As a new popular material, transparent concrete perfectly combines the strength of traditional concrete with the agility of modern light and shadow art, bringing an unprecedented visual feast to urban space.

1.The Italian venue of the Shanghai World Expois one of the earliest buildings in China to use transparent concrete. Whenever night falls, its strip shaped translucent concrete exterior wall emits soft light, full of a strong artistic atmosphere.

2.The Yinshi Dieyuan'er Hutong Hotelin Beijing has attracted many tourists to come and check in due to its thick blue brick and tile walls, old vermilion painted wooden doors, and well arranged courtyard decorations. The interior walls of the courtyard are decorated with point shaped translucent concrete, cleverly blending bamboo shadows and starry concrete to create a unique charm.

3.The guardrail of Hangzhou Binjiang Sanqiao Asian Games Parkis made of prefabricated blue transparent concrete. Strolling by the banks of the Qiantang River shrouded in dusk, the distant city lights and nearby fences complement each other, making one incredibly comfortable.

Transparent concrete stands out in the field of architecture due to its transparency and advanced feel. So, how to make by technical?

Raw materialsinclude ordinary cement, fly ash, mineral powder, natural sand, water, and additives,and an important material - optical fiber or resin.

Production technology

There are two methods: pre-planting and post-planting. The pre-planting method is to assembly the mold with transparent materials (such as optical fibers) located and then pour concrete. The post-planting method is to implant transparent materials in prefabricated concrete components.

Does it sound like it's not difficult either?

But what you don't know is that there are many obstacles on the road to creating high-end materials:

The volume and diameter parameters of transparent fibers will affect the strength of transparent concrete;

The type and spacing of transparent fibers will affect the transmittance;

In addition, due to the different thermal expansion coefficients between transparent fibers and cement-based materials, in practical applications, it is necessary to use sulfur aluminate cement, epoxy resin AB adhesive, silane coupling agent, etc. to improve the interfacial bonding strength.

Transparent concrete has extremely strong expressive power and excellent decorative effects. When there is no lighting, it presents the color of plain concrete; When the lights are turned on, the combination of light and shadow will showcase a more perfect artistic charm.

As the artworks in the concrete industry, in the future, transparent concrete will have more applications!