The first-ever innovative and green building laboratory in India, IGB Lab, was inaugurated at Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (ATIRA) campus. The laboratory will be used for testing as well as display of Textile Reinforcement Concrete (TRC).

Textile-reinforced concrete is a type of reinforced concrete in which the usual steel reinforcing bars are replaced by textile materials. Instead of using a metal cage inside the concrete, this technique uses a fabric cage inside the same.

According to experts, TRC is 80% lighter than fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) and stronger. This lab is an attempt to make the builders aware about this green building technology.

The lab has been established with international partners like Instut fur Textiltechnik-RWTH Aachen (ITA), Aachen Germany and German House for Research and Innovation, along with a Mumbai-based company and CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre, Chennai.

"We want to bring TRC to India after years of research. This laboratory will help us convince the architects and builders about the feasibility of TRC. For last 10 years, FRC is being used by builders for constructing green buildings," said Mohit Raina, Indian coordinator for German partners in IGB lab.

Currently, there is no technology for manufacturing TRC in India as it requires alkali-resistant glass as raw material which is not available in India.

"The glass is used to make warp-knitted structures for TRC and it is available only in Europe and China. The import duty for this kind of glass is 30% in India," added Raina. TRC can also be used for curved structures and in comparison to FRC gives extra carpet area to builders. 

Source:timesofindia.indiatimes.com