Hi-Con works with a special type of Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC), we call it CRC i2®. CRC is an abbriviation for Compact Reinforced Composite and its original form was developed and patented by Hans Henrik Bache at Aalborg Portland. CRC has a very high compressive strength – typically around 165 MPa in our production – but we often indicate a lower strength of 110 MPa, as this strength is the one we work with when designing and calculating the elements. The high compressive strength comes from a dense matrix with a low porosity, which is cricial in order to provide the high durability of more than 100 years - even in marine environments or in constructions that are exposed to extreme cold.
Our material, CRC i2® contains a great amount of steelfibers, which provide us with the desired ductility that allows us to apply a tight reinforcement without cracking. CRC i2® can be referred to as both a high performance concrete and a fiber concrete, but at Hi-Con we use the term UHPC to signal a number of other properties than strength. While fiber concrete is only reinforced by its fibers, we only use the fibers as secondary reinforcement to secure cracking control, which is important to our deflections. However, we use traditional reinforcement to secure the load capacity of our constructions.
