Presentation on Techno Economic

and Construction Advantages of

Rapid wall Technology

Rapid Wall Technology

Introduction
Properties of rapid wall panels
Advantages of Rapid wall panels
Energy, Environment and Economic values
of Rapid wall panels
Case- Use of Rapid wall panels in India

Alternative Building Material

RAPID WALL ....is an alternative building material to
replace bricks / concrete blocks which will also save
river sand, water etc and protect the environment

cross section of Rapidwall

building panel

Gypcrete (made of gypsum plaster

and non hazardous chemicals and
water repellent emulsions etc)

250mm

13mm

120mm

94mm
20mm thick web
230mm

Gypcrete (made of gypsum plaster

and non hazardous chemicals and
water repellent emulsions etc)

13mm thick flange

Reinforcement by micro-strand glass

rovings (e.glass) of 13 microns,
longitudinal and cross wise on inner
and outer flanges as well as web to
make strong.

Panel is reinforced by micro-strand glass rovings

(13 microns) by both ways on all four sides both flanges and webs.
This glass roving itself is a hi-tech product
manufactured in India. Reinforcement is
provided during the automated hi-tech
production process itself.
This reinforcement provide load bearing
capability & "confinement property" when
cavities filled up with concrete.

Tensile strength of
glass roving (single
filament) is 3100-380
Mpa (tensile strength of
glass roving is much higher
than even that of steel used
for concrete reinforcement
which is maximum @ 500 Mpa)
Elastic Modulus of glass
roving is 76-78 Gpa
This provide very high load
bearing capability to the panel
making into a composite material.

Rapid wall Panel is manufactured in 12 m x 3 m

with 120 mm thickness with modular cavities.

Cutting of panel to required sizes using

automised cutting saw in factory

After cutting Rapid wall

is loaded onto collapsible
frames, ready for
transport.

Rapidwall Plants in India

( eco-friendly building materials)
Plants: Products & Production Capacity/ year
RCF Plant, Mumbai:

Rapidwall :1.4 million sqm

{ 15lakhs sft}
Wall Plaster: 40000 tons
Wall Putty : 15000 tons
RCF& FACT, Cochin : Rapidwall:1.4 million sqm
{15 lakhs sft}
Wall Plaster: 30000 tons
Wall Putty : 5000 tons
PoP : 15000 tons
GBIL Plant, Chennai
Rapidwall: 7.5 lakhs sft

Total capacity to produce Rapidwall= 3.5 million sqm

Properties of Rapid wall panels

Compressive strength
a) Empty panel- 73.10 Kg/cm2
b) Concrete infill panel180.70 Kg/cm2
Flexural Strength
a) Empty panel- 21.25 Kg/cm2
b) Concrete infill panel- 20.80
Kg/cm2
Water absorption- < 2 %
(24 hrs)
Ductility 4.11

Fire resistance- 4 hrs rating

7000c to 10000c
Free from corrosion
Density 1140 Kg/m3
Light weight
a) Without concrete infill - 40
Kg/m2
b) With concrete infill- 250
Kg/m2
Earthquake resistancePanel withstood
earthquakes up to 8 Richter
scale

Advantages of Rapid wall panels

Light weight panels

Economical
Load bearing
High quality finish
Earthquake resistance
Water resistance
Termite resistance

Fire resistance
Speedy installations
Environmental
positive
Good noise resistance
Accommodates
building services

Why it is necessary?

Housing is one of the basic

human needs along with food,
clothing and education.
According to UN estimate, over
33% of the population in
developing countries are
homeless.
Like other developing country,
India too is presently passing
through a phase of acute housing
shortage.
Urban housing in India present
large scale big building but on
other hand it also have slums.

Problem of housing

Exponential population
growth

Fast rate of urbanization

Inadequate addition to the

existing housing stock

Large scale migration of the

poor from the villages and
small towns

Maharashtra Govt Housing Policy

(draft Nov 2006)

Urban Housing const, for low income: 5 lakh units in 3 yrs

Rural Housing construction : 2 lakh units in 3 yrs
Rehabilitation of eligible slum dwellers : 25% in 3 yrs
Renovation of old building: 25% in 3 yrs
Size of free dwelling units under various schemes : 225 sft

Maharashtra Govt Housing Policy

Clause 10 of housing policy on housing technology:
Technology development to reduce cost of housing &
promote durable housing
To promote eco-housing, low energy consuming
construction techniques & building materials
Encourage the use of pre-cast & pre-fabricated building
materials for speedy & cost effective construction of mass
housing
Enforcement of National Building Code & Earthquake
resistant construction guidelines

Building Construction
B u ild in g
L a n d a n d E n g in e e rin P lan

F in a n c e

B u ild in g m a te ra il s

C o n stru c tio n
L a b o u rs, W o rk e rs, E q u ip m e n t s

Brick production in India in Billion

250
200

Billion

200
150

140

160

100
50
?

0
2005

2006

2007

?
2008

Year

?
2009

2010

River sand use in India in Million cum

450
400
350 303
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2005

334

368

404

?
2006

2007

2008
Year

?
2009

2010

Saving by One panel

10000 Lit of water
2.43 m3/ 86 cft of river sand
8 m3 of soil
0.80 tons of cement
Emission of 0.696 tons of CO2

Avoid
Pollution

No
Emission
of CO2

Recycled
Industrial
waste

Environment
friendly
Building
material
Low energy
based
production
process

Save river
sand, soil,
and water

Can be
re used

Construction of First Rapid wall

Building in India
in Mumbai in 32 days
by RCF
(structural design by IIT Madras &
constructed as per Rapid wall construction
manual)

RW panel taken out from container brought from

Australia for construction of demonstration building

Conventional Building foundation with RCC plinth beams

provided with MS rods as start up rods for erection of panels as
superstructure of building

Panels cut into various sizes as per building plan are brought
to construction sites by truck or lorry.

Panel with opening for two windows is being

placed over RCC plinth beam

While panel is placed over plinth beam, start up rod will go

into cavities, including corner joints. Cavities up to required
height will be in-filled with concrete

Panel being placed / seated on RCC plinth beam over

a thin layer of cement mortar slurry.

2 panels erected as corner

walls. Angles are provided
from two sides using nuts&
bolts. After setting of
concrete in-filled, these
angles
are
removed.
For supporting panel in
position,
adjustable
slanting prop is provided

First pouring of concrete into wall corner joint.

Cutting the panel for required opening to provide

RCC lintel cum sunshade

MS Rods for RCC

lintel cum sunshade
as per structural
design provided.
With ply wood / MS
sheet as shutter,
RCC sunshade can
be cast over the
window

For roof/floor, panel to be lifted horizontally / flat

as seen in picture.

Floor / roof panel provided with embedded RCC

micro beams. For this, top flange of respective
cavities are cut. For concealed electrical wiring,
cables, PVC pipes, fan hooks etc are to be laid.

Before cutting top

flange, bottom
support with ply
wood / strong MS
sheet with prop
wherever required
are to be provided

100 mm x 100 mm, 10 gauge weld mesh provided

for 50 mm thick RCC screed. Embedded RCC
micro-beams act as micro "T" beams

Side shuttering provided for concreting of RCC

horizontal tie beams and screed floor concrete

Simultaneous concreting of RCC horizontal tie

beams, micro-beams and screed concrete

Concreted floor / roof. Start up MS rods (40 cm high) for

erection of upper floor wall panel by repeat process. Walls
on 3 sides of staircase and staircase landing to be done.

Window
frame
with
shutter
in
position

RCC lintel cum sunshade, architectural band,

parapet wall work completed

Wall corners,
ceiling corners are
given fine finish
using special
gypsum plaster
product

Staircase,
handrail,
marble slab
for staircase
steps,
finishing coat
of painting

Interior
finish,
skirting,
ceramic
floor tiles,
furnishing,
curtain
rods, fan,
light
fittings etc
in position

Rear view of two storey 1220 sqft RW building in

32 days. MS iron ladder to rooftop

Front view of completed building. Front

compound wall using RW panel

On completion of structure of the building

including parapet wall in 12 days, the
finishing work carried out in 20 days

Architectural band all around

RCC sunshade
Weathering course
Drainage pipeline work
Ceramic tile laying
Marble slab for staircase
Glazed tiles for bathrooms
Finishing work of ceiling and wall corners
Electrical
Sanitary
Water supply
Painting

RW demo bldg built in Kochi by RCF&FACT

jointly. Bldg was built in 22 days

RW demo bldg in Cochin given sloped tile roof

& car porch etc. (Kerala style)

Demo bldg built in Vizag in 22 days using RW panel made in

Chennai plant

Comparison between conventional &

Rapidwall building construction
Materials Rapidwall
used
building

Conventional
Building

Savings in
%

Cement

15 tons

32.55 tons

50.6

Steel

1.800 tons

2.7779 tons

35.2

River sand

20 m3

83.37m3

76

Granite
metal

36 m3

52.45 m3

27.55

Bricks

57200

Rapidwall

500 sqm

(based on Rapidwall demo bldg built in Cochin by FACT in 2008

Materials
used

Rapidwall
buiding

Conventional
Building

Savings in
%

Water

50,000 Liter

2,00,000 Liter

75

Built area

143 m2

154.45 m2

(1539

(1662 sft)

Labour

10

Sft

389 man
days

1200 man days

67.59

Construction 22 days
time

120 days

82

11

Total weight

490 tons

65

12

Construction Rs 13.25
cost
lakhs
(Rs860/sft)

Rs 18.27 lakhs
27.47
(Rs 1100 lakh/Sq
ft)

13

Embodied
energy

215400 kWh

170 tons

82921 kWh

61.5

Cost reduction by Gypcrete houses / buildings :

item

breakup to total cost

of conventional bldg

breakup to total cost

of Rapidwall bldg

% of
saving

foundation

15%

7.5%

7.5%

walling & plastering

37%

30%

7%

roofing

20%

17.5%

2.5%

flooring

6%

6%

--

doors & steel windows

9%

9%

--

electrical

5%

5%

--

water & sanitary works

5%

5%

--

painting

3%

3%

--

cost of water

1%

--

--

2%

--

contingencies

1%

(transportation,
contingencies &
water)

Additional carpet area

Total

8%
100%

85%

25%

A view of Rapid wall buildings in

Australia and China

Sydney Park housing complex with 922 apartments. This eight storey
building is without RCC columns and beams. The entire structure is built on
Gypcrete /Rapid wall panel. The first phase with 370 apartments was built
in 1990. This complex is close to World renowned Sydney Opera House.

Multistoried construction

Six storeyed Guest House building in an

industrial park in Jinan city, Shandong Province,
China.

Seven storey (six storey + pent house) Apartment

Gypcrete building in Tianjin, 150 km from
Beijing city.

Gypsum based wall plaster

Gypsum based wall plaster can
revolutionize the plastering of internal walls
and ceilings.
It is basically used as substitute for cement
plaster.
Savings- Cement, sand, water
Superior finish, Easy mixing and
application, Cool feeling

Taking out wall

plaster for
mixing in water to
make paste

Marking the
levels with broken
floor tile piece

POP paste is
applied to mark
vertical levelling
marks, which
are provided at
3-4 feet
intervals

Contacts
Name

Designation

Telephone

email

Shri J. Kohareswaran

Dir (Mktg)

24045455

ikohareswaran@rcfltd.com

Shri Bhunesh Mathur

G.M. (Mktg)

24045031

bhuneshmathur@rcfltd.com

Shri M.M. Patil

D.G.M. (Mktg)

24045125

mmpatil@rcfltd.com

Marketing

Technical Support
Shri Dilip Deshmukh

Advisor (Projects) 24045173

ddeshmukh@rcfltd.com

Shri P.M.C. Nair

G.M. (Corporate)

24045068

pmcnair@rcfltd.com

Shri P.G. Deshpande

D.G.M. (Corp)

pqdeshpande@rcfltd.com
24045045
9820384068