REINFORCEMENT OF SUPPORT ELEMENTS

Abstract: A method of reinforcing a support element (1,101) such as a wooden pole carrying overhead power lines, in which a resin impregnated fabric (3,103) is provided around the support element in the region to be reinforced and cured. In one embodiment, the fabric comprises a glass-fibre cloth (3) which is wrapped around the support element and a resin impervious sheath (5) is positioned surrounding the fabric. Resin is introduced into the sheath which is sealed at the bottom thereof and cured. In an alternative embodiment, the fabric (103) is pre-impregnated with a curable resin system, and the fabric is adapted to be electrically conductive and passing an electrical current through the fabric effects cure of the resin.

Description: The present invention relates to the reinforcement of support elements, particularly but not exclusively wooden support elements, e.g. poles for supporting electricity or telegraph lines. Many support elements are simply located in the ground and are of a material which is prone to decay or rotting particularly in that region which extends for a short distance from either side of ground level. Examples of such support elements are wooden telegraph poles and supports for overhead power lines. This rotting is due particularly to bacterial action in the region of the ground but may be accelerated by other influences, e.g. dog urine. The rotting will eventually reach a stage at which the support element will become unsafe and obviously the pole will require attention before this stage is reached. One solution is simply to replace the entire pole but this is a comparatively expensive operation which may involve disruption to the general public, e.g. because power lines must be switched off. A further alternative is to effect reinforcement of the support element in situ and it is with such a method that the present invention is concerned. According to the present invention there is provided a method of reinforcing a support element comprising providing around the support element a resin impregnated fabric and curing the resin. Preferably the fabric is a fibre glass cloth and it is to be preferred that the fabric has a predetermined porportion of warp and weft strands to give the desired strength characteristics. A proportion of 60:40 has been found satisfactory. The fabric is preferably of the needle mat type to give sufficient bulk. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, applicable particularly to the reinforcement of vertical support poles (e.g. of wood), a fibre glass cloth is provided around the region of the pole to be reinforced and is subsequently surrounded by a resin impervious sheath which is sealed at the bottom thereof. A curable resin is then introduced into the sheath in the region of the base thereof so that the glass-fibre cloth is impregnated from bottom to top. The resin is then allowed to cure to produce the reinforcement around the pole. The sheath is spaced sufficiently from the pole by the use of a needle mat cloth and wrapping it several times round the pole. According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of reinforcing a support element comprising providing around the support element a fabric pre-impregnated with a curable resin system, said fabric being adapted to be electrically conductive, and passing an electrical current through the fabric thereby effecting cure of the resin. Preferably the fabric is a woven glass-fibre; alternatively it may be a unidirectional fabric. Preferably also the fabric is reinforced with carbon fibre which serves to make the fabric electrically conductive. The resin with which the fabric is pre-impregnated is preferably one which begins to cure at a temperature of 70-90°C. This temperature may be achieved simply by passing an electrical current through the fabric and for this purpose the fabric will preferably incorporate wires across which a potential difference may be applied. The resin is preferably such that, once cure of the resin has commenced by passage of the electrical current, the current flow may be terminated and the resin will continue to cure by virtue of the exotherm generated. The invention, as applied to the reinforcement of a wooden support pole (e.g. for telephone or electricity wires), will be described by way of example only hereinafter. The various aspects of the invention will be further described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figs. 1 to 7 illustrate successive stages in the reinforcement of a wooden support pole in accordance with the method of the invention, Fig.8 illustrates the completed reinforcement, Fig.9 illustrates the method of producing a reinforcement by an alternative method, and Fig.10 shows the finished reinforcement. The drawings illustrate that reinforcement of a wooden support pole 1 over the region most prone to rotting, namely 1m above and below the ground 2. As a first stage in the method (Fig.1), the ground 2 around the pole 1 is excavated to a depth slightly greater than 1m (i.e. the depth below ground to which the pole 1 is to be reinforced) and the pole 1 cleaned of loose material, soil, etc. The leading edge of a 2m wide length of glass fibre fabric 3 (Fig.2) is then stapled or otherwise affixed to pole 1 and the fabric 3 is wound around the pole 1 such that there is 1m of fabric both above and below ground. A suitable glass-fibre fabric has a weight of 700gm⁻² and is available as needle mat type M from G.R.P. Supplies. The number of times the fabric 3 is wound around the pole 1 depends on the fabric used but we have found three turns of the above type M fabric to be adequate. The fabric 3 is finally secured in position on the pole 1 by staples 4 (Fig.3). An outer sheath of heavy duty plastics sheet 5 (Fig.4) having a liquid inlet coupling 6 is next positioned around the glass cloth 3. This sheet 5 has a width of approximately 2.2m and is located such that the top and bottom edges thereof overlap the glass cloth 3 by approximately 0.1m with the coupling 6 being in the region of the lower edge of the glass cloth 3. The sheet 5 may be a polyester sheet such as that available from ICI under the Trade Mark MELINEX. We prefer to use the 250 micron thickness grade of MELINEX. Whatever material is selected for the sheet 5, it must be one which will withstand the exotherm generated during the resin curing stages described below. As shown in Fig.4, the widthwise edges of the sheet 5 overlap each other and two parallel sealing strips 7 are provided in the overlap region. The strips 7 may be of KELSEAL 450 available from Evode. Strips of glass filament tape 8 (Fig. 5) are provided around the plastics sheet 5 to retain it in position. A strip of plastics material 9 (Fig. 6) is now bent into circular form and pressed into the ground around the base of the pole 1 in the excavated portion of the ground 2. The height of strip 9 above the soil in which it is embedded is such that it extends above the lower edge of plastics sheet 5. A quick setting resin 10 (e.g. having a setting time of two minutes or thirty) is now poured into the trough defined by plastics strip 9 to a level such that the resin 10 enters the space between the lower edge of sheet 5 and the pole 1. The cured resin 10 thus provides a seal 11 at the lower region of sheet 5. A tube 12 (Fig. 7) is affixed to the coupling 6 so as to extend vertically to a level higher than the top of glass cloth 3. A curable resin 13 is now introduced into tube 12 at the top thereof and thus enters the interior of the sheath formed by sheet 5 towards the base thereof. Consequently, resin 13 begins to fill the sheath and impregnate the glass cloth 3 from bottom to top, thus ensuring that the cloth is fully impregnated. Loss of resin from the bottom of the sheath formed by sheet 5 is prevented by seal 11 whereas strips 7 prevent escape of resin in the overlap region of sheet 5. Sufficient resin 13 is used to ensure that all of glass cloth 3 is impregnated and the resin is then allowed to cure. Resin 13 is chosen so as to be of low viscosity to ensure full penetration of the resin into the glass cloth 3. The cure time of the resin is selected to give sufficient time to complete the pouring operation without substantial cure of the resin. A cure time of thirty minutes or so is suitable. A suitable resin 13 is methacrylate resin (e.g. MODAR available from ICI) associated with a benzoyl peroxide catalyst and amine accelerator and formulated to give a cure time of thirty minutes. The resin 13 should include filler powder (e.g. alumina trihydrate) to reduce the exotherm and thereby avoiding possible cracking of the resin. A 60:40 mixture of resin filler will generally be suitable. Resin 10 may also be comprised of methacrylate/­ benzoyl peroxide/amine. In this case the resin system should be formulated to give a cure time of two minutes or so. Resin 10 should also include filler to prevent possible damage caused by the exotherm and in this case a resin filler ratio of 1:1 is suitable. After cure of resin 13, a rigid glass-cloth reinforced resin collar 14 is produced around the pole 1. The top half of sheet 5 (i.e. that portion above ground level) may be cut off to leave the top half of collar 14 exposed. Additionally, the excavated portion of the ground 2 can be refilled with earth. Using the above-described method, it will be found that the cured resin 13, in addition to providing a reinforcing collar around the pole 1 has also entered the pores, cracks, defects etc. in the pole 1 and prevents further decay therein. Furthermore, the heat generated during curing of the resin 13 is sufficient to kill fungus around the pole, which is, of course, advantageous in preventing further decay of the pole 1. Referring now to Figs. 9 and 10 there is illustrated the reinforcement of a wooden support pole 101 over the area prone to rotting, namely approximately 1m above and below the ground 102 by another method. Initially, the ground 102 around the pole 101 is excavated to a suitable depth and pole 101 is cleaned by removal of loose material etc. over the area to be reinforced. Subsequently, and as shown in Fig.9, a woven glass fabric 103 pre-impregnated with a curable resin system and reinforced with carbon fibre 104 is wound several times around pole 101. Care should be taken during the winding of the fabric 103 around the pole 101 to ensure that no air is trapped between the layers of fabric 103. The number of winds required for fabric 103 will depend on the exact nature of the cloth, but generally about seven winds will be suitable. Since the resin impregnant ensures that cloth 103 is "sticky", the layers of cloth 103 adhere to each other and further support of the cloth is not required. Cloth 103 also incorporates top and bottom copper wires 105 which are connected to an electrical supply (not shown) once the fabric 103 has been wound around pole 101. As described above, passage of current through fabric 103 initiates cure of the resin which continues after disconnection of the electrical supply owing to the exotherm generated. After cure of the resin, there results a rigid reinforcement sleeve 106 (see Fig.10) around the pole 101. This sleeve 106 not only reinforces the pole but also prevents further rotting thereof at least in the region of the sleeve 106. Although the invention has been specifically described with reference to a vertical wooden pole, it will be appreciated that the invention is also applicable to other types of support. Thus, for example, the method of the invention may be used for reinforcing corroded metal support girders of vertical or other orientation.

Claims: 1. A method of reinforcing a support element (1) characterised by providing around the support element a resin impregnated fabric (3) and curing the resin. 2. A method of reinforcing a generally vertical support element (1) characterised by providing a fabric (3) around the region of the support element to be reinforced, surrounding the fabric with a resin impervious sheath (5) which is sealed at the bottom thereof, and introducing a curable resin (13) into the sheath so that the fabric is impregnated. 3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, comprising securing one end of a length of the fabric (3) to the support element and wrapping the fabric therearound and over on itself and securing the other end in position on the support element. 4. A method as claimed in claim 2 or 3, comprising forming a trough around the support element (1) and the bottom of the resin impervious sheet (5) and introducing a quick setting resin (10) therein which enters the space between the lower edge of the sheet (5) and the support element (1) to seal same. 5. A method as claimed in any of claims 2, 3 or 4, in which the resin is introduced at or adjacent the bottom of the sheath so that the fabric is impregnated from the bottom to top. 6. A method as claimed in any preceding claim in which the fabric (3) comprises a glass fibre cloth. 7. A method as claimed in claim 6, in which the cloth is of the needle mat type. 8. A method as claimed in claim 1, in which the fabric is pre-impregnated with a curable resin system, and said fabric is adapted to be electrically conductive, and passing an electrical current through the fabric thereby effects cure of the resin. 9. A method as claimed in claim 8, in which the fabric is a woven glass-fibre and is reinforced with carbon fibre which serves to make the fabric electrically conductive. 10. A method as claimed in claims 8 and 9, in which the fabric is wound around the support element and the resin impregnant serves to adhere the layers of cloth to each other.

Inventors: DMOCHOWSKI, ANTHONY, RILEY, ERIC
Applicants: MERSEYSIDE AND NORTH WALES ELECTRICITY BOARD
Application year: 1985
Main classification: E04H12
IPC codes: B29C65, E04H12