Abstract:
Structural body comprises a concrete core and a cap around the opening. A first wrap is wrapped under tension around the concrete core and a portion of the cap to form a continuous water resistant barrier around the outer surface of the concrete core. A second wrap can be wrapped under tension around the inner surface of concrete core to form a continuous water resistant barrier around the inner surface of the concrete core. Structural body can be formed as a pipe with a male and female ends to interconnect multiple pipes. The joint formed between two structural bodies has a continuous water resistant barrier that prevents the environment from contacting the concrete core.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/991,694 filed May 12, 2014, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
         [0002]    This invention relates to pipe, tanks and vessels, and methods of making the same, and more specifically to a pipe, tanks and vessels with a water resistant barrier. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Concrete bodies, such as pipes, vessels, tanks, and the like are susceptible to corrosion either from the exterior or interior environment. To combat this problem, liners of highly plasticized PVC were created to be cast into the inside diameter of the concrete core to provide corrosion protection. These liners were successful in providing corrosion protection; however, they had other problems. When connecting multiple bodies, such as pipes, the joint area between pipe sections needs to be sealed, typically by having a person weld a protective strip over the joint once the pipe sections are installed. The result of the production problems and the field welding made this system expensive and limited the size range to those accessible to man entry. An improved reinforced concrete pipe that can effectively seal the concrete core from the environment is needed. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    A structural body is disclosed. The structural body comprises a concrete core and a cap around the opening. A first wrap is wrapped under tension around the concrete core and a portion of the cap to form a continuous water resistant barrier around the outer surface of the concrete core. A second wrap can be wrapped under tension around the inner surface of concrete core to form a continuous water resistant barrier around the inner surface of the concrete core. Structural body can be formed as a pipe with a male and female ends to interconnect multiple pipes. The joint formed between two structural bodies has a continuous water resistant barrier that prevents the environment from contacting the concrete core. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a male end of a pipe according to an embodiment of this disclosure. 
           [0006]      FIG. 2  shows a close-up view of the male end of the pipe of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0007]      FIG. 3  shows a perspective view of a female end of the pipe of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0008]      FIG. 4  shows a close-up view of the female end of the pipe of  FIG. 3 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 5  shows a close-up sectional view of a joint connecting two pipes according to another embodiment of this disclosure. 
           [0010]      FIG. 6  shows a close-up sectional view of a joint connecting two pipes according to another embodiment of this disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0011]    Disclosed is a high-strength structural body and method of making the same. Structural body can take the form of a pipe, tank, vessel of some other shape with at least one opening  108  that needs to be sealed. The illustrated embodiment is a pipe  100 . Pipe  100  comprises a concrete core  104  (shown in  FIG. 2 ) that is fitted at its opening with a cap  106  and surround with a wrap  102  to form a water resistant barrier around concrete core  104 . Pipe  100  has a male end  116  ( FIG. 2 ) and female end  118  ( FIG. 4 ), which allows two pipes  100  can be connected male-to-female end to form a joint with a continuous water resistant barrier between concrete core  104  and the environment. 
         [0012]    Turning to  FIG. 2 , concrete core  104  can be cast around a cage  110  that can include one or more longitudinal rods  112  and one or more steel wires  114 . Steel wire  114  is spirally wrapped around longitudinal rods  112 . Wet concrete is then cast around a cage  110  to form concrete core  104 . Alternative embodiments include other shapes of steel reinforcement or steel or a high tensile strength material with an elasticity modulus greater than or equal to the concrete in concrete core  104 , such as fibers made from steel, plastic, etc. Such reinforcement counteracts the stress from wrap  102  that may cause, do to the Poisson coefficient, concrete core  104  to elongate in a direction perpendicular to the applied load of wrap  102  and crack. 
         [0013]    Concrete core  104  is fitted at its opening  108  with a cap  106 . In the illustrated embodiment, cap  106  is positioned around male end  116  of concrete core  104 , and another cap  107  is positioned in female end  118  of concrete core  104 . Cap  106 , as shown in  FIG. 2 , has an outer sleeve  134  that surrounds a portion of outer surface  126  of concrete core  104  and an inner sleeve  136  that surrounds outer diameter  124  of male end  116  of concrete core  104 . Cap  106  can include one or more protrusions  135  corresponding with a depression in concrete core  104  to mechanically lock cap  106  to concrete core  104 . Protrusions  135  can be on outer sleeve  134  or inner sleeve  136 . At least one groove  138  is at the end of inner sleeve  136  for receiving a sealing ring(s)  139 . 
         [0014]    Cap  107 , as shown in  FIG. 4 , has an outer sleeve  140  that surrounds a portion of outer surface  126  of concrete core  104  and an inner sleeve  142  that surrounds inner diameter  128  of female end  118  of concrete core  104 . Cap  107  can include one or more protrusions  137  corresponding with a depression(s) in concrete core  104  to mechanically lock cap  107  to concrete core  104 . Cap  106  and cap  107  can be made from steel, a low permeable polymer, or any other material capable of providing a water-resistant barrier to concrete core  104 . 
         [0015]    Cap  106 , cap  107 , and outer surface  126  of concrete core  104  can be wrapped with wrap  102 . Wrap  102  can extend the length of outer surface  126  and cover outer sleeve  134  of cap  106  and outer sleeve  140  of cap  107 . Wrap  102  forms a continuous water resistant barrier around concrete core  104 . When wrap  102  is combined with cap  106  and cap  107  a continuous water resistant barrier is formed that can seal concrete core  104 , and thus, interior area  120 , from the external environment. To the extent that any moisture seeps into the joints formed between male end  116  of pipe  100  and female end  118  of another pipe  100  sealing rings  139  positioned in grooves  138  would block the moisture from seeping beyond the sealing rings  139  and into interior area  120 . 
         [0016]    Inner surface  122  of concrete core  104  can be wrapped with a wrap  103 . With respect to male end  116 , shown in  FIG. 2 , wrap  103  can extend the length of inner surface  122  of concrete core  104  and up sealing face  130  of male end  116  and around outer diameter  124  of male end  116 . With respect to female end  118 , as shown in  FIG. 4 , wrap  103  can extend up sealing face  132  and around inner diameter  128  of female end  118 . Wrap  103  forms a continuous water resistant barrier around inner surface  122  of concrete core  104 . 
         [0017]    When wrap  103  is combined with cap  106  and cap  107  a continuous water resistant barrier is formed that can seal the concrete in concrete core liquid in interior area  120 . To the extent that any moisture seeps into the joints formed between male end  116  of pipe  100  and female end  118  of another pipe  100  sealing rings  139  positioned in groove  138  would block the moisture from seeping beyond sealing rings  139  and into the outer environment. 
         [0018]    Wrap  102  and wrap  103  can be spirally wrapped under controlled tension to apply a radial compression on concrete core  104  to enable concrete core  104  to handle a higher internal pressure or external pressure, respectively. Wrap  102  and wrap  103  can be made of a fiberglass cloth wrap, a polymer wrap, or any other material capable of providing a water-resistant barrier to concrete core  104 . Wrap  102  and wrap  103  also counters the effect of the Poisson deformation that may generate axial tension in concrete core  104 . 
         [0019]      FIG. 5  shows an alternative design for connecting two pipes  202   a  and  202   b  when an axial restraint is not required (i.e., there&#39;s not an external force trying to separate each pipe  202   a  and  202   b ). In this configuration, a concrete core  204  is spirally wrapped under stress with a pre impregnated wrap  202  to pre-stress concrete core  204  to restrain radial expansion of concrete core. Wrap  202  similarly provides a water-resistant barrier to external the environment or a continuous water barrier from the contents inside pipe  202   a ,  202   b . A groove is machined in each wrap  202  to receive a seal  206 . Pipes  200   a  and  200   b  are joined together by a collar  150 . When each pipe  202   a  and  202   b  are combined together, a water-resistant barrier to concrete core  204  is formed. 
         [0020]      FIG. 6  is an example of joining two pipes  300   a  and  300   b  together when axial restraint is necessary. Each pipe  300   a  and  300   b  is fitted with a collar portion  154 . A vertical flange  155  is welded or fixed in some manner to each collar portion  154 . Each pipe  300   a  and  300   b  is spirally wrapped under stress with a pre-impregnated fiber that for wrap  302  to pre-stress concrete core  304  to restrain axial expansion of concrete core  304 . When each pipe  300   a  and  300   b  are brought together, a collar  152  is welded, bolted, or attached in some other manner to each vertical flange  155  of each collar portion  154 . Spaces can be formed to receive one or more seals  306  and  308 . When each pipe  302   a  and  302   b  are combined together, a water-resistant barrier to and from concrete core  304  is formed and pipe  302   a  and  302   b  are axially restrained so that they cannot be separated by an external force. 
         [0021]    While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by appended claims and their equivalents.