Dowel Bar Sleeves

Dowel bar de-bonding sleeves are manufactured from high grade, flexible PVC and are designed to form a positive de-bonded dowelled joint in reinforced concrete construction.

A more effective alternative to using epoxy coating on dowel rods, dowel rod sleeves allow concrete to expand and contract with ambient temperature. This reduces the transfer of stress on parts of the concrete and therefore helps to minimise the chances of cracking occurring due to temperature fluctuations.

In reinforced concrete slabs, dowel bars are inserted in between layers of reinforcement mesh at (approximately) 300mm centres. To be effective, only one half of the dowel rod is debonded (i.e. encased in a sleeve). The other half is not treated and will remain fixed in place within the concrete.

The length of dowel used depends on the particular joint method; contraction joints require shorter dowel rods and therefore bar sleeves, than expansion joints.