Rebar ties 1

[WhiteLotus]

I'm curious if anyone has any experience using rebar ties made of materials other than steel? I recently worked with a contractor to install a concrete foundation for a piece of equipment with magnetic field sensitivies. Instead of using steel, we used a fiberglass composite as reinforcement and tied it with plastic ties. The same ties used to keep electrical wires in place. You don't twist the ends to secure them in place, but connect one end to the other through a loop and pull it tought. (This was recommended by the equipment manufacture)

Can I use the plastic wire ties to secure steel rebar (epoxy coated, bare, etc.)? I've looked through ACI 301 and there isn't anything saying "don't use this". Since the purpose of rebar ties is to keep rebar in place prior to concrete placement and during curing, I would think this shouldn't be a problem. Any insights?

 

[SlideRuleEra]

What you are proposing is ok. The rebar ties do not contribute to structural integrity of reinforced concrete, no matter what they are made from. They are only used by a contractor to insure that the rebar stays in it's intended location - that's all.

 

[LHA]

I agree with sliderule. What you are referring to are commercially available and are called "zip ties".

 

[Ron]

Another name under which they can be found is Tie-Wrap (comes from their electrical applications). They are very strong, but might be a bit expensive for rebar tieing.

 

[pba]

Remember Scissors, paper, stone?

Metal cuts plastic.

Seriously - you could use zip ties but I can't see why you would want to:
They will be more expensive.
They will require two tools to fix - one to tighten, one to cut off the end. Tie wire only needs one as the cutter is part on the same specialist tool.
You will need more ties as the load capacity will be less due to the stretchability of the plastic.
They don't come on continuous reels like tie wire.

In theory you could try glue...

 

[StephenA]

The only reasons that I can think of that you might want to use them (apart from the magnetic one) are
A) Badly tied steel ties could extend to the surface of the concrete and or broken ties lie on the shutter (if not cleaned off prior to casting the concrete. Both could cause rust staining.

B) When using epoxy coated rebar, the coating on the ties may (will?) crack off.

StephenA

 

[Bbird]

I am in an fortunate situation of having to investigate the collapse of a rebar cage that killed two working crew members while I heard another rebar wall panel collapsed and killed 5 in another site.

We don't rely on ties for strength but it is prudent to evaluate the full consequence of the change. I suppose we can always specify certain sizes of the plastic tie for certain bar diameters to give us the equivalent strength of steel wires, however if the plastic ties are not tight it can have serious consequence.