Tag Archives: Roadware Incorporated

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

 

Automotive Lift Anchoring Floor Repair

Two post automotive hoists and lifts are generally bolted to the floor using compression anchors. When the lift needs to be replaced, the new anchors can not interfere with the old anchor points. If the old anchor points are too close to the new anchor points, the concrete needs to be replaced before the new lift can be installed. This can close a service bay for a month or more. 

With Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender, we can remove the old compression anchors, repair the concrete and install new compression anchors without having to replace the concrete. 

Automotive lift floor attachment patten over existing list installation.

After removing the old lift, the compression anchors need to be removed. If the original anchor hole was drilled full depth, they can be driven down beneath the floor with a hammer and a punch. If the anchor are not full depth, a core drill is used to remove the anchor.

Using a 2″ core drill to remove existing anchors.

After drilling, the holes are cleaned and reamed with a reaming bit to roughen up the sidewalls. A shop-vacuum is used to remove all dust and debris. The concrete is than cleaned with alcohol or a similar evaporating cleaner.  The holes have to be clean and completely dry before proceeding.

Core drilled anchor holes are cleaned and roughened with a hole reamer.

Use duct tape to mask off the holes to be filled with Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™

Masking off the old anchor holes in preparation for repairing with Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender.

Gather the materials needed to repair the holes. Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender is designed to repair cracks, spalls and holes in concrete. Not just simply fill them. The Microdoweling™ penetration of Concrete Mender into the concrete is a structural repair and can bring the concrete back to original design parameters. 

Items needed:

  • 80020 Two-gallon kit of Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender.
  • 4030 grit or similar dry manufactured sand or quartz. Enough to fill the holes.
  • Mixing and measuring pails. One quart paint mixing pails work well.
  • Gloves, safety glasses and PPG as needed.
Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender, sand, mixing buckets, and mixing sticks.

We made a short video to demonstrate the basic technique of filling a core drilled hole in concrete. Concrete Mender doubles in volume when adding sand. All we need to do is fill the hole halfway with Concrete Mender and then add sand to bring it up to the top. Note: In the field it may be impractical to get the bottom of the hole completely dry or clean especially if the hole is full depth into the base material. Simply repair the bottom 1/4 of the hole with Concrete Mender and sand first and allow it to cure before repairing the rest of the hole up to the top.  

Measure out equal parts of Side A and Side B Concrete Mender and combine them into your mixing bucket. Mix with a stick by hand for about 15 seconds. 

Pour equal parts A and b into a mixing container and mix for about 15 seconds with a mixing stick.

Mix equal parts Side A and Side B by hand in a mixing pail for 15 seconds.

Fill the holes half-way with mixed Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender.

Fill the hole halfway with mixed Concrete Mender. Use a marked stick to gage the halfway mark.

Add sand into the hole bringing the Concrete Mender level up to the surface. Make sure all the sand is completely saturated. 

Pour sand into the hole bringing the Concrete Mender up to the surface.

Level the surface with a trowel or stick and allow to cure for about 10 minutes at 70 degrees F (21C). 

Smooth the top of the repairs with a trowel or mixing stick.

Remove the tape after the Concrete Mender cures and turns grey in about 10-15 minutes.

Concrete Mender turns grey when it cures. Pull the tape.

A finishing rubbing brick is used to quickly bring the repairs flush with the floor.

Concrete Mender repairs are made flush with a rubbing brick.

Holes to anchor the new lift are marked and drilled into the concrete. Time to test the repairs and make sure the repairs will hold the anchors for the new lift.

New anchor holes are drilled for the new lift next to the repaired holes from the old lift anchors.

New compression anchors are installed and torqued to the specified level.

New compression anchors and installed.

For the repair to be successful, the compression anchor must hold 3000 lbs or 1360 kg for 12 hours without cracking or splitting of the surrounding concrete.

An anchor testing device is used to pull 3000 lbs of force on the anchor for 12 hours.
Compression anchor testing device showing 3000 pounds of force.

Several anchor were tested. All passed and the lift was installed the next day and placed into service. Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ is designed to bring most concrete slabs back to original design strength. Repairing anchor holes prior to new automotive lift installation with Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender is now the specified choice for two of the largest auto service companies in the United States.

Roadware Products used in thie repair:

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

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