Iran to experiment with composite structures for the first time

Mehrdad Davarpanah, the major developer of the all-composite bridge structures with the span of 10, 20 and 30 meters, who is a Civil Engineering graduate of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) told Mehr News technology correspondent that composite structures were new structures which would make possible building of structures otherwise impossible to build using current technologies. “Composite structures are systems without a modular skeleton created with joining of predesigned composite blocks, which is very similar to children’s toys,” he added.

Davarpanah said that the system was based on the theory of folder plates. “The composite structures have not yet been launched globally, and it is the first time such structures are introduced to Iran,” he added.

“These composite structures would make buildings more resistant compared to buildings structured with normal materials,” the developer said, “composite structures make it possible to build structures 100 per cent earthquake-resistant,” he believed. “These structures find applications in construction of bridges, tunnels, plane fuselage, dams, buildings with unlimited number of floors and height, megastructures (very large superstructures) in lowest costs and highest resistance. It is a good alternative to metal skeletons in construction industry,” he said.

Davarpanah said that introduction of composites would reflect an image of the future of the world using technology. “Experimental designs of composite structures have been developed in Iran’s University of Science and Technology; we are currently working on construction of a dome structure to be installed in Isfahan’s Zayandehroud and a multipurpose hall including office space, machinery and storehouse using composite structures,” he gave as examples of applications of composite structures. “The raw material used in developing composites are fiberglass and petrochemical material which are amply produced domestically,” said he, and that “the industrially-produced composites open the prospects of exports in addition to use inside the country especially near border regions.”

He cited economic viability of composites compared to metal structures in construction industry as an advantage of these structures. “The design has been patented internationally in the US as an Iranian technology,” Davarpanah added.

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