What is a chemical anchor?

Basically:

Chemical anchoring: It is the union of metallic rods (threaded, fluted or smooth) to a substrate of concrete, rock or masonry through a bridge of adhesion (resin).

Chemical anchors allow quick, safe and reliable assembly. They contribute a greater capacity of support and subjection and an important technical aspect perhaps the more, is its reduced area of ??tension in the base material, allowing smaller distances between fixations and allowing to approach much more to the edges. Certified chemical anchors also allow underwater applications, under water, high resistance to high temperatures, remarkable tensile and shear strength, especially in seismic zones such as Chile here in South America.

Chemical anchors are used in structural and non-structural applications, they can repair damaged bearing elements, fix metal structures, bolts and anchors of various types, qualities and designs to walls, floors or skies in cracked or non-cracked concrete.

Generally chemical anchors are a solution that is not visible at first glance, as they are used in hollow industrial bricks, curtain walls, partition walls, public lighting, rails, hand rails, assembly of electrical equipment, water pumps among many other building applications . It is also used in industrial, civil and mining projects such as support and installation of equipment under constant vibration such as motors and generators (chemical anchors have great resistance to vibration) piping, racks, cantilever, elevators, Escalators, bridges, tunnels, containment barriers, crushing mills and conveyor belts, tunnel fans, the list of applications is long.

There is no doubt that chemical anchors have come to stay and their potential is great, but having said that and considering the large number of possible applications many of which are critical within construction, it is very striking that construction companies buy different brands offered In the Chilean market many of which do not have quality certifications and are not recognized internationally.

Some importers exhibit products that do not have serious certifications to which they themselves perform a traction test in a local laboratory and then already offer them to the market. This issue is important, the responsibilities when it comes to anchoring and fixing structures is very large. If the chemical is not of certified quality the construction company is exposed to millionaire claims for serious accidents due to anchorage failures.

The risks assumed by construction companies and mountain companies that do not require serious certifications are very large. An ITO on the ground commented: "It's true how to play Russian roulette", it's a good analogy. But why risk the misfortune of a serious accident if there are quality products at competitive prices? Of the three or four serious brands present in Chile? Of course SPIT is one of these and also brings important technical differences in security, expiration and sustainability, we will see in another article.