Research on key processes of UHPC for the exhibition building facade of the northern branch of the Palace Museum
Xiang Ji
China Construction Eighth Engineering Division Co., Ltd.
Hao'en Yao
China Construction Eighth Engineering Division Co., Ltd.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59429/bam.v8i2.14502
Keywords: northern branch of the Palace Museum; UHPC; key processes; casting optimization; back mold improvement
Abstract
As a significant cultural landmark dedicated to the preservation, exhibition, and research of cultural relics, the Northern Branch of the Palace Museum requires its exhibition building facade to not only meet stringent architectural aesthetic demands but also to possess excellent durability, impermeability, and structural stability, thereby accommodating the special environmental requirements for relic conservation. Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC), owing to its ultra-high strength, high toughness, and excellent formability, has emerged as an ideal material for this facade project. Focusing on the production of UHPC components for the facade, this paper centers on the entire process of 1:1 steel mold fabrication, with an emphasis on the technical optimization of two critical aspects: The casting process and the selection of the back mold. To address issues such as the settlement of steel fibers to the bottom caused by traditional vibration techniques, leading to insufficient component compactness, and the formation of blowholes on the back surface due to the use of an unpainted wood board back mold, comparative process tests were conducted. An improved casting method, termed "rolling while casting," and an optimized back mold strategy, "replacing unpainted wood boards with ordinary wood boards," are proposed. The results validate the significant effectiveness of the optimized processes in enhancing the compactness of UHPC components, reducing blowhole defects, and ensuring surface quality, thereby providing a technical reference for the production of UHPC components for similar cultural building facades.
References
[1] Peng, Wei, Long, Zheng, & Chen. (2019). Experimental investigation on the performance of historical squat masonry walls strengthened by uhpc and reinforced polymer mortar layers. Applied Sciences, 9(10), 2096.
[2] Jiang, Z. , Yang, J. , & Su, H. (2023). Mechanical response of masonry structure strengthened with ultra-high performance concrete (uhpc): a comparative analysis for different strengthening tactics. Frontiers in Materials, 10(10), 1289225.
[3] Estevan, L. , Torres, B. , Baeza, F. J. , Gattulli, V. , & Ivorra, S. (2024). Enhancing fire resistance of masonry structures: the potential of ultra high performance concrete (uhpc). Construction and Building Materials, 425(c), 136088.
[4] Xia, J. , Yang, J. , Zhang, Z. , Zou, Y. , Zhou, J. , & Wang, Z. , et al. (2024). Evaluating the performance of masonry arch strengthened with uhpc at extrados and intrados by experimental, numerical and analytical approaches. Structures, 65.
[5] Sleiman, E. , Ferrier, E. , Michel, L. , & Gerges, N. (2024). In-plane shear strengthening of masonry wallettes using ultra-high performance concrete precast plates. International Journal of Civil Engineering, 22(7), 27.