Rebar Grid Support

Product design brief
The client required a product that could be used to support rebar grid whilst concrete is being poured. This is necessary when creating the foundations of a structure. It should be able to connect together to create long sections, be strong but lightweight,  and be easy to ship in large quantities.

Product design considerations
The design had many important criteria that needed to be achieved. The moulding had to have a design sparse enough for concrete and aggregate to flow through it. Material content had to be as low as possible,  and it had to be strong enough to withstand rough use when heavy rebar was put on top.

Physical testing
To achieve the attributes that the client required in the final design physical testing was carried out on prototypes. Testing was used to empirically find  the effect of material removal on the strength of the part. This real life data was incorporated into the design to ensure that material reduction was being done in such a way that its effect on structural integrity under load was minimised.

Product design solution
The result for the client was a product that did not compromise its performance but was able to represent a significant commercial benefit to them because of the savings passed on in reducing the amount of plastic required to produce the parts.