Pilemedic
PileMedic™ is a patent-pending recently developed innovative product by QuakeWrap, Inc. president, Professor Mo Ehsani for repair, strengthening and encapsulation of steel, concrete and wood or timber piles. We invite you to watch videos of some of our projects to appreciate the ease of installation of this amazing versatile product. Applications include bridges, buildings, industrial plants, utility poles, piers, underwater piles, timber piles used in railroad bridges, etc. The following pages on this website detail the unique advantages of this product and why they make PileMedic™ a truly remarkable invention for repair of columns, piles and poles.
Nearly two decades ago, Professors Ehsani and Saadatmanesh introduced the concept of repair and retrofit of structures with Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) to the construction industry in a paper published at the ACI Concrete International. During this time the application of FRP products has seen significant growth worldwide. However, the form of these materials has remained virtually unchanged.
In the original concept, referred to as the wet layup method, fabrics of carbon or glass are saturated in the field with resins, such as epoxy, and they are bonded to the exterior surfaces of structural elements such as beams, columns and walls. The materials cure in less than a day, resulting in a reinforcing skin that is 2-3 times stronger than steel. The technique is somewhat labor intensive and requires trained installers to make sure the fibers in the fabric are aligned properly during the installation and that no air bubbles are trapped under the fabric. Samples of the saturated fabric are made each day on the job site and sent to a laboratory for testing to verify the strength of the installed products. However, these results become available in a few days, often after the project is near completion and remedial measures are difficult to implement.
In response to the above shortcomings, we have developed a new “form” of FRP products called SuperLaminate™ which are produced in our manufacturing facility. In this case, one or more layers of glass or carbon fabric are saturated with resin and passed through specially designed equipment that applies uniform heat and pressure. The result is a very thin solid laminated sheet; typical sheets are 0.01-0.025 inches thick X 50 inch wide X 150 feet long. The tensile strength of the laminate is about 155,000 psi. Basically, we have moved 70%-80% of the construction activity away from the field to our production facility. This results in savings in construction time, while improving the quality of the finished installation. Unlike the wet layup method, here the strength of the laminates can be tested prior to installation and if there are any defective products, they can be rejected.
The stiffness of SuperLaminate™ allows it to be coiled in the field to create a shell, like an extremely strong and durable Sonotube. This offers a unique cost-effective new method for strengthening deteriorated and corroded columns, underwater piles, utility poles, encapsulation of underwater piles in the tidal or splash zone. Other applications include post-disaster restoration of columns and piles following earthquakes, hurricanes, blast loading, etc. where PileMedic™ offers the fastest solution to restoring the integrity of the structure.
The patent-pending PileMedic™ system is the latest technology for encapsulation, repair and strengthening of piles, and columns. We invite you to watch videos of some of our projects to appreciate the ease of installation of this amazing versatile product.
The system works equally well on all materials including steel, concrete, and wood or timber. These FRP laminates are constructed with multiple layers of carbon and/or glass fabrics pressed together and passed through a specially-designed equipment that applies resin under pressure and heat to form a solid thin flexible laminate. The laminates can be used to repair and strengthen deteriorated and/or corroded columns in railroad and highway bridges, buildings, industrial facilities and underwater piles in coastal structures and piers.
