Backgrond
Translucent concrete is not a very old product as it was developed by a Hungarian architect, Aron Losonczi in 001 working with a scientist at the Technical University of Budapest. Aron Losonczi came up with a concept of combining the two materials:concrete and optical fibers,during his study at the Royal University cillege of fine Arts in Stockholm. The art wrok was a combination of glass and ordinary concrete. Translucent concrete is the brightest concrete developed in the recent years.The leading manufacturers of this product are LitraCon in Hungary and LUCEM in Germany.
Working Principle
Translucent concrete works on the bases of "Nano optics".it is because optical fibres in the concrete act like slits and carry the light through concrete
Material used for Translucent concrete.
1.cement
2.aggregate (sand)
3.optical fibers
Applications
1. Translucent concrete Blocks are used for floors and load bearing wall.
2. It is used in furniture for decorative and aesthetic purpose.
3. Speed bumps in parking lots and highwayscan use translucent concreteblocks iwth a light source beneathor reflecting from other vehicles/sources help in navigation very effectively.Even the lane markers in highways can use this materialto light up the roadways.
The biggest disadvantage of the new material is its cost.Producing a square which is only 2,5cm thick about 800 euros. Apart from the price, the problem is a crisis that could be observed in the economy in the years when material was invented and developed.But that was only the beginning ; some time later Aron created a concrete called Litracon whose composition and manufacturing process allowed fro significant cost reduction.there is a chance that translucent concrete will replace luxfer tiles used in architecture today. Transparent concrete can be used as a structural element and it contains between 2.5% and 4% of fibre optics in its volume.
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