Fiber Reinforced Concrete – Advantages, Disadvantages, Types and Applications

Introduction to Fiber Reinforced Concrete

Fiber Reinforced Concrete is a composite material made up of cement, mortar, or concrete and a fibrous material that is discontinuous, discrete, and uniformly dispersed to increase structural integrity.

Fibers are commonly used in concrete to prevent cracking caused by plastic shrinkage and drying shrinkage. They also reduce concrete permeability, water bleeding, and the forming of minor cracks in concrete.

Fibers also improve concrete’s tensile strength and impact resistance.

Fiber-reinforced concrete is ideal for improving the toughness and durability of concrete and mortar. Fibers in concrete aid in the reduction of shrinkage cracks, the increase of strength, the absorption of energy, and the prevention of dangerous spalling at high temperatures.

Advantages of Fiber-reinforced concrete

·       Fibers When high tensile strength and low cracking are desired, or when conventional reinforcement cannot be placed, reinforced concrete may be useful.

·       It increases the impact strength of concrete, limits crack growth, and increases the strain capacity of the composite material.

·       Macro-synthetic fibres are used to improve the durability of concrete in industrial projects. These synthetic fibres are long and thick in size, and can be used as a replacement for bar or fabric reinforcement.

·       Adding fibres to concrete improves its freeze-thaw resistance and helps keep the concrete strong and appealing for longer periods of time.

·       Increase mix cohesion and pumpability over long distances.

·       Increase the resistance to shrinkage of plastic during curing.

·       Reduces the need for steel reinforcement.

·       Controls crack widths tightly, increasing durability.

·       Segregation and bleed-water are reduced.

·       The toughness of FRC is approximately 10 to 40 times that of plain concrete.

·       The inclusion of fibres improves fatigue strength.

·       Fibers improve the shear strength of reinforced concrete beams.

·       It reduces the inherent porosity of gel by reducing air and water voids.

·       Fibers such as graphite and glass have excellent creep resistance, whereas most resins do not. As a result, the orientation and volume of fibres have a significant impact on rebar/tendon creep performance.

·       Reinforced concrete is a composite material in which the reinforcement serves as the reinforcing fibre and the concrete serves as the matrix. It is therefore critical that the behaviour of the two materials under thermal stresses be similar so that the differential deformations of concrete and reinforcement are minimised.

·       It has long been recognised that adding small, closely spaced, uniformly dispersed fibres to concrete acts as a crack arrester and significantly improves its static and dynamic properties.

Disadvantages of Fiber-reinforced concrete

·       Fibers are expensive.

·       Because fibres may not mix well and form lumps in concrete, they should be distributed uniformly.

·       The coarse aggregate size is limited to 10 mm.

·       Large-scale fibre mixing could be time-consuming.

·       FRC construction necessitates the use of skilled labour.

Also Read : PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE AGGREGATES

Different types of Fiber-reinforced concrete

Concrete fibres come in a variety of sizes and shapes. The main factors influencing the properties of fiber-reinforced concrete are the water-cement ratio, the percentage of fibres, the diameter and length of the fibres. The various types of fiber-reinforced concrete used in construction are listed below.

The following are the various types of fibres commonly used in the construction industry.

1. Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete

2. Polypropylene Fiber Reinforced (PFR) cement mortar & concrete

3. GFRC Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete

4. Asbestos Fibers

5. Carbon Fibers

6. Organic Fibers

Application of Fiber-reinforced concrete

The applications of fibre reinforced concrete are dependent on the applicator and builder taking advantage of the material’s static and dynamic properties. Some of its applications include:

·       Runway

·       Aircraft Parking

·       Pavements

·       Tunnel Lining

·       Slope Stabilization

·       Thin Shell

·       Walls

·       Pipes

·       Manholes

·       Dams

·       Hydraulic Structure

·       Elevated decks

·       Roads

·       Bridges

·       Warehouse floors

Parting Words

Aesthetics to durability Fiber-reinforced concrete can help your project. Fibre Reinforced Concrete is gaining popularity in the concrete industry due to its reduced construction time and labour costs. Aside from cost considerations, quality is critical in construction, and fiber-reinforced concrete meets these standards as well.