Eden Innovations Achieves Strong Indian Government Concrete Trial Results

Eden Innovations (ASX: EDE) has received positive laboratory results from Indian government research agency Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), a constituent of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), showing its EdenCrete Pz7 admixture improved the strength and durability of paving-grade concrete.

Low EdenCrete Pz7 dosages of 0.25 to 0.3 litres per cubic metre delivered double-digit improvements in compressive and flexural strength, abrasion resistance and drying shrinkage against corresponding control mixes.

The testing covered concrete rated at 40 megapascals (MPa) for new highways and 60MPa for white topping, which involves laying a high-strength concrete overlay on worn pavement.

The strongest overall results occurred in mixes containing fly ash, supporting the potential to reduce cement content while retaining or improving required strength and durability characteristics.

Fly Ash Drives Gains

CSIR-CRRI tested six mixes, comparing concrete enriched with carbon nanotubes (CNT) against matched controls across fresh properties, mechanical strength, and durability.

CNT increased compressive strength by up to 19% and flexural strength by up to 14%, with the largest gains recorded in concrete containing fly ash.

In the 40MPa series, a fly ash and CNT mix using 360 kilograms of cement per cubic metre achieved nearly the same compressive strength as a CNT mix using 400kg of cement without fly ash.

The lower-cement mix also produced nearly 30% higher flexural strength than the higher-cement comparison, reinforcing CSIR-CRRI’s finding that fly ash and CNT had a beneficial combined effect.

Extended Durability Benefits

Abrasion testing after 28 days showed CNT reduced surface loss by up to 28% in both the 40MPa and 60MPa fly ash mixes, while the improvement in the 40MPa mix without fly ash was about 15%.

Drying shrinkage declined by up to 25% in the fly ash-containing 40MPa concrete, compared with about 17% for the higher-cement mix without fly ash and 13% for the 60MPa mix.

Splitting tensile strength improved by up to about 5%, while workability increased slightly and CNT had no significant effect on fresh or dry concrete density.

Eden India plans to explore accelerated field trials with CSIR-CRRI for both new highways and white topping repairs following completion of the laboratory program.

Eden cited Indian construction of about 4 kilometres of new concrete highway each day and about 50,000km since 2014, and considers the results could support growth of EdenCrete Pz7 in the market.