Partnership with Milan Politecnico
Meet us at: Techtextil Frankfurt April 23-26 - Hall 12.1, Booth C18
Plenty of time, energy, and resources are dedicated to research, which is pivotal inside Gavazzi’s philosophy. This approach has been the fertile ground for excellent quality results and to develop innovative products of significant relevance.
The partnership with the Politecnico in Milan has been extremely valuable. It started in 2008 and time by time has set increasingly ambitious goals.
Teachers and students deal with many issues, actively supporting the company’s technical skills development.
The main focus is the development of a new generation of composites to improve the performance of structural restoration and reinforcement interventions on existing buildings or to create light and low thickness elements for the construction of new buildings. In compliance with the national and international reference standards, a wide range of AR (Alkali-Resistant) glass fiber meshes suitable for different types of applications has been created.
Ongoing tests are carried out in the laboratories of the Politecnico thanks to the collaboration of highly qualified and committed staff in search of constantly improving solutions. Tests are carried out from single specimens of meshes and different composites up to the full-scale tests that allow to effectively evaluate the real response of the load-bearing elements in case of a seismic event and to model the response of the composite. It is then possible to create effective methods of design calculation.
Compression test with concentrated load on reinforced masonry with Gavazzi mesh
4-point bending test on reinforced shaft with Gavazzi mesh
In addition to research on materials for structural applications, the partnership has made it possible to carry out several studies that have shown how the use of glass fiber mesh is a valid and guaranteed alternative to the traditional technique of steel reinforcing bars. A striking example of this is the experimental campaign carried out on reinforcement for concrete screeds.
Compression test with concentrated load on reinforced screed with Gavazzi mesh
Reinforced screed with Gavazzi mesh
With the support of the Politecnico, Gavazzi has been involved in numerous national and international research projects aimed at the application of cementitious composites reinforced with fiberglass mesh.
ACCIDENT
We would like to recall here the first research project: ACCIDENT - "Advanced cementitious composites in design and construction of safe tunnel" (funded within the Interreg Italy-Switzerland - 2009-2012 projects), aimed at the design and construction of a multilayer tunnel segment to guarantee the safety of the tunnels against exceptional events. The study has shown that the cementitious composite reinforced with glass mesh can be considered a valid component in structures granting a significant improvement of safety against explosion.
ACTIVE SYNERGIES
Funded as part of the FESR projects of the Lombardy Region – 2013 with the aim of studying a new roofing technology for prefabricated buildings characterized by lightness, the ACTIVE SYNERGIES project stands out. This technology is essential to preserve the original structure while complying with the current requirements pertaining seismic events, thermal insulation capacity and the possibility of incorporating alternative energy production systems such as photovoltaic panels.
EASEE
With the EASEE project (funded by the European Community under the FP7 - 2015 Program), Gavazzi was the sole supplier of reinforcing meshes. A high-performance insulating panel was proposed consisting of an EPS core and two external skins of fiber-reinforced composite of limited thickness (12 mm). A special achievement of the project was an application to life on an ALER building located in Cinisello Balsamo.
SMART PIQUER
The SMART PIQUER project (funded as part of the FESR projects of the Lombardy Region - 2017) led to the definition of an innovative type of high-performance sandwich panel for the energy improvement of buildings, characterized by high environmental sustainability thanks to the use of new materials aimed at minimizing the environmental impact: the core was replaced by a cementitious foam with very low thermal conductivity and considerable lightness, while lightened cementitious composites were used for the external laminas. In this way we wanted to increase the sustainability of the product and its incombustibility in case of fire, preventing the risk of high temperature smoke formation on the façade, which today represents one of the most important problems.
