FuturePile is believed to be Australia’s first fibre composite piling system for the rehabilitation of current infrastructure and the construction of new infrastructure.

 

Fibre reinforced plastics, or Fibre Composites (FC), have many advantageous properties over traditional materials that include high strength/stiffness to weight ratios, low weight and relatively good impact performance, whilst being resistant to corrosion, water, pests and UV deterioration.

Correctly designed and manufactured FC products, such as FuturePile, are designed for a service life of 75 years and require minimal maintenance during this period.

 

FuturePile is a round pipe pile designed to be a direct replacement for traditional piling materials and techniques, and can be incorporated into pile repair activities with minimal disruption to the usage of the bridge or jetty/pier asset.

 

Current pile sizes are 300, 475 and 600mm however the flexibility of BAC Technologies Pty Ltd’s (BAC) manufacturing process allows for standard sizes, or for the diameter and wall thickness of the piles to be tailored for each application to ensure optimisation of the materials and maximum cost effectiveness.

This size range suits applications ranging from repairing existing timber marine piles in piers/jetties up to the construction of new road bridge infrastructure.

 

Research and Development Process

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The research and development process for the FuturePile product range was initiated following a request from the Brisbane City Council (BCC) to develop a method of rehabilitating the substructure of the heritage-listed Shorncliffe Pier, without closing the Pier or removing or modifying any headstock and/or deck.

 

Following the prototype development and acceptance of the concept, BAC designed and manufactured over 40 FuturePile FC piles for the project and provided technical assistance in the design of the installation process.

 

Due to the success of the project, BAC patented the concept and began a Queensland Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI) Proof of Concept research program to further investigate and develop civil applications of the system.

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The research and development process that followed involved:

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• Material coupon testing to gather mechanical properties for engineering

• Traditional engineering preliminary structural design

• FEA modelling and simulation

• Laminate optimisation

• Market research

• Prototyping of new manufacturing process

• Manufacture of full 10m pile

• Laboratory testing of compressive and moment serviceability

• Pile driving testing

• Pile driving analysis
   

FuturePile Structural Performance

Following the extensive development process the following parameters for the FuturePile FC piles were determined and confirmed.

 

A 1m section of the 475 FuturePile was tested in compression up to a serviceability load of 1500kN and showed no sign of damage. The testing was halted at this point as the capacity of the test equipment was reached. The capacities of the current size range are tabulated below. In some applications with high moment requirements, it is possible to post-fill the composite section with concrete or other filler materials. This will result in a pile with the same or greater moment capacity as a current pile whilst remaining a light weight FC pile for the majority of the installation process.