement of traditional materials and technology but also new applications.

Composites have a great advantage in the sense that materials can be developed for specific applications. Thus there are great opportunities in undertaking research and development in the composite materials and attendant technology for applications. Although there are unlimited potential for development of new composites and their application some illustrative potential applications are briefly described in the following.

 

·         Structural members with shapes such as angles, channels, etc. in Fibre-reinforced plastics have great potential for replacing structural steel members. It has advantages of high strength, lower weight, etc. but has low modulus of elasticity. The weakness has to be overcome by suitable admixture. It can have applications in coastal areas where steel has problems of corrosion. It can also replace steel in racks and shelving.

 

·         Replacement of cement, partially or fully, by geo-polymers is possible. One of cement produces one ton of carbon dia-oxide and uses ten thousand litres of water in its making. Presently its applications are in finishes such as plaster, blocks and paving. Its use in structural concrete is yet to be explored. Admixtures in concrete for improving its properties are already in vogue.

 

·        Replacement of reinforcing steel by fibres and rods. The fibres can be mixed with concrete and dispersed in it to overcome the brittleness in concrete. In some applications this will replace steel. The rods have similarly a great potential to replace steel rods in reinforced concrete, if the cost can be brought down.

 

·        Fibre reinforced wraps were first tried out during the 2001 earthquake. It can increase tensile strength and also contain concrete structural member such as columns. The process is simple by gluing on the cloth material and wrapping around the member. The material can be used in repairs, rehabilitation and retrofitting.

 

·        Reinforced plastics are used also to make containers such as tanks, man-holes, septic tanks in sewage treatment, etc. The containers in combination with reinforced plastic structural members can be extensively used for small overhead water tanks, particularly useful for rural water supply. The present practice of constructing in reinforced concrete has problems of workmanship owing to scarcity of skilled workers resulting in to water leakage. Fibre reinforced plastics (FRP) water towers therefore is attractive proposition.

 

·        Roofing materials can be made of FRP along with FRP structural members can replace steel or asbestos-cement roofing material as well as structural steel. This will eliminate problems of corrosion and frequents maintenance.

 

·        It should be possible in near future that a complete toilet including inlet for water and outlet for grey water and connections for lighting fixtures would be available. This has great potential for application in mass housing wherein molded toilet can be erected in no time and connected simply to water and waste water outlets. Such toilets can also be used as public toilets, toilets in rural areas, etc.

 

·        In the same manner molded composite singly storey housing is also quite easy. Applications could also be for police stations, and such other non-housing functions. Additionally pre-fabricated buildings with small and medium components produced in the plants and assembled on site are also an attractive proposition.

 

·         Other applications for composite technology are windows, doors, rain water harvesting system, packaged sewage treatment plants, biogas plants, and so on.

 

·        Currently steel plates are used for forming concrete in building construction. These plates can be easily replaced by FRP plates. Form work for monolithic concrete buildings. Western systems use aluminum or steel panels which can be replaced by Composite materials. This technology has great potential in low cost housing.

 

·        There are many applications for use of FRP use as walls. These would be factory made and come complete with electrical wiring, switch boards and other accessories.