DURA^® - is a trade name for the Malaysian blend of Ultra-High Performance 'ductile Concrete (UHPdC), which possess very high strength and ductile composite formulated by combination of Portland cement, silica fume, fine silica sand, superplasticizer and very high strength discrete steel fibers. This material provide compressive strength of 150 MPa and flexural strength of 30 MPa respectively in 28 days. DURA^® has the ductility and durability unachievable by conventional concrete. With the immerse strength and ductility, it could be the architects' 'dream-come-true' material. It is also proved to be aesthetically promising as maintenance factor is almost negligible. UHPdC comes in many profound attributes which made this material eligibility simply a 'breakthrough advanced engineered material'.

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Application

Infra-structure: Ultra light and slender section for pedestrian and highway bridges. Impact Structure: Security panels against impact, seismic and blast loads; crash safety barriers. Prestress elements: Piles, culverts, retaining walls,pipes, safety-vaults and etc. Buildings: Ultra-slender beam, slab and column system; long span floors and roofs. Others: Architectural features, accoustic barrier, structural walls, marine/sea walls and decks, anchorage plates, leave in-place forms/ moulds, container, storage tanks.

 

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Benefits

With its revolutionary properties, DURA^®offers tremendous advantages such as : 

• Eliminating the use of conventional steel reinforcing bars and stirrups which required a significant amount of labour input, supervision and quality control - thus, vastly minimizing human error and making structures more constructible and higher quality. This, in turn, will lead to significant cost saving maintenance and long-term service costs.
• Flexibility and freedom of innovative designs - enabling concrete structures and features to be more interesting and aesthetically expressive.
• Ultra-light weight - typically by a factor of 2 in comparison to conventional RC or PC elements leading the ease in handling, transportation and installation. As a consequence, it will lead to further cost savings and improve safety margins in the construction process.
• Excellent durability - with high impermeability against aggressive physical-chemical atmosphere; high resistance to corrosion, abrasion and impact load - hence, offering longer service-life, negligible maintenance and contributing to a sustainable development regime.
• Savings in immediate overall project cost and long term service cost.

Technical Characteristic

Table 1: DURA^® compare to normal strength concrete (NSC) and high performance concrete (HPC)

Characteristics		Unit	Codes / Standards	NSC	HPC	DURA®
Specific Density		kg/m3	BS1881:Part 114-1983	2300	2400	2350 – 2450
Cylinder Compressive Strength		MPa	AS1012.9-1999	20 – 50	50 – 100	120 – 160
Cube Compressive Strength		MPa	BS6319: Part 2-1983	20 – 50	50 – 100	130 – 170
Creep Coefficient			AS1012.16-1996	2 – 5	1 – 2	< 0.5
Post Cured Shrinkage		με	AS1012.16-1996	1000 – 2000	500 – 1000	< 100
Modulus of Elasticity		GPa	BS1881:Part 121-1983	20 – 35	35 – 40	40 – 50
Poisson’s Ratio				0.2	0.2	0.2
Split Cyl. Cracking Tensile Strength		MPa	BS EN 12390-6:2000	2 – 4	4 – 6	6 – 10
Split Cyl. Ultimate Tensile Strength		MPa	BS EN 12390-6:2000	2 – 4	4 – 6	10 – 18
Flexural 1st Cracking Strength		MPa	ASTM C1018-1997 ↑	2.5 – 4	4 – 8	8 – 12
Modulus of Rupture		MPa		2.5 – 4	4 – 8	18 – 35
Bending Fracture Energy, Gf,δ=0.46mm		N/mm		0.05 – 0.10	0.06 – 0.18	1 – 2.5
Bending Fracture Energy, Gf,δ=3.0mm		N/mm		0.05 – 0.10	0.06 – 0.18	10 – 20
Bending Fracture Energy, Gf,δ=10mm		N/mm		0.05 – 0.10	0.06 – 0.18	15 – 30
Toughness Indexes	I5			1	1	4 – 6
	I10			1	1	10 – 15
	I20			1	1	20 – 35
Modulus of Rupture		MPa	JCI-S-002-2003 ↑↑	2.5 – 4	4 – 8	18 – 35
Bending Fracture Energy, Gf,δ=0.46mm		N/mm		0.05 – 0.10	0.06 – 0.18	1 – 2.5
Bending Fracture Energy, Gf,δ=3.0mm		N/mm		0.05 – 0.10	0.06 – 0.18	10 – 20
Bending Fracture Energy, Gf,δ=10mm		N/mm		0.05 – 0.10	0.06 – 0.18	15 – 30
Rapid Chloride Permeability		coulomb	ASTM C1202-2005	2000 – 4000	500 – 1000	< 200
Chloride Diffusion Coefficient		m2/s	ASTM C1556-2004	4 – 8 x 10-12	1 – 4 x 10-12	0.05 – 0.1 x 10-12
Carbonation Depth		mm	BS:EN 14630-2003	5 – 15	1 – 2	< 0.1
Abrasion Resistance		mm	ASTM C944-1999	0.8 – 1.0	0.5 – 0.8	< 0.03
Water Absorption		%	BS1881:Part 122-1983	> 3	1.5 – 3.0	< 0.2
Initial Surface Absorption		ml/(m2s)	BS1881:Part 208-1996	0.7 (10 min) 0.2 (120 min)	0.1 (10 min) 0.05 (120 min)	< 0.02 (10 min) < 0.01 (120 min)

↑ - Three-pooint bending using un-notched 100 x100 x 300mm specimen
↑↑ - Four-point bending using notched 100 x 100 x 300 mm specimen

Compressive Strength	Flexural Strength

1) Aesthetic Due to the absence of coarse aggregate, improved homogeneity and granular packing distribution of the concrete matrix, products made from Dura® are able to achieve outstanding finished when compared to conventional concrete. Dura® is able to offer elegance solution in many cases. For instance, the Dura® 7 m tall free standing acoustic wall panels were only 30 mm in thickness. Painting or coating is also not required as the natural fair-face concrete finish will retain its properties over time.

2) Workability With DURA®, a water-binder ratio of 0.13 is achievable. To maintain flowability, an ultra high-range superplasticizer is used, which makes DURA® behave like self-consolidating concrete. Some professional even refer to this as "liquid stone". This opens up the possibility of casting very thin elements.

3) Durability DURA® is a very dense material with very small and discontinuous pores which prevent the movement of vapors within the concrete matrix. The impermeability of DURA® is less than one-tenth of conventional concrete. This chemical and physical structure results in a dense, hard matrix with corrosion resistance superior to granite. DURA® is therefore highly resistant to weathering, chemical attack, hydraulic scouring and salt-water ingress. Hence, coating or painting is unnecessary.

4) Ductility The use of ultra-high strength steel fiber gives DURA® the flexural toughness property comparable to structural steel. The flexural strength at first crack range from 10 to 12 MPa, with ultimate flexural strengths of 15 to 35 MPa can be achieved. Experimental studies show the crack widths are no more than 0.05mm and 0.5mm at both serviceability and ultimate limit states respectively. No fiber fracture has been observed at any stage of cracking. The left picture showing multiple closely-spaced fine cracks demonstrate the superior ductility of DURA®. This ability to redistribute stresses is not achievable in conventional concrete.

5) Designer & Analysis Taking into consideration that UHPdC is a relatively new generation material, tremendous amount of effort invested in R&D and we are able to come out with an optimum design that enchance the fullest use of the material attributes. Technology is not just the material itself, but also the design and the system of the material. Due to the limitation of code provision for this new material, extra effort is used to ensure DURA® products are stands in the highly safe margin of security, such as we work closely with professionals, academics. prominent engineers and builders both local and abroad.

6) Research & Development Dura technology is build on R&D basis. As we deal with concrete technology, we ensure that our team are always up to date with the latest technology. In addition, we will continue with new product development. Every product of ours will undergo through extensive and proper testing and study before it is being used or commercialized.

7) Engineering Maximisation DURA® unique combination of superior properties facilitate the ability to design innovative structures, such as creating structures with longer span, new shapes that are thin and slender, light and more elegant look. For example, picture at the right shows a 650mm deep DURA® beam able to spanned cantilever 50 ft from the column centre line. Scientist believe carefully designed / planned project using UHPdC technology not only would lead to service life for 200 years or more, but also yield at least 70% discount on total life-cycle cost.

8) Industrial Building System (IBS) DURA® unique combination of superior properties facilitate the ability to design innovative structures, such as creating structures with longer span, new shapes that are thin and slender, light and more elegant look. For example, picture at the right shows a 650mm deep DURA® beam able to spanned cantilever 50 ft from the column centre line. Scientist believe carefully designed / planned project using UHPdC technology not only would lead to service life for 200 years or more, but also yield at least 70% discount on total life-cycle cost.

9) Sustainability DURA® Technology is a green concrete technology which support the visionary of sustainability (i.e. using less cement in the concrete and using less concrete in a product). According to alarming reports of many experts worldwide, the issue of Global Warming is the most devastating problem human-beings are facing today. Thus, DURA® Technology shall give some initial saving in term of cost, lower energy consumption and waste emissions when compares to existing technology. In life-cycle measure, it's sustainability is even more significant than others.