Germany-based Schock aims to corner a sizeable share of the rebar market with its innovative glass-fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) rebar that combines the benefits of steel with added advantages such as corrosion-resistance and non-transmittance of electromagnet currents.

The product – the Schock ComBar – is expected to be of special interest to the European and Middle Eastern construction industries, according to a spokesman for Schock, a specialist in the design and manufacture of innovative load-bearing construction products.
The spokesman elaborates: “Until recently, steel has been used virtually exclusively as the reinforcing material in reinforced concrete structures. However, there are certain situations where steel has its limitations – such as highly-corrosive environments or structures exposed to either electro-magnetic fields or to chemically-aggressive substances. In these cases, the installation of Schock ComBar is a viable and economic reinforcement solution.
“ComBar offers all the benefits of steel in terms of the design procedure, its tensile strength and its bond properties. Yet it is corrosion resistant, does not transmit electro-magnetic currents, is easily machined, and is far more durable than steel rebar in most environments. It is particularly suitable for applications in tunnelling, where the reinforcement has to resist enormous internal forces, but at the same time allow the tunnel-boring machine (TBM) to easily cut it.”
“With its ribbed surface geometry, ComBar is the ideal reinforcing material in marine construction, road construction and foundations and structures exposed to aggressive environmental conditions. Also in facilities where electro-magnetic fields would cause inductive currents in steel rebar,” he adds.
Schock ComBar, the spokesman points out, has proven its performance in projects in the GCC countries, where there are extremely aggressive environmental conditions and it provides a totally durable solution over reinforcing steel, which will corrode.
“The product has a 100-year guarantee, even in the most corrosive areas such as coastal regions or in sabkha soil.
As a result, it does not require
expensive corrosion protection
measures involving microsilica concrete, corrosion inhibitors, large concrete
cover or even coatings. Due to the use of ECR glass-fibres and a vinyl-ester-hybrid resin, it is also completely resistant to chemicals.
“ComBar has a particularly high glass content in its glassfibre core – 88 per cent. This gives the product an extremely high tensile strength – greater than 1,000 MPa – and with an e-modulus more than 60,000 MPa, these are performance values unique in the market place,” he emphasises.
Schock began its work on a glass-fibre reinforced polymer rebar in 1995, acting as the sole licensed distributor of an American product in Europe. However, this was to be only a transitional period, and in 2000 Schock started to develop its own GFRP rebar and the result was an improved reinforcing bar that meets all the requirements necessary for accreditation by the German Institute of Construction Technology (DIBt) as a reinforcing material in permanent reinforced concrete structures, he says.
The rebar is also backed by a number of key institutions and certification authorities. 
The spokesman elaborates: “The research and development efforts at Schock were supported by the Institute of Building Structures in Munich; the Institute of Structural Engineering in Darmstadt; the Institute of Polymer Technology in Erlangen; and the German Federal Environmental Foundation, which has been a significant financial contributor to Schock in the past three years.
“In March 2006, ComBar was certified to meet the requirements of the American ACI 440 guidelines by Professor Aboutaha at the Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. Several of the results exceed the values specified in the ACI 440 guidelines.
“The ISIS (Intelligent Sensing for Innovative Structures) certification by Professor Shamim Sheikh at the University of Toronto in Canada is expected later this year and the tests have conclusively shown that ComBar has proved itself to be the only Grade I GFRP reinforcement available worldwide. It performs in excess of the requirements of ISIS, the network group that provides civil engineers with smarter ways to build, repair and monitor structures using high-strength, non-corroding, fibre reinforced polymers and fibre-optic sensors. Certification and testing in the GCC countries are currently ongoing.”
Schock is continually developing and marketing innovative structural elements and reinforcement solutions for the construction industry.
The company, headquartered in Baden-Baden, southern Germany, has subsidiaries in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the UK and Hungary. Over the years, Schock has developed a sound reputation as a specialist in the design and manufacture of innovative load-bearing construction products, with thermal and noise insulation being its core competency areas and reinforcement technology becoming another major component of the company’s activities.
Schock has more than 400 employees at Schock engaged in providing high-quality, easy-to-install structural components and the company has a major investment programme dedicated to technical research and product development.
“Great emphasis is also placed on customer support and on the provision of comprehensive services including planning and design support services, in-house training sessions, seminars, design programmes and the development of comprehensive technical solutions.
Schock will be present at the Zabeel Hall at Stand No L 21.