Automatisierte Feinbearbeitung von Betonelementen für die modulare Wiederverwendung

Automated fine processing of reinforced concrete elements for modular reuse

The construction sector significantly contributes to global CO₂ emissions, with cement production playing a central role. Reusing existing reinforced concrete elements from existing structures offers a sustainable way to reduce greenhouse gas emission and resource consumption. This requires the processing of deconstructed, aged reinforced concrete elements with individual properties and edges that enable further use and integration into new modular load-bearing structures. The focus is on automating the individual subprocesses to achieve a standardized and quality-assured process. This contribution presents a comprehensive concept for the automated fine processing of reused concrete elements. First, requirements for the fine processing are defined, from which a process engineering approach for the preparation of the concrete elements can be derived. Target parameters for the reused modules after fine processing are derived from experimental investigations. Cutting tests with variable processes and boundary conditions and associated load tests show that concrete sawing allows the precise manufacturing of flat surfaces. By contrast, water jet cutting reduces the accuracy and thus the load-bearing capacity as pressure contact. These and future results will be successively integrated into the simulation-based testing of processing methods and planning of tool-specific paths of the automated fine processing. Moreover, extension with a system-specific data model enables a linked and individualised energy analysis and forecasting of the overall system.