Gujarat Earthquake - Composite Materials towards Re-building & Rehabilitation
In the wake of disastrous damages caused by the earthquake in Gujarat, the Advanced Composites Mission of TIFAC/Department of Science & Technology (Govt. of India) has planned to construct 500 nos. low-cost shelters made of jute-coir composite boards & rice-husk particle boards with bamboo mat veneer supported on steel channels & angles. To cater to these shelters, 128 nos. FRP modular toilet units are also being constructed. The paper discusses in detail the properties & applications of composite materials in building & construction along with their advantages over the conventional materials. The construction methodology followed to construct the shelters & toilet units is also discussed. These shelters can be constructed quite quickly for immediate and long-term rehabilitation for post disaster relief. Composites bestowed with unique advantages like lightweight, high strength-to-weight ratio, drew attention from the developed world towards novel applications and are replacing the conventional materials like metals, woods etc. Composite materials offer some significant advantages to metals in many structural applications due to the flexibility of selecting various combinations of fiber reinforcement and resin matrix. The reinforcing fibers are the primary load carriers of the composite material, with the matrix component transferring the load from fiber to fiber. Selection of the optimal reinforcement form and material is dependent on the property requirements of the finished part. It has been observed that a weight saving of over 27% is attainable in most of the structures. This is due to the lower density of composites & in addition, their inherent properties provide performance benefits over metals. The use of composite structures has become an increasingly important factor in engineering design. Composites of high performance fibres and a range of polymeric, metallic or ceramic matrices has enabled many engineering achievements. Composite products meet stringent requirements such as satisfactory performance even at high temperature, pressure, corrosive environment or high stress. Some advantages of composite materials over conventional one are mentioned below : • Tensile strength of composites is four to six times greater than that of steel or aluminium. • Improved torsional stiffness and impact properties • Composites exhibit excellent corrosion resistance and fire retardancy • Composites have higher fatigue endurance limit • Composite materials are 30-45% lighter than aluminium structures designed to the same functional requirements • Composites are less noisy while in operation and provide lower vibration transmission than metals • Composites are more versatile than metals and can be tailored to meet performance needs and complex design requirements • Composites enjoy reduced life cycle cost compared to metals • Improved appearance with smooth surfaces and readily incorporable integral decorative melamine are other characteristics of composites • Composite parts can eliminate joints/fasteners, providing part simplification and integrated design compared to conventional metallic parts Advanced Composites Mission The consumption of composites increased manifold in the last two decades especially in industrial & consumer applications. The Western Europe, USA & Japan enjoy major share of the world market of composites. India missed the new material revolution especially for composites for large-scale end use pattern. Purely for comparison, the per capita consumption of composites in USA & China today stand at 5.6 Kgs. & 1.5 Kgs. respectively vis-à-vis that of 35 gms. in India. Armed with a wide gamut of advantages, composites have a key role to play in the growing market in India. The developmental efforts for finding newer composites for existing & novel applications is an area of top priority. Considerable expertise exists in India in the technological institutions and a few manufacturing industries. The usage of composites in all these years has been limited and multiple commercial applications and potential for export have also not been tapped even in a limited way. In view of the crucial need for developing indigenous capability in composite technology, the Advanced Composites Mission was jointly launched by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) and Defence Research & Development Organisation with a mandate of developing novel composite products and promoting their applications. Identifying this as a unique challenge towards developing marketable & sustainable products utilising the core competence of India, Technology Information, Forecasting & Assessment Council (TIFAC), an autonomous organisation under the DST has been implementing the Advanced Composites Mission programme. The Mission has been an attempt to enhance the utilisation & application of composite as an important performance material in various sectors and to improve upon the laboratory-industry linkages towards development & commercialisation. The Mission has widely demonstrated the usage of composites in sectors like transportation, bio-medical, building & construction etc. The Mission activities have created a significant and measurable impact towards composite technology development & its subsequent commercialisation. The Advanced Composites Mission has launched 22 projects focusing on the technological development of Indian Composite industry. The Advanced Composites Mission has been an experiment to bring about a culture of technology development towards commercialization especially for the technology starved SMEs. The Mission has attempted to source the knowledge from various centres of excellence across the country and brought the industries closer for technology absorption, development & dissemination. The attributes such as attractive scheme of financial assistance, technological risk sharing, an effective programme management and knowledge-based project monitoring by experts coupled with the market intervention by reaching to the user agencies have all helped the Mission to record its achievements in a short span and arrive at a threshold. Mission Initiatives towards Rebuilding In the wake of disastrous damages by the earthquake in Gujarat, the Advanced Composites Mission of TIFAC has been contributing to the national efforts of re-building and rehabilitation. A wide array of innovative composite products suitable for low-cost building & construction sector and bio-medical appliances has been developed by the Advanced Composites Mission. Jute-coir composite boards, rice husk particle boards, fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) toilet blocks, multipurpose FRP handcarts and composite artificial limbs etc. developed under various projects launched by the Mission address the crucial need of the hour – post-disaster relief at the quickest possible time! The Advanced Composites Mission has taken up the construction of 500 nos. low-cost shelters of 240 sq. ft. area (20 ftx12 ftx8 ft high) made of jute-coir composite boards & rice-husk particle boards with bamboo mat veneer supported on steel channels & angles. To cater to these shelters, supplying & erection of 128 nos. FRP modular toilet units complete with civil works are also being constructed. Compiled by Sukla Choudhury
