Top12 is an innovative reinforcing steel with significantly improved corrosion resistance and best-in-class lifecycle costs, developed by Steeltec in Switzerland.
Top12 is a high-alloy class 1.4003 material and much more resistant to corrosion than conventional reinforcing steels because it contains at least 12 mass percent chromium.
Top12 requires no special handling and can be conventionally processed.
Top12 is approx. four times more resistant to chlorides than conventional reinforcing steel. This reliable protection from corrosion can exponentially extend the lifetime of structures.
Top12 requires only a very low concrete cover due to its higher corrosion resistance in case of chloride or CO2 attacks.
In its geotechnical version with higher yield strength, it renders the usual sheathing tube of the anchor system redundant, as it provides the necessary protection for temporary and permanent anchors of protection level 2 in any ground - even in aggressive groundwater.
Durability tailored to operating needs
Corrosion caused by chlorides is the most common form of reinforcement corrosion. Chlorides penetrate the concrete and, above a certain chloride concentration on the reinforcement level, initiate corrosion. Depending on the corrosion resistance of the reinforcement, damage occurs faster or slower. This in turn is related to the alloy content and surface properties of the stainless steel. This means that the corrosion resistance of the steel can be influenced proactively. To improve the reliability and durability of structures and taking the overall costs into account, an optimized material selection is crucial. As the alloy content increases, not only the resistance of stainless steel increases, but also the material costs. The aim is to select the reinforcement according to the corrosion stress and the intended service life in a balanced cost-benefit ratio.
Best in class life-cycle costs for different structural applications
Cost reduction while ensuring high durability and robustness - a challenge to be solved more and more frequently while planning and repairing infrastructure buildings. With our stainless reinforcing steel Top12, we provide the answer. Top12 increases durability, offers practical construction advantages and keeps life cycle costs at the minimum.
Comparison of life cycle costs
Comparison of the different variants (standardized to Top12) with regard to life cycle costs - vertical axis cut off at 5.0
Application areas
Civil engineering and underground projects
Caps and guide walls
Retaining walls
Bridge central pier
Tunnel walls and portals
Tunnel emergency walkway
Pile caps and pile head beams
Bored piles
Building construction projects
Columns, walls, foundations of park buildings
Precast concrete elements
Sandwich elements
Architectural concrete
Geotechnical applications
As nails for:
Excavation
Slope stabilization
Rock nails
Tunnel construction
Falling object protective structures
As piles for:
Foundation plates
Bridge foundations
Foundation refurbishment
Underpinning
Buoyancy prevention
Absorption of horizontal forces
Approvals
DIN 488 (German standard): Top12 has two general building approvals from the German Institute for Building Technology (DIBt); approval number: Z-1.4-266; Z-1.4-272
SIA 262 (Swiss standard): Top12-500 and Top12-670 are listed in the “Register normkonformer nichtrostender Betonstähle”.
Take a look at a field study how Top12 compares to other rebar steels
Field tests in the Naxberg tunnel in Switzerland have shown impressively how different steels behave under high but common chloride loads from road traffic. Both the unalloyed reinforcing steel and the galvanized reinforcing steel exhibited considerable pitting corrosion and each had a corroded steel surface of over 70%. Top12 showed small rust spots, but no measurable material erosion could be determined for these spots. The duplex steel showed no signs of corrosion and was still passive after 12 years.
Corrosion results after 12 years under real conditions in an Alps road tunnel (concrete cover 10mm)
