What is a carbon plate?

A carbon plate is a strip 5 to 15 cm wide, 1.2 mm, 1.4mm thick, made of a multitude of carbon fibers.

To make it very suitable, a carbon plate could correspond to a multitude of hair glued together in a rectangular section 5, 10 or 15 cm wide by 1.2 mm, 1.4mm thick.

What uses for carbon plates?

Carbon plates are used in building renovation or rehabilitation work to reinforce reinforced concrete structures: lintels, posts, beams, slabs, etc.

They are always calculated by a structural design office.

Carbon plates their strengths:

• light

• speed of installation

• low thickness of the carbon plate (no visible beams under the slab in the case of floor reinforcement)

For further :

• the carbon plates are glued with epoxy resin on the concrete support

• in public buildings (public buildings), carbon plates must be protected against fire. Depending on the fire resistance desired by the control office, we know how to size and put in place the appropriate fire protection.

• the carbon plates require preparation of the concrete support: stripping, sanding and dusting of the surface to be sure to stick them on the concrete element and not on the existing coating or paint film.

Gluing a carbon plate over paint or plaster in place has no use in reinforcing the concrete element.

How does a carbon plate work?

The carbon plate plays the same role as a reinforcement in reinforced concrete.

In structural calculation, one reasons as follows: (example in the case of a reinforced concrete floor)

This floor is subjected to its own weight and to the overloads of various external elements (furniture, people, machines, etc.).

The sum of all these loads allows the structural design office to calculate a minimum section of reinforcement to be integrated into the reinforced concrete so that the slab does not bend.

This minimum reinforcement section integrated into the reinforced concrete of the slab can also be calculated for a carbon plate; the difference lies in the material used. A steel frame does not have the same mechanical properties as a carbon plate, but by changing these parameters in their calculations, the design offices are able to give us a minimum carbon plate section to support the slab.