Construction of Canoe Using Light Weight Concrete as an Alternative to Timber, Steel and Fiberglass

Abstract

The idea of this project was envisaged from the yearly American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and American Concrete Institute (ACI) Concrete Canoe competitions. These competitions provide students a unique opportunity to gain hands-on practical experience while assessing their skills with concrete mix designs and project management challenges. Ferrocement concrete canoe design incorporates buoyant concrete that must have density less than water. Utilizing the local available materials and simple skills, an easier and cost-effective approach was adopted in this experimental study by using concrete as an alternative to contemporary materials. Concrete aggregates are fine (sand) or coarse (gravel) aggregates which constitutes almost 75-80% of the mix proportion. These aggregates have higher density. The coarse aggregate was replaced by small lightweight Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) beads in concrete mix, to make the concrete light weight with the desired strength. The hydronomic design of canoe was developed using a combination of Rounded, Flat-bottom, and V-shaped hull shapes to achieve stability and maneuverability. Canoe hull was developed in AutoCAD and optimized in Rhino as 3D model and finally structurally analyzed in CSI-ETABS. Commissioning validated that even though designed for two individuals, it sustained load of three individuals. Required compressive and tensile strength were 91.72 psi and 93.85 psi respectively, while the compressive & tensile strength achieved was 609 psi 188 psi respectively. Experimental research has indicated that larger vessels can also be designed using these techniques.