BLASTEC
For over thirty years, Cintec has been at the forefront of structural strengthening techniques and blast mitigation. Blastec, the blast mitigation division, is an industry leader in aggregating specialised technologies to create a unified system of blast protection and blast mitigation.
STRUCTURAL ANCHORS
The Cintec™ anchoring system offers almost limitless possibilities for strengthening, stabilising, anchoring and repairing masonry structures and other structural elements in buildings using structural anchors and blast mitigation. Its versatility shines in applications for anything from masonry structures, residential high-rises and industrial plants—including nuclear power stations—to institutional buildings and heritage jewels with structural anchors. Customised design solutions using structural anchors, often in combination for a single project, can include stabilizing chimneys, fixing detaching bay windows, repairing vertical shear and subsidence cracks, tying delaminating wall skins to a main structure, and repairing failing archways on masonry structures.
By working closely with all parties with an interest in historical or heritage projects, Cintec™ designs structural anchors that offer the least intervention available in most cases where the alternative would be to dismantle and rebuild a masonry structure.
The Cintec™ structural anchor offers almost limitless possibilities for strengthening, stabilising, anchoring and repairing masonry structures and other structural elements in buildings as well as blast mitigation solutions. Whether the goal is to solve an existing problem or to prevent future ones, with blast mitigation, the Cintec™ structural anchors can prevent failure in masonry structures from many types of peril: fire, earthquakes, freeze-thaw cycles and weathering. The Cintec™ structural anchor can help restore and maintain structural integrity of a masonry structure, with minimal intervention and generally quick installation.
TESTING
The intrinsic qualities of the Cintec structural anchor are well documented through years of extensive testing on masonry structures. With each project and application, from high-rise buildings, to ancient masonry structures, to bridges and retaining walls, Cintec ensures that the physics behind the methodology are proven to be effective thanks to structural anchors.
Our training program ensures that every installer of the Cintec structural anchor has complete knowledge and hands-on experience with masonry structures. Every installer is required to carry his identification card on site while undertaking work on a masonry structure requiring the use of the Cintec structural anchor.
THE PRINCIPLE
The Cintec masonry structure reinforcement technique strengthens masonry structures to make them more resistant to internal and external explosions due to blast mitigation. With over thirty years of development and application, it has been custom designed with blast mitigation for a wide range of masonry structures , from cathedrals, to viaducts, to commercial high-rises.
Cintec is able to reinforce any type of masonry structure, including brick, stone, terra-cotta and CMU, creating an internal skeletal steel frame capable of resisting out-of-plane loads with blast mitigation. The Cintec Anchor System aggregates protective elements such as reinforced windows to create a blast mitigation entity.
BLAST MITIGATION ANALYSIS
The determination of an appropriate blast protection and blast mitigation system for any masonry structure requires both a blast mitigation study, and structural analysis. Cintec provides both those essential blast mitigation areas of research.
In response to an identified range of explosive threat, Cintec produces a detailed blast mitigation study. This blast mitigation study is undertaken as part of an analysis and design consultancy, or as a separate blast mitigation study to investigate blast load and distance combinations.
The Blastec system is arguably the only one in the world capable of modelling accurately the complex behavior of masonry structures exposed to explosive loads. Although retrofitting masonry structures is our specialty, we have the expertise to accept commissions across the full spectrum of building types and environments, from simple single storey buildings, to complex multi-floor industrial framed structures, in all materials, including steel, reinforced concrete, and masonry.