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If you are creating a floor that is only four inches thick and will only ever have to support people and furniture, you may not need rebar. Thicker metal rebar mesh during concrete pouring At the same time, stopping any cracks from traveling throughout the length of a concrete slab, helping the concrete withstand pressures that it would previously have failed at. The rebar inside concrete prevents the entire structure of the concrete from moving when tensile strengths are being applied. An excellent way to think about concrete structure is to imagine a sponge that can compress with ease and handle the pressure as needed however, it fails when twisted or pulled. As the concrete flexes, it forms cracks with rebar in the structure, the cracks can move throughout the entire piece of concrete.Īs the concrete becomes thicker and harder, it becomes much easier to destroy or damage when there is no rebar inside. Without rebar, concrete becomes extremely weak to tension forces these would be forces that pull and twist the concrete. As the rebar naturally starts to rust inside the concrete, it expands, breaking down the concrete from the inside out. While there are still many structures that only have one or two floors built with concrete and stones or bricks, the vast majority of structures use reinforced concrete. However, modern construction uses concrete in a completely different manner than the ancients did. Usually, the rebar will rust long before the concrete itself has started becoming weaker.Ĭoncrete on its own has been used in structures for thousands of years, with many of the most ancient structures using concrete to hold everything together. How Long Does Concrete Last Without Rebar?ĭepending on the type of rebar you are using, how well the concrete is sealed, and how much moisture is introduced, reinforced concrete may only last under one hundred years. When appropriately used, rebar will allow you to build almost anything from concrete while ensuring it is strong enough to handle almost anything. Rebar has been one of the great ways that concrete can be strengthened, instead of just being a mixture that can be used for flat slabs. Concrete with rebar is a (relatively) new approach with entirely new structural strengths than just concrete poured and dried. The rebar quickly helps the concrete withstand these pressures when applied, in the same way an alloy material would distribute the pressure. Normal concrete is solid against compressive strength but usually fails when pulled or twisted. Concrete adds tensile strength, combining with the concrete to make a much stronger composite material that easily handles much more than normal concrete.