Tag Archives: joints

Smart floor repairs for AGV’s and warehouse robots.

AGV’s or Automated Guided Vehicles are the reliable workhorses of the modern warehouse. They are designed to run smoothly and predictably all day and everyday. AGV’s are great at repetitive tasks moving freight as needed day in and day out. These repeated trips over the same path can be very punishing to concrete floors. The small hard wheels of an AVG can crush control joint sidewalls and grind the concrete surface to dust. This leads to rough, uneven floors that can cause premature breakdowns of AGV drive systems, wheels, and even damaged freight.

“If your AVG could talk, it would ask for Concrete Mender. ” Richard King, Roadware, Inc.

AGV carrying beer on a preset path in a warehouse.
AGV’s move thousands of pounds in a single trip over the exact same path hundreds of times per day.

Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender with Microdoweling™ penetrates into concrete surfaces repairs concrete cracks, joints and spalls where others fail. Over the years we have noticed some conditions needed for successful repairs in the path of AVG’s.

  1. Repairs need to be as tough as the concrete itself. But not too tough. Let’s say your concrete is a typical 4000 psi in compressive strength. The AGV wheels are grinding away the surface of the concrete and spalling the control joints. You repair the “bad” sections of the path with fairly brittle 10,000 psi epoxy. Now you have sections of the original concrete and sections of much harder epoxy. As the original concrete continues to grind away, the hard epoxy remains and you just created more speed bumps for the AVGs. Concrete Mender will wear with the concrete and deflect with the concrete under load. Your AVG’s favorite path will be smoother longer.
  2. Stop your repairs from popping out. Did you ever notice common warehouse floor repairs popping out in chunks? This can happen when you put a super hard epoxy patch in a not as hard concrete floor. The epoxy is so brittle that it fractures the bond-line when a load is applied. Epoxy repair products have a modulus of elasticity that is so high, it will fracture the concrete before deflecting under load. Concrete Mender has a modulus of elasticity that is slightly less than concrete so it will deflect with concrete concrete under load and gently transfer load from the repair to the surrounding concrete.
  3. Time is money! Closing down aisles or sections of a warehouse is a disruption for everyone including AVG’s. With minimal prep requirements and less invasive techniques including Roadware Easy Injection, 10 Minute Concrete Mender can have your AVG pathways back in service in minutes, not hours or days. You can even make repairs in operational freezers down to -30F.
Concrete repairs for AGV’s need to bond under heavy traffic as well as deflect with the concrete and transfer loads to the surrounding concrete without fracturing.

AVG’s like to take the same path every time. This can prematurely wear out concrete floors.
AGV drive system in an Automated Guided Vehicle.
The drive system in a typical AGV can haul a lot of weight, but the floor needs to be smooth.
Warehouse and AGV floors can be repaired and open for traffic in about 10 minutes after application with Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender.

Products used in this application:

80300 Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender 600ml Cartridge
80300 Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender 600ml Cartridge

80300 Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender 600ml Cartridge

80020 Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender Two-Gallon Kit
80020 Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender Two-Gallon Kit

80020 Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender Two-Gallon Kit

 

Concrete Mender on the Busan Metro Line 4

The Busan Transportation Corporation uses Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender to repair the roll-way of Busan Metro Line 4 in South Korea. Metro Line 4 is a rubber-tired line with 14 stations and runs driverless with pneumatic tires on a 6.7 mile (10.8km) concrete track. Concrete Mender is used to structurally repair the cross joints in the track approximately every ten meters.

Concrete Mender is the right product for the job because it has a long service life and cures in about 10 minutes. This allows for minimal down time and keeps the Busan Metro Line 4 running on time with minimal service interruption.

Repair crews of a very limited repair window, The train operates approximately 20 hours per day from 5am to 1am the next day. That leaves a minimal amount of time for maintenance and repair operations. Crews have to be efficient and productive. The fast cure and rapid strength gain of 10 Minute Concrete Mender is well suited for these mission critical applications.

 

 

Having a smoother roll-way saves wear and tear on the rubber tires and reduces operating costs.  Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender will keep the Busan Metro Line 4 running smooth and efficiently for years to come.

Edward Cheon of Concrete Doctor in Seoul on the concrete roll way at Busan Metro Line 4.

 

Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender is a self-injecting structural polyurethane for the permanent repair of commercial floors, decks, slabs and surfaces. The exclusive Microdoweling™ action in Concrete Mender allows it to migrate past bond lines, restore aggregate interlock and make long lasting repairs.

Crack in concrete floor ready for repair with Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender.

 

Click here to request more information of find a local Roadware distributor.

Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ comes in 50ml or 600ml cartridges or two and ten gallon bulk kits.

 

Warehouse floors can be repaired and open for traffic in about 10 minutes after application.

 

Click here to request more information or find a local Roadware distributor.

Busiest Cargo Gateway Airport in the World uses Flexible Cement II – HKG Hong Kong China

The Hong Kong International airport HKG is home to the world’s busiest cargo gateway airport. In 2015, HKG moved over 4.38 million metric tonnes of air cargo.  It is also one of the world’s business passenger airports accommodating over 68 million passengers that same year.

HKG Airport at night
HKG Airport at night

Operations at the world’s busiest cargo airport run 24/7/365 without stopping. Maintenance crews need a crack and joint repair material that can be applied in a wide range of conditions and be ready for service in minutes. Roadware Flexible Cement II  is a tough polyurethane crack repair material that can be applied at any ambient temperature. It bonds very well to distressed concrete and forms a tough semi-elastic polymer that will withstand heavy airline traffic in about 15 minutes. Crews at HKG airport have relied on Roadware Flexible Cement II to make repairs whenever and wherever needed for over 5 years.

Maintenance workers repair the taxiway with Roadware Flexible Cement II.
Maintenance workers repair a taxiway at night with Roadware Flexible Cement II.

 

Crews use Roadware Flexible Cement II in 600ml cartridges to quickly repair concrete cracks in a taxiway at HKG airport.
Crews use Roadware Flexible Cement II in 600ml cartridges to quickly repair concrete cracks in a taxiway at HKG airport.

 

HKG crews use Flexible Cement II to seal cracks near an in-ground refueling port in damp conditions.
HKG crews use Flexible Cement II to seal cracks damp conditions.

 

Roadware Flexible Cement II™ 300x300ml cartridge Item #91300
Roadware Flexible Cement II™ 300x300ml cartridge Item #91300