Sheet pile of concrete and wall comprising a plurality of said sheet piles

Abstract

A sheet pile of concrete comprising a reinforcement (1) which is produced from composite material comprising fibres and a concrete casting (2) which extends between a first lateral end (3) thereof and an opposite second lateral end (4) thereof, the reinforcement (1) being embedded in the concrete casting (2). The sheet pile further comprises a terminal element (6) which is produced from a polymer material and which comprises a connection element (7) which is embedded in the concrete casting (2) and an engagement element (8) of the sheet pile (100) which is connected to the connection element (7). The connection element (7) and the engagement element (8) extend along a longitudinal axis (X) of the sheet pile, in which the engagement element (8) has a practically C-shaped cross-section and projects from the first lateral end (3) of the concrete casting (2). The second lateral end (4) of the concrete casting (2) comprises a concrete joint (9) which extends longitudinally along the longitudinal axis (X) and which is shaped so as to be connected in an interlocking manner to the engagement element (8) of a second sheet pile.

Claims

1. A sheet pile of concrete comprising: a reinforcement which is produced from composite material comprising fibres, a concrete casting which extends between a first lateral end thereof and an opposite second lateral end thereof, the reinforcement being embedded in the concrete casting, a terminal element which is produced from a polymer material and which comprises a connection element which is embedded in the concrete casting and an engagement element of the sheet pile which is connected to the connection element, the connection element and the engagement element extending along a longitudinal axis (X) of the sheet pile, in which the engagement element has a practically C-shaped cross-section and projects from the first lateral end of the concrete casting, wherein the second lateral end of the concrete casting comprises a concrete joint which extends longitudinally along the longitudinal axis (X) and which is shaped so as to be connected in an interlocking manner to the engagement element of a second sheet pile.

2. The sheet pile according to claim 1, wherein the concrete casting is a precompressed concrete casting.

3. The sheet pile according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcement is produced from composite material reinforced with glass fibres.

4. The sheet pile according to claim 1, wherein the terminal element is produced from PVC.

5. The sheet pile according to claim 1, wherein the connection element and the engagement element are formed in a single piece.

6. The sheet pile according to claim 1, wherein the connection element comprises a hollow rod which extends longitudinally along the longitudinal axis (X) which defines in the sheet pile an upper opening and an opposite lower opening for the passage of a fluid through the sheet pile.

7. The sheet pile according to claim 6, wherein the connection element further comprises a laminar connection which is produced in a single piece with the rod and the engagement element and which is interposed therebetween so that the rod is connected to the engagement element by the laminar connection.

8. The sheet pile according to claim 7, wherein the laminar connection extends mainly along the longitudinal axis (X) and along a first transverse axis (Y) which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (X).

9. The sheet pile according to claim 7, wherein the laminar connection is provided with one or more throughholes which are spaced apart along the longitudinal axis (X) and is embedded in the concrete casting.

10. The sheet pile according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcement comprises a network of polymer material which is reinforced with glass fibres.

11. The sheet pile according to claim 10, wherein the network comprises a first plurality of bars which extend along the longitudinal axis (X) and a plurality of second bars which extend from one to the other of the lateral ends of the concrete casting.

12. The sheet pile according to claim 1, wherein the sheet pile comprises a plurality of tubular elements which extend longitudinally along the longitudinal axis (X), each tubular element defining in the sheet pile a respective upper outlet and a respective opposite lower outlet for the passage of a fluid through the sheet pile.

13. The sheet pile according to claim 1, wherein the engagement element has a tapered thickness from the connection element towards the respective free ends.

14. A wall comprising a plurality of sheet piles according to claim 1, wherein the sheet piles are secured to each other by the joints being connected to the respective engagement elements.

15. The sheet pile according to claim 8, wherein the laminar connection is provided with one or more throughholes which are spaced apart along the longitudinal axis (X) and is embedded in the concrete casting.

Description

(1) The characteristics and additional advantages of the invention will be better appreciated from the following detailed description of preferred though non-limiting embodiments thereof which are illustrated by way of non-limiting example with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a sheet pile according to the invention,

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a wall which is formed by a plurality of sheet piles according to the invention which are secured to each other,

(4) FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-section of a terminal element of a sheet pile according to the invention,

(5) FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic cross-sections of two embodiments of a sheet pile according to the invention,

(6) FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of a detail of a sheet pile according to the invention.

(7) Initially with reference to FIG. 1, there is generally designated 100 a sheet pile of concrete according to the invention. In particular, FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the sheet pile 100.

(8) With reference to the Figures, the sheet pile of concrete 100 extends longitudinally along a longitudinal axis X and comprises a reinforcement 1 which is embedded in a (precompressed) concrete casting 2, this casting extending between a first lateral end 3 thereof and a second opposite lateral end 4 thereof. The first and second lateral ends 3, 4 are spaced apart by a distance D with respect to a first transverse axis Y which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis X.

(9) By way of example, the distance D between the first and second lateral ends 3, 4 is 900 mm, advantageously this distance D is between 400 and 1500 mm.

(10) The sheet pile has a thickness d, which is measured along a second transverse axis Z which is perpendicular to the first transverse axis Y and the longitudinal axis X, between 35 and 60 mm.

(11) The sheet pile 100 has a form, when viewed from above and considered in a plane YZ, which is almost trapezoidal, delimited with respect to the first transverse axis Y by the first and second lateral ends 3, 4 and having a spatial requirement along the second transverse axis Z between 150 and 600 mm.

(12) A centre axis M of the sheet pile which is shown in FIG. 1 and which is parallel with the second transverse axis Z subdivides the sheet pile into two portions which are substantially symmetrical with respect to a transverse axis Z.

(13) At the first end 3, the sheet pile is provided with a terminal element 6 which can better be seen in FIG. 3 and which is formed in a single piece from PVC, and comprising a connection element 7 and an engagement element 8 having a C-shaped cross-section.

(14) The engagement element 8 extends longitudinally along the longitudinal axis X and projects from the first lateral end 3 of the concrete casting 2 in the direction of the first transverse axis Y.

(15) At the second end 4, the sheet pile 100 is provided with a concrete joint 9 which is shaped to be connected in an interlocking manner to the engagement element 8 of a second sheet pile according to the invention.

(16) Advantageously, the concrete joint 9 extends longitudinally along the longitudinal axis X and has a circle-segment-like cross-section.

(17) In the embodiment of the terminal element 6 shown in the Figures, the connection element 7 comprises a laminar connection 10 and a hollow rod 11 which are constructed in a single piece and which are also formed in a single piece with the engagement element 8.

(18) The connection element 7 is advantageously embedded in the concrete casting.

(19) The hollow rod 11 extends longitudinally along the longitudinal axis X for the passage of a fluid through the sheet pile 100. By way of example, the laminar connection 10 has a thickness of 3 mm.

(20) The engagement element 8 comprises two curvilinear portions 81, 82 which extend from the laminar connection 10 in opposite directions with respect thereto as far as respective free ends 83, 84 which converge towards each other but are spaced apart by an opening 85 which is defined along the second transverse axis and which extends along the longitudinal axis X.

(21) The two curvilinear portions 81, 82 of the engagement element 8 define a seat 86 of the engagement element 8 which is intended to receive the concrete joint 9 of a second sheet pile according to the invention. The engagement element 8 has a tapered thickness from the laminar connection 10 towards the respective free ends 83, 84 in order to promote the introduction of the concrete joint 9 of a second sheet pile according to the invention, as better explained below.

(22) By way of example, the engagement element 8 has a thickness of 5 mm at the laminar connection 10 and a thickness of 2 mm at the free ends 83, 84 thereof.

(23) The laminar connection 10 is provided with a plurality of through-holes 10a, 10b and is embedded in the concrete casting 2, as shown in FIG. 4.

(24) Preferably, the through-holes 10a, 10b have a diameter of 30 mm and are spaced apart from each other along the longitudinal axis X by a distance d1 of approximately 180 mm.

(25) FIG. 4 shows a cross-section, which is orthogonal to the longitudinal axis X, of an embodiment of the sheet pile 100 which comprises five consecutive rectilinear portions 5a, b, c, d, e which extend along a broken centre line L which is defined between the first lateral end 3 and the second lateral end 4 which delimit the extent in terms of length of the above-mentioned cross-section.

(26) In general, however, according to the present invention the cross-section of the sheet pile 100 may have any number of rectilinear portions, in particular being able to have the form of sections already known in the art.

(27) By way of example, the rectilinear portions of a sheet pile 100 according to the invention may have a thickness of 50 mm and a length between 10 and 80 mm. By way of example, however, the spatial requirement of the sheet pile 100 along the second transverse axis Z is 400 mm.

(28) According to the embodiment of the invention of FIG. 4, the reinforcement 1 of the sheet pile 100 is defined by a network of polymer material which is reinforced by glass fibres. The reinforcement 1 comprises a network which is constituted by a plurality of first bars 1a which are substantially rectilinear and which extend along the longitudinal axis X and by a plurality of second bars 1b which are superimposed along the longitudinal axis X.

(29) Each second bar 1b extends along the cross-section of the sheet pile 100 from one to the other of the lateral ends 3, 4 of the concrete casting 2, in a manner parallel with the centre line L. The first bars 1a are distributed at intervals along the centre line L.

(30) In FIG. 4, the sheet pile 100 provides for a greater density of the first bars 1a at the final rectilinear portions 5a, 5e and the central rectilinear portion 5c which is substantially parallel with the portions 5a, 5e of the sheet pile 100. The sheet pile 100 of FIG. 5 differs from that of FIG. 4 as a result of a different distribution of the first bars 1a.

(31) In fact, the sheet pile 100 of FIG. 5 provides for a particularly dense distribution of the first bars 1a in the central rectilinear portion 5c in order to ensure a high level of rigidity in this predetermined zone of the sheet pile 100. This characteristic is found to be particularly advantageous when the sheet pile 100 is subjected to external forces having a particularly high value.

(32) The sheet piles of FIGS. 4 and 5 further comprise a plurality of tubular elements 12 which extend longitudinally along the longitudinal axis X.

(33) The tubular elements 12 are preferably arranged at intervals along the centre line L of the sheet pile 100.

(34) According to the invention, there may be provision for the tubular elements 12 and the hollow rod 11 to be provided with a connector 13 at the upper outlets 14 and the upper opening 15, respectively, so that these elements can be connected in a fluid-tight manner to a compressor which is arranged to introduce therein a pressurized fluid, such as, for example, water. Passing longitudinally through the sheet pile 100, this fluid is discharged in the form of a jet from the lower outlets 16 of the tubular elements 12 and the lower opening 17 of the rod 11.

(35) The lower outlets 16 and the lower opening 17 can be provided with a nozzle 18 which is profiled so as to accelerate the discharge speed of the fluid (FIG. 6).

(36) As shown in FIG. 2, according to the invention it is possible to produce a vertical wall 1000 which is substantially continuous by means of a plurality of sheet piles of concrete 100 according to the invention, each sheet pile 100 being secured to the adjacent one by means of the connection between the joint and engagement element.

(37) The invention thus solves the problem set out, at the same time achieving a plurality of advantages. In particular, the sheet pile of concrete according to the invention is found to be reliable in terms of resistance to phenomena of chemical and physical degradation, including in particularly wet environments. Furthermore, the interlocking connection between the joint of a first sheet pile and the engagement element of a second sheet pile allows the production of a substantially continuous and impermeable vertical wall which is formed by a series of sheet piles according to the invention, each one connected to the adjacent one.