Key Technologies and Application Analysis for Achieving High Openness Ratio in UHPC Shaping

When architectural aesthetics and structural engineering meet at great heights, UHPC redefines the boundary between “lightness and strength” with its exceptional material performance. As an industry leader with 28 years of deep expertise in UHPC/GRC/GRG/GRP materials, Qinglong Group has witnessed the entire journey of ultra-high performance concrete from the laboratory to landmark buildings. This article systematically analyzes the core technical pathways through which UHPC achieves high openwork rate designs, revealing the deep integration of material properties and engineering practice.

UHPC Material Properties: The Physical Foundation of High Openwork Designs

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), with its 200MPa-level compressive strength and flexural toughness above 10MPa, provides the material foundation for high openwork structures. Its unique three-dimensional randomly distributed steel fiber system enables the material to maintain structural integrity even with a 70% reduction in cross-sectional area. Qinglong Group's UHPC formulation, optimized through 58 patented technologies, keeps the water-binder ratio below 0.2 and, combined with the filling effect of nano-scale silica fume, achieves components with openwork rates above 60% whose self-weight is only 1/3 that of conventional concrete.

Digital Design: Parametric Modeling Solves Openwork Structure Challenges

In the renovation project of Century Plaza on Nanjing East Road, the Qinglong technical team used the Rhino+Grasshopper parametric platform to convert the openwork patterns of 1,200 light-transmitting UHPC components into quantifiable digital models. Structural force simulations were conducted with BIM technology to precisely calculate the stress distribution of each openwork unit, ensuring structural safety under typhoon loads. This “digital twin” design approach enabled the double-curved openwork curtain wall of the Dongguan Women and Children's Activity Center project to achieve 0.5mm-level installation precision.

Forming Process Innovation: From Laboratory Formulas to Industrial Production

To address the forming challenges of high openwork components, Qinglong Group developed a composite process combining vacuum casting and steam curing. At its production base in Nanning, Guangxi, automated production lines with an annual capacity of 600,000 square meters achieve precise replication of openwork patterns. Particularly in GRG material applications, premixed spray forming technology achieves a minimum curvature radius of 300mm for curved openwork ceilings, with surface precision controlled within ±0.3mm. This process innovation has made Qinglong one of the first companies in China to be certified under the standard “General Technical Conditions for Non-Load-Bearing Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) Components”.

Engineering Practice: Full-Chain Service Ensures Design Realization

As a national high-tech enterprise integrating detailed design, manufacturing, and construction installation, Qinglong has established a technical service system covering the entire project lifecycle. In an openwork sunshade panel project for a commercial complex, on-site positioning was achieved through 3D laser scanning and, combined with modular installation techniques, installation errors of 3,000 special-shaped UHPC components were kept within 2mm. This integrated “design-manufacturing-construction” model is precisely Qinglong's core competitiveness in undertaking overseas projects such as the Twin Towers in Malaysia and Marina Bay in Singapore.

From material R&D to engineering applications, the breakthrough in UHPC high openwork technology represents not only a triumph of materials science, but also a deep integration of design thinking and engineering technology. With the mission of “creating beautiful architecture” and 28 years of technical accumulation, Qinglong Group is continuously expanding the application boundaries of UHPC/GRC/GRG/GRP materials. On the path of exploring future architectural aesthetics, these new materials that combine strength and beauty are destined to become the core medium through which designers shape spatial art.