Fiber reinforced rebar formed into a coil for transportation

Abstract

A composite reinforcing bar is formed from a series of inner rovings with first and second helical wrappings of at least one roving wrapped around the inner rovings in opposed directions of wrapping with the resin permeated therethrough. The bar structure is formed to allow torsional bending sufficient to allow the formed bar to be wound to form a coil of the bar wrapped a series of times around an axis at right angles to the length of the bar. The bar is forwarded into a rotating winding frame formed by a series of posts around a vertical rotation axis. The coil is held in place while the frame is removed for transporting the coil to a remote location. At the remote location the coil is placed in a similar winding frame and the bar is pulled from the coil and cut to a required length.

1 . A method of supplying reinforcing bar comprising:
 forming the reinforcing bar from rovings of reinforcing fibers arranged generally longitudinal to the bar and a resin permeated through both the rovings to form a structure integrated by the permeated resin;   coiling the formed bar to form a coil of the bar wrapped a series of times around an axis at right angles to the length of the bar;   applying holding members to hold the bar in the coil;   transporting the coil of the bar to a remote location;   at the remote location, pulling the bar from the coil and cutting the bar to a required length less than the length of the coil.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the step of forming the reinforcing bar includes providing a series of inner rovings of reinforcing fibers arranged longitudinal to the bar, and providing at least one helical wrapping or wrappings of at least one roving wrapped around the inner rovings with the resin being permeated through both the inner rovings and through said at least one wrapping to form a structure integrated by the permeated resin. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the step of forming the reinforcing bar includes providing a series of inner rovings of reinforcing fibers arranged longitudinal to the bar, providing a first helical wrapping or wrappings of at least one roving wrapped around the inner rovings in a first direction of wrapping, and providing a second helical wrapping or wrappings of at least one roving wrapped around the inner rovings in a second opposed direction of wrapping with the resin being permeated through both the inner rovings and through the wrappings to form a structure integrated by the permeated resin. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 3  wherein the bar has an outer surface portion which extends along at least most of the length of the bar and at the outer surface portion, the inner rovings have parts thereof between the first and second wrapping or wrappings exposed and bulged outwardly by tension applied by the wrapping or wrappings during curing, the bulged parts defining components of the outer surface portion of the bar which are thus rough and exposed for engaging a material to be reinforced so as to transfer longitudinal loads between the material to be reinforced and the inner rovings. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4  wherein the resin is exposed on the outside surfaces of the inner rovings and the wrapped rovings. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5  wherein the outside surface portion is free from bonded exterior roughening elements attached onto the outside surface of the resin. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein, at the outer surface portion, the resin is cured while the inner and wrapped rovings are free from external pressure such that the shape of the outer surface is defined solely by the shape of the inner and wrapped rovings as the resin is cured. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the diameter of the bar is in the range 0.375 inch up to 1.5 inch. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the diameter of the bar is in the range 0.5 inch up to 1.5 inch. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the diameter of the bar is in the range 0.75 inch up to 1.5 inch. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the resin is a Vinyl ester resin 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the rovings are formed from E glass 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the number of wraps of the at least one wrapping is such that a spacing between wraps is in the range 1.0 to 2.0 wraps/inch. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the modulus of elasticity is less than 50. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 2  wherein the bar can be coiled to a radius of curvature of less than 7 feet with no damage. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the bar is coiled in a winder onto an inside surface of a support structure. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 16  wherein the support structure comprises a series of posts arranged in a circle around the axis with the posts parallel to the axis. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 18  wherein the bar is fed by a guide into the interior of the support structure and the support structure is rotated around the axis at least in part by forwarding motion of the bar into the interior. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 16  wherein the support structure is removed after holding strappings are applied to the coil and a similar support structure is provided at the remote location for holding the coil while the bar is pulled from the coil. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 16  wherein the coil is transported with the support structure in place holding the coil in position. 
     
     
         21 . The method according to  claim 16  wherein the coil is supported by an internal holder member for transportation.