TRANSLUCENT

CONCRETE
By-Shubham
Jaiswal

INTRODUCTION
MATERIAL USED FOR TRANSLUCENT CONCRETE
PRINCIPLE
MANUFACTURING PROCESS
APPLICATIONS
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES

Translucent concrete is a concrete based building

material having light-Transmissive property.

Light-Transmissive property is mainly due to
uniform distribution of high numerical aperture
Plastic Optical Fibres (POF) throughout its body.
Hence it is also known to be transparent concrete,
LiTraCon.

The two basic materials used for making

transparent concrete
1.Fine concrete
2.Optical fibres
Fine concrete: Consists of cement and fine
aggregate such as sand.
Optical fibres: There are 3 kinds
I. Multimode graded-index fibre
II. Multimode step-index fibre
III.Single-mode step-index fibres.

Translucent concrete works Based on

Nano-Optics.
These fibres passes as much light when
tiny slits are placed directly on top of each
other. Hence optical fibers in the concrete
act like the slits and carry the light across
throughout the concrete.

The manufacturing process of transparent

concrete is almost same as regular concrete.

Small layers of the concrete are poured into
the mould and on top of each layers, a layer
of fibres is infused.
Fabric and concrete are alternately inserted
into moulds at intervals of approximately 2
mm to 5mm.

Light-transmitting concrete is produced

by adding 4% to 5% optical fibres by

volume into the concrete mixture.
The concrete mixture is made from fine
materials and does not contain coarse
aggregate.
Thousands of strands of optical fibres
are cast into concrete to transmit light
Smaller or thinner layers allow an
increased amount of light to pass
through the concrete.

LITRACON LIGHT
TRANSMITTING
CONCRETE

PRODUCT

Form

Prefabricated
blocks

Ingredients

96% concrete,
4% optical fibre

Density

2100-2400 Kg/m3

Block size

600mm x
300mm

Thickness

25-500mm

White, Grey or
Black

Fibre distribution Organic

Colour

Finished

Polished

Compressive
strength

50 N/mm2

Bending Tensile

7 N/mm2

The casted material is

cut into panels or

blocks of the
specified thickness
and the surface is
then typically
polished, resulting in
finishes ranging from
semi-gloss to highgloss.

Transparent concrete

blocks suitable for floors,

pavements and loadbearing walls.
Facades, interior wall
cladding and dividing
walls based on thin
panels.
Partitions wall and it can
be used where the
sunlight does not reach
properly.

 In furniture for the

decorative and
aesthetic purpose.
Light sidewalks at
night.
Increasing visibility in
dark subway stations.
Lighting indoor fire
escapes, in the event
of a power failure.
Illuminating speed
bumps on roadways
at night.

Energy saving can be done by utilization

of transparent concrete in building.

It has very good architectural properties
for giving good aesthetical view to the
building.

The concrete is very costly because of the

optical fibres.
Casting of transparent concrete block is
difficult for the labour so special skilled person
is required.

 Transparent concrete can be developed by adding

optical fibre or large diameter glass fibre in the

concrete mixture.
It has good light guiding property and the ratio of
optical fibre volume to concrete is proportionate
to transmission of light.
It doesnt loose the strength parameter when
compared to regular concrete and also it has very
vital property from the aesthetic point of view.
This new kind of building material can integrate
the concept of green energy saving

Victoria Bailey, Translucent Concrete, MEEN

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translucent_concrete
wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_fiber
byen.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiTraCon
www.litracon.hu/