Construction Fixings

On July 2013, the EOTA issued the Annex E of ETAG 001 for the assessment of anchors for use in concrete under seismic actions and a Technical Report (TR045) for the design of the anchorages on concrete in seismic hazard zones.

Following the direction of the construction regulations worldwide, Tecfi Fixing Systems has been investing lots of energy in recent years in studying solutions for approaching the seismic topic in the right way.

In 2016 its laboratory was equipped with the very latest facilities for static, dynamic and seismic load tests, for the research and the development of anchors to be used in cracked concrete and seismic zones. Tecfi’s engineers can run in-house tests daily on anchors, according to what is prescribed by the Annex E of ETAG 001.

The anchors that are suitable for seismic hazard zones can be divided into three groups, according to the ‘Peak Ground Acceleration’ expected at the site: Category C2 for high seismic hazard zones, Category C1 for low and medium seismic hazard zones and Option 1 for low seismic hazard zones.

Today, Tecfi SpA can offer a very wide range of metal and chemical anchors provided with C2 performance category. This includes its HXE CONCRETO® concrete screw, which Tecfi says was the first concrete screw to achieve the C2 performance category in 2015. The C2 performance category is available for diameters 12mm and 16mm, while diameter 10mm reached Category C1 and is under assessment for getting C2 approval. HXE CONCRETO (including 8mm diameter) is also ETA certified in Option 1 (ETA – 11/0336) for cracked concrete and classified R120 for fire resistance.

Tecfi concrete screws are available in a wide range of solutions – hexagonal flanged head, flat countersunk with six spline recess head, double thread screw with nut and washer (also available with large washer), and mushroom head with six spline recess.

The AJE wedge anchor range was the first C2 approved product from Tecfi – available in diameters 10mm up to 20mm, with options including a large washer. For applications in seismic hazard zones there is Tecfi’s patented SPS – Seismic Protector®, a special steel cylinder that fills the annular gap between the anchor and the fixture to avoid the hammering effect due to the seismic actions. With SPS the design can use the whole capacity of the anchor, without suffering any reduction factor. The AJE wedge anchor (including 8mm diameter) is also ETA certified in Option 1 (ETA – 11/0319) for cracked concrete and classified R120 for fire resistance.

HVE ROCK® heavy-duty anchors from Tecfi reached the C2 performance category in 2017, having previously been certified to the C1 category. The whole line of anchors is also ETA certified in Option 1 for cracked concrete and classified R120 for fire resistance. Four different solutions are available: Hexagonal head screw, countersunk head and hex recess screw, mushroom head and six spline recess screw, and threaded rod, nut and washer.

Tecfi has also been able to achieve the C2 performance category on a styrene free dual component pure epoxy chemical anchor – SWE – for use with threaded rods, from M12 to M24. The SWE epoxy resin is also ETA certified in Option 1 for cracked concrete (ETA – 12/0253), for use with threaded rods from M12 to M24, and Option 7 for non-cracked concrete, for use with threaded rods from M8 to M30. In addition, SWE epoxy resin achieved a Technical report (TR032) for post-installed rebar connections from 8mm diameter to 32mm.

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