Using an alternative concrete reinforcement product, even Helix® Micro Rebar®, which has been employed in over 40,000 projects, can be intimidating. That’s why we provide a high level of transparency, with detailed evaluation reports containing specific information for design applications such as slabs, foundations, footings, walls, and pavements.
Not only does this data demonstrate the performance advantages of Micro Rebar®, it also makes it easier to help those involved in the approval process understand, trust, and confidently approve its use.
A Screw Works Better Than a Nail
Helix® Micro Rebar® is an optimized reinforcement that increases the strength and resilience of concrete. Based on a simple concept – a screw works better than a nail – this proactive reinforcement “locks” millions of tiny screws (11,500 parts per pound) into concrete, with each able to bond to concrete and pick up load before any failure occurs.
Helix® Micro Rebar® is a smart choice for residential, commercial, and infrastructure applications for many reasons:
- Made of high-tensile steel
- Provides proactive reinforcement to help prevent cracking
- Increases concrete modulus of rupture and post-crack strength
- Improves concrete’s resistance to flexural strength
- Installs quickly, reducing project timelines
- Reduces the use of rebar needed in structures
We Provide Research Reports to Make Approval Easier
The International Code Council (ICC) allows for the use of alternative materials and methods of construction that are not specifically named in the code. Called the Alternative Allowance for Alternative Materials (AAAM), this provision gives building professionals the freedom to explore new types of materials and methods — as long as they are equal to the performance and safety to those that are already approved.
To prove performance equality, a research report is required. While this makes the job of a code official much easier, building a research report that meets an international standard like ISO/IEC 17065 is an extremely rigorous process that includes criteria established through public comment and a code official hearing process, third-party testing, peer review, and annual plant audits. Just to name a few.
All of our reports feature assumptions for design, conditions of use, plan views, details for different types of footing and dosage, equations to calculate capacities, direct tension testing, and more. Calculations for alternative requirements are also available.
Download Our Evaluation Reports:
To find out more about our evaluation reports, contact the Helix Steel team today.
Helix Micro Rebar Takes You Beyond Cost Savings
Our small concrete reinforcement can cut time, eliminate materials and simplify a job site, all resulting in significant cost savings. To get your no-obligation quote from Helix Steel’s in-house design team, reach out to us today and we’ll work with you to outline your estimated cost savings – it is often quite significant!
Helix Micro Rebar helps Engineers
Helix Micro Rebar concrete reinforcement can make your project safer
Helix Micro Rebar has more benefits than fiber
Helix Micro Rebar can reduce your control joints
Helix Micro Rebar helps to reduce cracking
Helix Micro Rebar expedites construction
Dreading an upcoming concrete slab placement project should never happen, but it’s a reality every contractor faces. And rightfully so! This task is often headache-inducing with many complexities: heaps of rusty rebar, weeks spent laying out steel, back-breaking labor and expensive boom pumps.
Rebar causes headaches, yet many contractors, developers and even engineers are hesitant to try proven alternatives, simply because they are different.
Recessions Require Innovative Thinking
When the economy falters and you need to think faster, smarter and more economically than ever before, the alternative is exactly what you need. Sure, you can consider plastic fibers, but if you want a solution that reduces cracks with a patented twisted design to keep concrete together while also making placement easier on your crew, you have one choice: Helix Micro Rebar.
Helix Steel’s revolutionary concrete reinforcement can save one day of construction for every 10,000 square feet (929 square meters) of rebar replaced with Helix Micro Rebar reinforcement.
Here are some prime examples of warehouse projects that have trusted the one-inch all-steel Helix Micro Rebar and reaped the financial rewards by eliminating steel, shortening schedules and placing concrete faster.
Concrete Slab Projects With Cost Savings Due to Helix Micro Rebar
- Eliminated over 290 tons of steel by cutting rebar usage
- Over 40 days were saved from the original construction schedule
- 20% faster than if they had chosen mesh
- Cement mixers discharged directly on the site, instead of using pumps and concrete buggies.
- 12 days faster due to less rebar installation
- 20% faster concrete pour due to direct discharge
- Saved 70 days on the project
Helix Micro Rebar Takes You Beyond Cost Savings
Our small concrete reinforcement can cut time, eliminate materials and simplify a job site, all resulting in significant cost savings. To get your no-obligation quote from Helix Steel’s in-house design team, reach out to us today and we’ll work with you to outline your estimated cost savings – it is often quite significant!
Helix Steel’s ‘tiny’ change to your concrete project could not only save you money, but also make your operation more efficient than ever before. Keep reading about the alternative that is quickly becoming the norm…
Helix Micro Rebar helps Engineers
Helix Micro Rebar concrete reinforcement can make your project safer
Helix Micro Rebar has more benefits than fiber
Helix Micro Rebar can reduce your control joints
Helix Micro Rebar helps to reduce cracking
Helix Micro Rebar expedites construction
The most valuable resource that developers have is the one that keeps running out – time.
With the finite amount of years, months, weeks, days, hours and seconds available to you, it is best to make every moment count. Often, that means thinking smarter about construction projects and how you can encourage a faster ROI with fewer resources available to you.
One aspect of many projects is the placement of concrete. When you consider the size of a large warehouse, a concrete slab can be a time-consuming aspect of your development. But when you use products that work for you, not against you, you will see that there are ways to cut your construction schedule while also regaining your lost time.
Introducing the product that can save you significant time – Helix Micro Rebar. It’s a tiny, twisted and coated steel reinforcement that is mixed with your concrete prior to placement. Its design not only makes your concrete slab more durable, but it can save you a significant amount of time.
How Can a Developer Save Time by Using Helix Micro Rebar Concrete Reinforcement
Reduce Rebar Installation Time by up to 100%
With Helix Micro Rebar in your concrete prior to placement, much of the time spent laying rebar and mesh on a warehouse slab can be skipped. This greatly expedites the construction schedule and leaving out a major frustration for developers.
Faster Concrete Placement
When Helix Micro Rebar is mixed with concrete at the batch plant, trucks can place their load directly onto the prepared surface. There is no need to use time-consuming concrete pumps or buggies.
Fewer Safety Issues
Less time on a job site can mean fewer time-consuming health and safety issues, from rusty rebar injuries to back-related problems to concrete placement obstacles. Choose systems that put the safety of your team first.
Team Approach
When you work with Helix Steel, our entire team – including sales and in-house engineers – provides live support during your slab project as needed, saving you time and money.
Fast Shipments
Recently, contractors have been frustrated that they can’t stick with timelines due to material delays. Helix Micro Rebar? Your order can often be shipped within a week.
No Time Spent Managing Inventory
Helix Micro Rebar can be ordered in advance and sent to your project site when needed, or it can be sent directly to your batch plant, helping to reduce the burdens and time spent managing onsite inventory.
Less Time Spent on Crack Mitigation and Maintenance
Rebar attempts to stop cracks only after they start, resulting in your slab or being susceptible to corrosion, earthquakes and water penetration. Ask any rebar supplier – their concrete reinforcement will corrode faster than ours. Concrete cracks due to rebar have been frustratingly normalized, and it’s time to do something about it.
Time Savings for Developers Begins Today
Make every moment count, not only as your role as a developer but as a human being. Trust the people around you to choose the products and processes that reduce the amount of time you spend on a project while simultaneously increasing the quality of the application – even if it means using something you have never tried before, such as Helix Micro Rebar.
Reach out to the Helix Steel sales and engineering teams with your project specs and we will provide you with estimates of time and cost savings – no obligation. The amount of time you save will surprise you!
“Helix Steel leads the construction industry in providing better ways to build with concrete in a rewarding environment for our employees and community.”
Helix Steel’s Mission Statement
Our team here at Helix Steel has been proud to work with Habitat for Humanity to help build efficient and comfortable homes from California to Colorado to Michigan.
In October 2022, here in Helix Steel’s ‘home’ of Grand Rapids, Michigan, our team participated in an ICF home build with our friends at Habitat for Humanity of Kent County. We spent a whole day there and completed the first storey of the building. Not only were we able to meet many other partners in the project, but we also met with some of the people who will soon call this building home. It was a rewarding and uplifting experience to play such an important role in these families’ future.
Watch our video to learn more about this project and what it means to our team to play a role.
In a time when many businesses regularly source products and services from overseas markets, it’s up to those who think differently to find new ways to make local economies work while combating major environmental issues.
Some businesses are like Helix Steel – American innovators focusing on building smarter in several important areas.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that buying cheap products from around the world isn’t helping the health of our planet. This fragile supply chain can also be easily disrupted, causing massive issues in practically every industry that relies on it.
In the case of the construction industry, not only were the supply chains completely fractured, contractors have had to deal with many people who left the construction trade and haven’t returned. For many, construction jobs aren’t nearly as desirable as they once were.
The other issue we keep seeing is the issue of structural resilience. The construction industry often builds with cheap materials that do the bare minimum when America has the skills, materials and techniques to make strong, long-lasting buildings faster than the antiquated techniques we rely on.
The last thing becoming more and more important is our carbon footprint. There is good science showing that our world’s average temperature is going up. To stop the rise in temperature, we need complete carbon neutral status by 2050.
Something has to be done.
The Construction Industry Needs An Action Plan
According to many of Helix Steel’s partners and industry-leading organizations like the Portland Cement Association (PCA), the construction industry needs to achieve carbon neutrality across the cement and concrete value chain by 2050. This includes making measurable progress throughout the industry:
- We need to optimize concrete mixes;
- We need to avoid overdesigning;
- We need to leverage construction technologies; and
- We need to educate the design and construction community.
Many of the solutions included in the PCA Roadmap are products, technologies and approaches that exist today, like Helix Micro Rebar. By bringing collaborators together, PCA is helping to accomplish near-term benefits while striving toward carbon neutrality.
How is Helix Steel Helping to Achieve Carbon Neutrality?
Helix Steel’s concrete reinforcement Helix Micro Rebar greatly reduces a building’s carbon footprint.
Developed at the University of Michigan, Helix Micro Rebar is one inch long, twisted and coated, then added to concrete. (At more than 11,500 parts per pound.) The twisted design helps to stop concrete from cracking and gives extra support to increase the concrete’s average modulus of rupture.
As you may know, rebar relies purely on friction to stop cracks from increasing in size, while synthetic fiber does not start to carry a load until the material stretches, well after crack formation.
By using Helix Micro Rebar in concrete, developers are reducing the amount of steel required while, in slabs on ground, simultaneously reducing the amount of concrete needed by up to 20% by allowing for thickness reduction.
Helix Micro Rebar’s use in warehouses, manufacturing centers, bridges and precast projects is crucial, but Helix Steel also has a passion for helping to reduce environmental impact in home construction.
Saving the Planet Starts With Carbon-Neutral Homes
Our team here at Helix Steel has been working with Habitat for Humanity to meet many of the PCA’s action items to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and simultaneously benefit the communities in which we live.
Specifically, we are working with many other partners in building homes that use insulated concrete forms (ICF). ICF construction is a stay-in-place foam form that goes on either side of the concrete wall and provides several benefits.
There are four key benefits of ICF construction:
- Longer lifestyle – homes can last centuries
- More sustainability – reducing energy consumption
- Safety and Reliability – concrete does not rust, rot or burn
- Resilience – resistant to natural and man-made disasters
Helix Micro Rebar has been used in ICF for more than a decade and greatly reduces the amount of rebar needed in ICF blocks. It also gives owners a stronger structural solution. For example, Indigo Green primarily used Helix Micro Rebar, and received practically no damage when the Category 5 Hurrican Erma tore through the property in 2017.
Helix Micro Rebar Has Environmental Benefits
Although Helix Micro Rebar alone will not solve the global warming issue, it can help. It can reduce steel and reduce the amount of concrete needed, and so contributes to a project’s LEED points.
When wildfires tore through Paradise, California, devastating the community, it was the homes built of concrete that survived with barely a scratch. Helix Steel’s first partnership with Habitat for Humanity was actually in Paradise, and we were able to see the difference that concrete made.
Since our first Habitat for Humanity home in California, Helix Steel has contributed to 8 homes for 17 families from California to Colorado to Michigan. We’re passionate about helping our communities and we’re proud to help others in need.
More recently, in October 2022 here in our ‘home’ of Grand Rapids, Michigan, our team participated in an ICF home build with our friends at Habitat for Humanity of Kent County. We spent a whole day there and completed the first storey of the building. Not only were we able to meet many other partners in the project, but we also met with some of the people who will soon call this building home. It was a rewarding and uplifting experience to play such an important role in these families’ future.
As a huge supporter of Habitat for Humanity, Helix Steel recommends that anyone in the construction industry reach out to your local ‘Habitat’ branch. They need your skills, products and energy – and they need it more than ever before.
Helix Micro Rebar Meets Building Code Requirements
Helix Micro Rebar has an engineered design with ICC-ES AC470 / ESR 3949 for applications such as concrete footings, foundations, walls and slabs. These reports are specifically tailored for residential applications and meet requirements in low-seismic regions. Years of work contributed to the reports, which tested modulus of rupture, compressive strength, minimum residential strength, freeze-thaw resistance and factor a quality control audit.
The EER 3949 report includes prescriptive tables for above-grade and below-grade walls. These details are acceptable for building departments without the need to go through an engineer provided you meet the requirements.
Take the Next Step in Carbon Neutrality. Start by Rethinking Your Concrete Reinforcement.
Are you interested in lowering your building’s carbon footprint? How about saving time? Or how about building better homes for your community? If so, reach out and learn more about how using Helix Micro Rebar can help. Contact us today.
If you work with concrete, you are very familiar with the frustrations of using rebar. Who knew that a simple metal rod used for 100+ years could still be causing so much frustration in an industry that otherwise is innovating faster than ever before?
Whether you’re a contractor, laborer, ICF home builder, precast company, or developer, there has never been a better time to rethink your concrete reinforcement and consider Helix Micro Rebar.
Helix Micro Rebar is a small, one-inch steel rod twisted and combined with concrete to create a superior concrete product. It isn’t even that “new”, but it might be new to you. It has been used over the past 20 years in more than 100 million square feet of slabs and more than 20,000 vertical structures. Brands that trust Helix Micro Rebar include Amazon, FedEx, General Motors and Hilton.
And it is everything you want a concrete reinforcement to be.
But how does it compare to rebar?
Why drop everything you know about concrete reinforcement for an alternative?
We’re glad you asked…
Helix Micro Rebar Takes Less Effort Than Rebar
Rebar needs to be ordered far in advance and placed in large storage yard until needed. Once needed, they are picked up by cranes and hefted to the worksite where each piece of rebar is picked up by your crew, lifted into place, then tied down by teams of laborers. When it comes to installation, rebar is always frustrating, dirty, rusty and often involves placement mistakes.
Helix Micro Rebar is the opposite in a lot of ways. This product is mixed with concrete before it is placed, and involves very few laborers – and mostly just on pour day. These jobsites are simple, clean and safe, and have Helix Steel engineers available to help at every step of the way – reducing effort for your team.
Helix Micro Rebar Takes Less Time Than Rebar
If you’re working on a warehouse concrete project, you may need to set aside weeks to install the rebar. Planning, managing crews and installing all take time and effort.
If developers want a faster return on their investment, or if contractors need to jump onto another project sooner, there is no better option than Helix Micro Rebar.
In many slab applications, every 10,000 sq. ft. of rebar replaced with Micro Rebar saves one full day of construction. Since Helix Micro Rebar is mixed in with concrete and poured into its final destination, almost all of the time scheduled for rebar installation is saved. You will also save time during the pour itself. Cement mixers can be driven directly onto the warehouse floor and pour at the location where the concrete is needed. This alone can improve your pour rate by up to 20%.
Helix Micro Rebar is Safer Than Rebar
Just thinking about rusty rebar gives us tetanus. It is heavy, awkward and a trip hazard on every jobsite. How many times have your crew members tripped on rebar? Once is too many.
Helix Micro Rebar is delivered in easy-to-handle cardboard boxes that greatly minimize contact with the reinforcement. With significantly smaller crews, fewer tripping hazards and less equipment needed, jobsites with Helix Micro Rebar have been proven to be safer.
Helix Micro Rebar Has Minimized Post-Construction Risk
One of the biggest struggles with using concrete is preventing crack formation. We are led to believe that rebar “should” stop cracks from forming, but in many cases, it’s only used to “reduce” the number and size of cracks. Standard concrete reinforcement is not as perfect as its popularity portrays.
Helix Micro Rebar is twisted to help give concrete five times the tensile strength compared to rebar-reinforced concrete and up to a 33% increase in modulus of rupture (flexural strength), which maximizes the structural durability against corrosion, earthquakes, water penetration and blasts.
Helix Micro Rebar also has a specialized coating that resists rust three times longer than conventional uncoated steel reinforcement. This helps to prevent cracks at the micro level and resists failure.
Helix Micro Rebar Has Lower Costs Than Rebar
Made of steel that’s hot-rolled into form, rebar can be slightly cheaper than Helix Micro Rebar when comparing direct material costs.
But when you factor in your reduction in labor costs, time savings, safety improvements and customer satisfaction, the difference is clear. Your project’s overall savings is significant, as is the higher-quality concrete product.
Submit Your Project
We are here to help make it easy to learn about the alternative to rebar and helping to make your job more efficient.
Send us some basic details about your project and we will help you to design a solution that works for you in just a couple of days. Submit Your Project Here
Learn more about Helix Micro Rebar and the many ways that it can work hard for your next project by contacting Helix Steel’s Sales & Technical Team at 734-322-2114 x3 or sales@helixsteel.com.
We look forward to sharing more about the power of Helix Micro Rebar soon.
Finishing concrete that has Helix Micro Rebar does not require any special equipment.
Helix Micro Rebar is easy to use – it can often be stained, stamped, polished and broom finished by following standard best practices for finishing are all you need to ensure an excellent finish every time.
Helix Steel does have several best practices for finishing concrete with Helix Micro Rebar to ensure a satisfactory finish every time.
Screeding Concrete
Screed the surface using a standard vibrating roller or laser screed immediately after pouring the concrete, then do your bull floating. Allow the concrete to swell above the grade line in front of the screed so it can fully engage the concrete as it levels the concrete back to grade. This helps to segregate the paste from aggregates and force the Helix Micro Rebar and coarse aggregates below the surface.
When vibration screeding is impossible, use a “jitterbug” to force coarse materials below the surface and, as with conventional concrete, do not overwork the surface.
Floating
Floating should be done as you usually would. Power floating is preferred to force the Helix Micro Rebar below the surface, but hand-floating can also work effectively. Trowelling will help to produce a dense, smooth, hard surface after the completion of the power or hand-floating.
Floating should not be started until the concrete will sustain foot pressure with only approximately ¼ in (6 mm) indentation.
The importance of bull floating cannot be understated as the process aids the separation of the cement and fines from the aggregate. Bull floating impacts a relatively even but open texture to the fresh concrete surface, eliminating ridges and filling in voids left by screeding. Hand or darby floats can be used in congested areas where bull floating is impossible.
Power floating, using float pans or using float shoes is critical as it breaks open the concrete surface: large aggregate and Helix Micro Rebar float downwards while cement and fine aggregates are sucked to the surface. A raised ridge of paste should be visible around the pans. If power floating is not done sufficiently or if it is started too late, both aggregate and Helix Micro Rebar will remain on the surface or just below as segregation could not occur. The same recommendations apply to hand-floating.
If high flatness is a requirement, please contact Helix Steel for this specific procedure.
Troweling
The purpose of hand or power troweling is to produce a dense, smooth, hard surface after the completion of the power or hand-floating. Only a small amount of paste should be visible around pans; too much will expose Helix Micro Rebar.
Initially, the trowel blades should be kept as flat against the surface as possible.
For pavements and rough finishes, the floating and troweling operations may be eliminated or
replaced with a broom operation.
Broom Finishing
A fine-broomed surface is created by drawing a soft-bristled broom over a freshly troweled surface in one direction. This should be done 15–60 minutes after the concrete is poured, when the concrete surface is very stiff, ensuring that the paste layer is disturbed very little.
Using a stiff-bristled broom is not recommended since this will disturb the surface paste and expose the Helix Micro Rebar.
Stamping
Added texture is possible through many stamping methods and equipment to create decorative and practical patterns. Simply follow standard procedures. Helix Steel has a best practice guide that will help.
Slab Cutting
Helix Micro Rebar is compatible with standard cutting processes. If the application warrants it, and when an appropriate time has passed, you can cut the concrete with a premium diamond hard-aggregate blade. Both wet cuts and dry cuts can be used as long as you follow all standard methods and materials.
The preferred way to cut is with a traditional 25-hp wet saw with a premium hard-aggregate diamond blade. Cuts should be 1/3 depth of the slab and should take place 4–12 hours after the slab has been finished. (Closer to four hours in hot weather.)
Dry sawing is also possible and should take place one to four hours after the slab has been finished again with a premium hard-aggregate diamond blade. (Closer to one hour in hot weather.)
Slab Curing
Helix Micro Rebar is compatible with all curing methods and materials. When proper curing measures are taken, problems such as plastic shrinkage cracking, crazing and curling are minimized.
The most common method to cure concrete with Helix Micro Rebar is a spray-on liquid membrane which forms a curing compound containing synthetic resins in a solvent. Curing can also be accomplished with wet coverings such as burlap, waterproof paper or plastic sheets which should remain wet for seven or more days.
Exposed Floors
Helix Micro Rebar may be used in exposed (uncovered) (as defined by ACI 302.1R-15 Class 1) concrete slabs. To assure Helix Micro Rebar is forced below the surface, pay careful attention to the best practices. Your Helix Steel representative will help you with best practices during the pre-pour conference. When used in residential settings we recommend a mockup to ensure the mix design and finishing method produces an acceptable result for the owner.
Slab Polishing
Concrete slabs with Helix Micro Rebar can be polished to a beautiful shine. There will be occasional exposed Helix Micro Rebar along with the aggregate, but Helix Steel has detailed slab polishing procedures available to ensure success.
Ask your Helix Steel representative for a copy of this procedure. We recommend a mockup to ensure the mix design and polishing method produces an acceptable result for the owner.
Finishing your Helix Micro Rebar-infused concrete has never been easier. Reach out to the Helix Steel team to learn more about this stage or any other in the “Working With Helix Steel” process.
You can also return to the beginning and begin your journey of “Working With Helix Micro Rebar”: Specifying.
Combining Helix Micro Rebar With Your Concrete and Placing the Mix Has Never Been Easier
With procedures understood by your crew and ready-mix operators, you will quickly realize that placing concrete has never been this easy. Using Helix Micro Rebar instead of pre-tied rebar allows concrete trucks to drive adjacent to your slab pour site with ease. The speed means days and even weeks cut from your concrete schedule. Helix Steel can walk you and your team through these procedures.
Mixing Procedures for Helix Micro Rebar
Helix Steel works with Engineers, contractors, concrete plants and crews to ensure that the methods described below are followed and that there are no questions or concerns.
Before any concrete is mixed or placed, a pre-pour meeting is conducted. This is when several areas are reviewed:
- the Helix Micro Rebar dosage
- the mixing plan
- the quality control plan
- And instructions for ready-mix truck drivers.
For commercial projects, Helix Steel can also provide live support.
Adding the Helix Micro Rebar to your concrete mix can be accomplished through hand dosing, sifters, portable conveyors, blowers or hoppers, either at the batch plant or onsite. When and how to mix the reinforcement will depend on the concrete plant type and the available equipment you’re using, so be sure to understand the instructions provided by Helix Steel.
Following this procedure will help to prevent Helix Micro Rebar from clumping.
- Add all Helix Micro Rebar to the truck drum. Typically this is done by hand, dumping the entire contents of the box into the drum while it is at idle speed. If available, this is done from a slump check stand or by using a conveyor from ground level.
- Drive the truck into the plant.
- Once the truck is in position under the chute, increase the drum to full charging speed and add a minimum of 50% of the batch water to the truck (more than 50% is okay).
- Allow the Helix Micro Rebar and water to mix for no less than 45 seconds while delaying the addition of the remaining materials. NOTE: Once the water and Helix Micro Rebar are in the drum and the drum is at charging speed, the drum speed must not decrease.
- Add the aggregate, sand, cement and remaining water to the truck and mix in the normal matter (60 revolutions minimum).
- For dosages below 15 lb/yd3 (9kg/m3) follow the dry procedures with 7 gallons (27 liters) of water in the drum (instead of the 50% requirement). NOTE: Once the water and Helix Micro Rebar are in the drum and the drum is at charging speed, the drum speed must not decrease until all batching is complete.
- For higher dosages please use the Site Batching instructions below.
- Set the drum to charging speed.
- Helix Steel recommends using a blower for site batching to reduce issues – ask us about blower availability. For hand batching, sift Helix Micro Rebar through 2’’x 2’’ (50mm x 50mm) mesh. The dosing unit breaks up clumps and ensures Helix Micro Rebar goes into the truck at a controlled rate (about one box per minute). When Helix Micro Rebar is added at this stage, it must enter the mixer clump-free.
- Helix Micro Rebar may collect on residual concrete on the interior surfaces of the hopper. Push the Helix Micro Rebar into the drum, avoiding clumps. Adding a slippery lining, such as PVC sheeting, to the hopper may help avoid these buildups.
- Mix at charging speed for five minutes (60 revolutions) after Helix Micro Rebar is added.
Pan Mixer / Drum Mixer
- Set the mixer to the proper speed.
- Add Helix Micro Rebar at a rate of 45–60 seconds per 45 lbs (20 kgs).
- Helix Micro Rebar should be added with the aggregates.
- Mix at maximum speed for five minutes after Helix Micro Rebar is added.
Important Notes:
- Mixing should be done in accordance with ASTM C94 and the mixing instructions above.
- The dosage of Helix Micro Rebar added to the mix should be noted on the batch documentation in accordance with Uniform Evaluation Service ER 279 Section 5.15 and verified using the procedure in ER 279 Appendix A.
Placing Procedures
Placing concrete with Helix Micro Rebar is very similar to standard concrete placing procedures. Whether you’re using a pump, buggy, telebelt, portable concrete hopper or direct discharge, place as you normally would.
One of the primary benefits of choosing Helix Micro Rebar is that there is no rebar or mesh in the way of your crews and trucks for concrete slab applications. You can often drive cement mixers right up to the pour site with no need for pumps or belts. (And the costs associated with them.)
When direct placement is not possible, Helix Micro Rebar is also compatible with all concrete pump systems. Helix Micro Rebar pieces are 1” long and present minimal pumping resistance but use a minimum 3” line to pump Helix Micro Rebar-reinforced concrete.
Consolidating/Vibrating Procedures
Helix Micro Rebar must be consolidated in many concrete applications – such as ICF and slabs – to remove entrapped air bubbles and eliminate voids. Just like standard reinforced concrete, do not over-vibrate.
Slabs and other structures require vibration at dowelled construction joists, bulkheads, penetrations or where rebar is placed, such as reentrant corners and loading docks. Although slabs can be placed without consolidation using only a hand straight edge, vibrating the entire slab surface is good practice.
Read about the final stage of “Working With Helix Micro Rebar”: Finishing.
Helix Steel works with engineers, contractors, concrete plants and crews to help prepare you for your pour.
Our team supports your project from the beginning, from assisting your engineer in specifying Helix Micro Rebar to working with your crew to prepare the project site – and beyond!
Quality Assurance
Our in-house engineers and project managers work with your Engineer of Record to ensure full transparency and exceptional concrete results. We will review and optimize your concrete mix as needed.
Pre-Pour Support
In many cases, standard techniques can be used to ensure that you and your team are ready for the concrete pour that includes Helix Micro Rebar.
Before your concrete pour, whether big or small, our project team will meet with you to discuss every step of the pouring process, including mixing, pouring and finishing. These meetings can involve a wide range of individuals, such as engineers, general contractors, concrete contractors, ready-mix producers and site foremen.
Concrete Testing
Testing is not typically needed since Helix Steel has pre-approved reports. But when required, we will work with your concrete contractor and engineer to complete a test batch using standard mix design practices.
Site Preparation
There are many standard techniques you can use to ensure that your site is ready for the concrete pour. For slabs, footings and foundations, your subgrade should be smooth, well compacted, free of ruts and covered in a moisture membrane if specified. For wall applications, forms must be in place and additional concrete reinforcement installed per your Engineer of Record’s design. Helix Steel will provide comprehensive outlines for every application upon request.
Continue reading about the next stage of “Working With Helix Micro Rebar”: Mixing and Placing.