Challenges in chemical anchoring carried out in the Sri Lankan context

Abstract

Adhesive anchoring has achieved rapid growth in the construction industry, due to the numerous advantages that it offers over conventional joining methods. Particularly, in Sri Lanka, the adhesive or Chemical Anchoring technique is widely used in the field of construction. This research investigated potential challenges that can be faced in Chemical Anchoring and carrying out strength tests in the Sri Lankan context to overcome those challenges while getting maximum output to the construction. Following the qualitative approach, eleven semi-structured expert interviews were carried out to collect the data while adopting manual content analysis as the analytical tool. According to the findings of expert interviews, poor workmanship is the basic challenge identified in Chemical Anchoring in the Sri Lankan context. It is the ground for most of the other challenges. Hence, proper supervision, adherence to manufacturers' recommendations, and the product manual designed for the Sri Lankan context will be the best approach to overcome them. With the use of designing software for Chemical Anchoring, under-design, and over-design which are the common errors in industry, that can be mitigated. The research study proposed solutions to issues in Chemical Anchoring process to enhance the performance in the construction sector.