Fiber Elements was founded in Leoben in 2023. The company develops and produces innovative basalt reinforcement structures for the construction industry. Drawn from volcanic basalt rock the continuous fibers are mainly processed into rebars or so-called non-crimp fabrics. Fiber Elements however, focuses on utilising the pliable nature of continuous fibers to produce novel three-dimensional load-path-oriented reinforcement structures.

While in last two decades, efforts have been made to replace steel with textiles made of synthetic fibers, such as carbon and glass, Fiber Elements focusses on basalt fibers for the following reasons:

• Basalt is a naturally occurring mineral with outstanding mechanical properties and chemical resilience.
• The CO2 emissions generated during the production of basalt fibers are significantly lower than those of structural steel or other types of fibers used in construction.
• Basalt is non-corrosive and therefore requires minimal concrete cover. The resulting potential for reducing the amount of concrete required contributes to a further reduction in the cumulative CO2 emissions of basalt concrete by up to 70%.
• Basalt reinforced concrete is considered a pure material and therefore easy to recycle.
• Basalt fibers enable fully automated and therefore highly efficient production processes.

• The use of continuous basalt fibers for the production of innovative reinforcement systems enables the use of fully automated production processes.
• The development and production of basalt reinforcement structures are based on seamless digital workflow, starting with
• component design (FEA), followed by
• AI-driven optimisation of fiber layouts and component topology, as well as
• real-time product health monitoring and predictive maintenance.
• Fiber Elements has the required in-house expertise for fully integrated production processes and Life Cycle Analysis.

Fiber Elements uses two production processes:

• TFP – Tailored Fiber Placement
  Technical embroidery process for 2- and 3-dimensional fiber placement on full-surface carrier materials or geogrids
• RW – Robotic Winding
  Robotic wet winding for 3-dimensional fiber placement on placement on customised winding tools.

• Fiber Elements is a company of the ZAT start-up centre at the Montanuniversität Leoben.
  
• Fiber Elements works on various research projects with leading experts in the fields of non-metallic reinforcement, bio-based resin systems, embedded sensor technologies and cyber-physical systems.
• Together with Prof. Robert Galler and his team, we are currently investigating the application of continuous basalt fibers in subsurface engineering.

Dr. Wolfgang Fiel

Dr. Wolfgang Fiel has been involved in the research and development of recyclable and sustainable materials since his early days as professional architect. He is a teacher and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Materials Chemistry & Research at the University of Vienna. Born in 1973 in Alberschwende, Vorarlberg he visited the school of mechanical engineering and automation (HTL) in Bregenz and studied mechanical engineering before switching to architecture at the Vienna University of Technology. He obtained a Master in Architectural Design at UCL - University College London and his Doctorate at the School of Computing, Communications & Electronics at the University of Plymouth, UK. He has worked as Senior Design Architect at Delugan Meissl Associated Architects and Coop Himmelb(l)au in Vienna and is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.