PRODUCTION METHOD THEREOF

Technical Area The invention is related to the foundation piles which may be used in place of bored piles under land structures, especially related to the foundation piles which are connected with the structure on the sea from one end and driven into the seafloor at a certain depth from the other end for securely bearing the structures founded on the sea such as piers, bridges, platforms, etc. The invention is particularly related to prestressed reinforced concrete pipe pile and a production method for said pipe pile.

State of the Art

In the present days, the structures such as water pier, bridge, dock, platform etc. are established on the waters of sea, lake, ocean etc. Foundation piles are used to carry these structures. The foundation piles are driven into the sea floor at a certain depth from one end and connected with structures on the water surface, thereby having the function for bearing those structures. The foundation piles used to bear the structures are generally made of steel. Steel piles are driven into the sea ground at a certain depth and a part of the steel pile remains in the ground. The remaining part of the steel piles on the ground is connected to the platform pertaining to the structure by extending in the water. Due to the fact that the foundation piles are made of steel material, corrosion and material melts can occur on the steel piles as a result of staying in the salty water for a long time. This decreases the strength of the piles carrying the structure and brings with it significant risks for the safety of the structure and people. Another important disadvantage of steel piles is its high cost.

Composite (steel + concrete) foundation piles can also be used to reduce costs in the present technique. In these structures, the outer part of the remaining part in the salt water is made of steel material and the inner part is manufactured with concrete reinforcement of high strength whereby it is tried to extend the life of the piles. In this way, it is tried to ensure that the concrete and steel reinforcement inside performs the bearing function even though the outer part corrodes in the process of time. However, these products also bring about risks due to corrosion and material melting. It is not often preferred due to its difficulty of production process for having a composite structure compared to the pile completely made of steel.

The most important disadvantage of similar products and production processes is that the steel-made foundation piles bearing the structures on the sea are short-lived due to corroding and material melting over time due to salt water. Another disadvantage is the high production and material costs. Steel material costs are much higher than concrete.

No patent or utility model application similar to the product and production method of the present invention was found in the patent search. There are some patents in the relevant technical field.

One of them is the European Patent No. EP1472530B1 of the title "Electromagnetic analysis of concrete tensioning strands". The related patent discloses methods and test apparatus for testing tensioning members in a prestressed concrete conduits such as for example water pipes and water reservoir vessels. This device comprises a magnetic flux production means and a detector which is disposed proximal to a surface of the conduit in a common plane with the magnetic flow production means perpendicular to an axis of the conduit. The device operates in a series of low frequency signals or a pulse, such as for example in the range of 20 to 300 hertz. The output of the inspection device includes the signal and distance graph showing the results of a test of one conduit at one or more frequencies. In accordance with another method of analysis, the characteristic of the output phase is plotted according to the distance, including the phase or symbols of the phase-in or quadrature components of the signal received according to the driver signal. Another patent is Turkish Patent Publication No. TR2016/15468. This patent is related to a seismic isolation system, which is located on the deep seabeds, comprises a concrete caisson, a caisson lower plate where said concrete caisson is seated and lies on an aggregate bed, a touch surface (friction surface) created under said lower plate, is fixed on said friction surface and caisson lower plate, and comprises steel piles which are anchored into the seafloor, for the purposes of applying to the piers of the bridges on the suspension bridges the towers of which are located on coastal areas.

On the other hand, another patent, the Turkish Patent Publication No. TR2009/09745, is related to the components of coating systems used for protecting pier piles and pipelines against corrosion. The invention includes a coating method used for protecting and rehabilitating the parts of the steel and concrete pier piles, which are in the wave splash zone (at a distance of +1 and -1 meter from the water level), and the pipelines against the corrosion.

When the above patents are examined, it can be said that there is no similar invention that eliminates the said technical problems.

Purpose of the Invention

The main object of the invention is to eliminate the existing disadvantages by developing a prestressed reinforced concrete pipe pile and a production method for said pipe pile.

Another object of the invention is to significantly increase the strength of the pile by prestressing the steel bars in the tubular foundation pile made of high strength concrete.

Another object of the invention is to provide a long-lasting pile structure by preventing corrosion and material dissolution on the pile by means of the fact that the parts of the foundation pile which are immersed in the sea floor and remain in the salt water are completely made of concrete. The safety of the structure and people on the sea is also increased as corrosion and material melting etc. do not occur on the outer surface of the concrete pile by providing that the steel bars forming the skeletal structure of the concrete pipe pile and metal wires wrapped around steel bars remains within concrete and thereby there is no direct contact with salt water.

Another object of the invention is to develop quite a low-cost product and a production method for this product as compared to steel piles as reinforced concrete is used instead of steel.

Another object of the invention is to leave the excess water in the concrete due to the effect of high centrifugation during production and thus to achieve high impermeability and high strength values.

Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of the steel bars and wires forming the metal carcass of the reinforced concrete pipe pile along with the prestressing flange and the sealing cap.

Figure 2 is a representative perspective view of the steel bars having a prestressing flange at the end thereof and being between both molds in the case before lower mold and upper mold are not closed.

Figure 3a is a perspective view of the final prestressed reinforced concrete pipe pile along with the prestressing flange and sealing cap.

Figure 3b is a perspective view of the final prestressed reinforced concrete pipe pile after the sealing cap has been removed. Figure 4 is a representative process flow diagram of the production method pertaining to the prestressed reinforced concrete pipe pile according to the invention.

Figure 5a is a side view of the prestressing flange.

Figure 5b is a perspective view of the prestressing flange.

Description of Part References of the Invention

1. Prestressed reinforced concrete pipe pile 2. Reinforcing carcass

2.1. Steel bar

2.2. Steel wire

3. High Strength Concrete 4. Prestressing flange

4.1. Steel bar connection slots

5. Sealing cap

6. Tension rod

7. Locking nut 8. Lower mold

9. Upper mold

10. Mold cover

Reference Numbers for Production Process Steps

A. Cutting steel bars. B. Applying button heading process to the end of steel bar.

C. Producing reinforcing carcass by spirally winding steel wires on steel bars.

D. Fixing the button headed steel bar ends to the steel bar connection slots of the prestressing flanges at both ends of the reinforcing carcass.

E. Placing the reinforcing carcass in a lower mold. F. Pouring high strength concrete over the reinforcing carcass.

G. Closing an upper mold part on the lower mold and bolting the upper and lower mold parts together into each other. H. Prestressing the steel bars by means of the torque force applied to the prestressing flange connected to the button headed steel bar ends by means of a tension rod.

I. Transferring the mold to the spinning section and rotating it at high speed and adhering the concrete to the mold walls by the effect of centrifugal force.

J. Transferring the mold to a steam room and keeping it subject to the curing process at a certain temperature and during a certain time.

K. Transferring the mold to the mold removal section.

L. Removing the upper mold cover and removing the product from the mold by vacuum or similar carriers.

M. Removing the sealing cap and obtaining the final product having the prestressing flange.

N. Final product is taken to Autoclave furnaces in order to reach its final strength in a shorter time. Detailed Description of the Invention

The invention relates to a prestressed reinforced concrete pipe pile (1 ) and a production method for said pipe pile.

Figure 1 shows a representative perspective view of steel bars (2.1 ) and steel wires (2.1 ) wrapped around the steel bars (2.1 ) at regular intervals, which form the reinforcing carcass (2) of the prestressed reinforced concrete pipe pile (1 ).

Figure 2 shows a representative perspective view of the steel bars (2.1 ) which are between the two molds in the case before closing the lower mold (8) and the upper mold (9) and which the prestressing flange (4) is located at both ends thereof. The button headed steel bar ends are fixed to the steel bar connecting slots (4.1 ) of the prestressing flanges (4) which are located at both ends of the reinforcing carcass (2) and preferably have ring form (Figure 5a, Figure 5b). The sealing cap (5) is temporarily mounted to the outer-side of the prestressing flange (4) for sealing purposes. The sealing cap (5) is removed after the final product is obtained. The prestressing of the steel bars (2.1 ) is carried out by the torque force exerted by a tension rod (6) connected to the prestressing flange (4) connected to the button headed steel bar ends. The force required for the prestressing is provided by the torque force applied by a torque machine to the tension rod (6) which passes through the mold cover (10) and the locking nut (7). The prestressing force may vary depending on the properties of the product.

Figure 3a shows a perspective view of the final prestressed reinforced concrete pipe pile (1 ) along with the prestressing flange (4) and the sealing cover (5). Figure 3b shows a perspective view of the final prestressed reinforced concrete pipe pile (1 ) after all processes have been completed and the sealing cap (5) has been removed. Prestressed reinforced concrete pipe pile (1 ) is consisted of a reinforcing carcass (2), which is consisted of the steel bars (2.1 ) longitudinally extending in the pipe pile and steel wires (2.2) spirally wound around the steel bars (2.1 ) at certain intervals, and high strength concrete (3) located on the reinforcing carcass (2).

Figure 4 shows a representative process flow diagram of the production method of the prestressed reinforced concrete pipe pile (1 ) according to the invention. The manufacturing process for prestressed reinforced concrete pipe pile (1 ) comprises the following sequential process steps:

- Cutting steel bars (2.1 ) (A): The steel bars (2.1 ) are automatically cut to the desired length on a cutting machine in accordance with the length of the pipe pile.

- Applying button heading process to the end of steel bar (2.1 ) (B): The button heading process is applied to the end of the steel bars (2.1 ) in a button head machine. Through this process, the button headed steel bar ends are formed and said button headed steel bar ends are fixed by being passed through the steel bar connecting slots (4.1 ) of the prestressing flange (4). - Winding the steel wires on steel bars (C): Steel wires (2.2) are spirally wound automatically by a wire winding machine at certain intervals on preferably 8 steel bars (2.1 ) extending longitudinally in the tube pile. The number and diameter of the steel bar (2.1 ) and the number and diameter of the steel wire (2.2) may vary depending on the demand and need.

- Fixing the button headed steel bar ends to the prestressing flanges (4), of ring form preferably, located at both ends of the reinforcing carcass (D).

- Placing the reinforcing carcass in a lower mold (E): Reinforcing carcass consisting of steel bars (2.1 ) longitudinally extending in the pipe pile (1 ) and steel wires (2.2) wound around the steel bars (2.2) at regular intervals (2) is placed in a lower mold (8) suitable for the pile form. The lower mold (8) is preferably in the form of a hollow half-cylinder. Mold types can be in different forms such as squares and ellipses according to pile cross-section.

- Pouring high strength concrete over the reinforcing carcass (F): The high strength concrete is automatically or manually poured onto the reinforcing carcass (2), which is located in the lower mold (8), by means of a concrete pouring system.

- Closing the upper mold part (9) on the lower mold (8) and bolting the upper and lower mold parts together into each other (G): The upper mold (9), which is the symmetry of the lower mold and in the form of hollow semi-cylinder, is closed on the lower mold (8) and the upper and lower mold parts are bolted together into each other.

- Prestressing the steel bars (FI): The steel bars (2.1 ) is prestressed by means of the torque force exerted by a tension rod (6) which is indirectly connected to the prestressing flange (4) connected with the button headed steel bar ends. The force required for the prestressing is provided by the torque force applied to the tension rod (6) by means of a torque machine. The prestressing force may vary depending on the properties of the product.

- The mold is transferred to a spinning section and rotated at high speed whereby the concrete is adhered to the mold walls by the effect of centrifugal force, and the excess water within the concrete is evacuated at the same time (I).

- The mold is transferred to a steam room and kept subject to the curing process (cure process) at a certain temperature and during a certain time (J). - The mold is transferred to the mold removal section (K).

- The upper mold cover is removed and the product is removed from the mold by means of vacuum or similar carriers (L).

- The sealing cap (5) is removed and the final product having the prestressing flange is obtained (M). - The final product is taken to Autoclave furnaces in order to reach its final strength in a shorter time (N).