Porta Westfalica 21 mar 2025 - When using AAC in components such as wall panels, roofs, and ceilings, where it is exposed to bending stresses, corrosion-resistant, individual reinforcements are required. Masa WhiteHUB provides AAC manufacturers with a state-of-the-art plant concept, featuring efficient control systems and a high level of automation. Reinforcement will also be a topic at the Masa booth in Munic.

The Masa WhiteHUB team is available to answer any questions you may have about reinforcement, at bauma and, of course, afterwards. Among other things, the Munich focus is on the handling system for the reinforcement.

Reinforcement and its handling at a glance

Depending on the desired range of reinforced AAC products (lintels, partition wall panels, wall panels for cladding, load bearing wall panels, panels for flooring/ceiling etc. or a combination of these) and their respective capacities, Masa WhiteHUB can offer solutions ranging from simple (mostly manual or semi-automatic versions) to the most sophisticated fully automatic reinforcement systems. Attention must be paid to the reinforcement steel itself and to the handling system for the reinforcement.

The Reinforcement Steel

The first step is to manufacture the appropriate reinforcement steel itself. Both the individual reinforcement parts, such as bars, meshes or cages, and the spacers have to be considered. In view of the numerous options available for producing the required reinforcement, prior consultation and discussion is essential. The Masa WhiteHUB team offers comprehensive advice on this. The chosen reinforcement solution can then be provided either as a complete package or in collaboration with a renowned reinforcement manufacturer.

The Handling System

After the individual steel wires, meshes or cages have been manufactured, the steel reinforcement has to be placed in a specific mould/cake. A typical workflow includes

• Preparation of the individual reinforcement
• Mounting of the reinforcement parts
• Preparation of the needles – Needle bath
• Moving of the mounted parts
• Immersion of the reinforcement in a coating bath of latex paint
• Drip off excess paint and allow to dry in so-called drip-off and waiting positions
• Placing of the holding frame and inserting of the reinforcement into the fresh cake
• Lifting of the holding frame after rising of the cake
• Further required operations and processes like cutting etc.

Keeping an eye on the inside: Product tracking

Especially for load-bearing wall panels and AAC floor and ceiling panels, the architect must determine, in consultation with a structural engineer, what type of reinforcement is required for each individual panel. This depends mainly on the position in the building where the panels are used and what loads need to be taken into account there.

Therefore, at the end of the production process, namely when the panels are being packed or prepared for transport, it must be clear for which project, building, floor and position the respective panel is to be used.

This allocation/identification and tracking can be done manually on paper for small capacity plants.

However, for larger capacity plants in particular, an extension of the standard control systems with a data tracking system is recommended. This system can track every cake across the entire production line and, for panels, even every single element.

Do you have any questions about the production of reinforced elements? The experts from Porta Westfalica and Enschede will be happy to advise you.

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07–13 April 2025, Munich
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