Fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) is concrete containing fibrous material which increases its structural

integrity. It contains short discretefibers that are uniformly distributed and randomly oriented. Fibers
include steel fibers, glass fibers, synthetic fibers and natural fibers. Within these different fibers that
character of fiber-reinforced concrete changes with varying concretes, fiber materials, geometries,
distribution, orientation and densities.
istorical !ers!ective
"he conce!t of using fibers as reinforcement is not new. Fibers have been used as reinforcement since
ancient times. istorically, horsehairwas used in mortar and straw in mud bric#s. In the early
$%&&s, asbestos fibers were used in concrete, and in the $%'&s the conce!t ofcom!osite materials came
into being and fiber-reinforced concrete was one of the to!ics of interest. "here was a need to find a
re!lacement for the asbestos used in concrete and other building materials once the health
ris#s associated with the substance were discovered. (y the $%)&s, steel, glass (*FRC), and synthetic
fibers such as !oly!ro!ylene fibers were used in concrete, and research into new fiber-reinforced
concretes continues today.
+edit,-ffect of fibers in concrete
Fibers are usually used in concrete to control crac#ing due to both !lastic shrin#age and drying shrin#age.
"hey also reduce the !ermeabilityof concrete and thus reduce bleeding of water. .ome ty!es of fibers
!roduce greater im!act, abrasion and shatter resistance in concrete. *enerally fibers do not increase the
fle/ural strength of concrete, and so cannot re!lace moment resisting or structural steel reinforcement.
Indeed, some fibers actually reduce the strength of concrete. "he amount of fibers added to a concrete
mi/ is e/!ressed as a !ercentage of the total volume of the com!osite (concrete and fibers), termed
volume fraction (0f). 0f ty!ically ranges from &.$ to 12. 3s!ect ratio (l4d) is calculated by dividing fiber
length (l) by its diameter (d). Fibers with a non-circular cross section use an e5uivalent diameter for the
calculation of as!ect ratio. If the modulus of elasticity of the fiber is higher than the matri/ (concrete
or mortar binder), they hel! to carry the load by increasing the tensile strength of the material. Increase in
the as!ect ratio of the fiber usually segments the fle/ural strength and toughness of the matri/. owever,
fibers which are too long tend to 6ball6 in the mi/ and create wor#ability !roblems.
.ome recent research
+where?,
indicated that using fibers in concrete has limited effect on the im!act
resistance of the materials+$ 7 8,. "his finding is very im!ortant since traditionally, !eo!le thin# that
ductility increases when concrete is reinforced with fibers. "he results also indicated out that the use of
micro fibers offers better im!act resistance com!ared with the longer fibers.
+$,
"he igh .!eed $ tunnel linings incor!orated concrete containing $ #g4m9 of !oly!ro!ylene fibers, of
diameter $: 7 18 ;m, giving the benefits noted below.
+$,
+edit,(enefits
<oly!ro!ylene and =ylon fibers can>
Im!rove mi/ cohesion, im!roving !um!ability over long distances
Im!rove free?e-thaw resistance
Im!rove resistance to e/!losive s!alling in case of a severe fire
Im!rove im!act resistance
Increase resistance to !lastic shrin#age during curing
.teel fibers can>
Im!rove structural strength
Reduce steel reinforcement re5uirements
Im!rove ductility
Reduce crac# widths and control the crac# widths tightly thus im!rove durability
Im!rove im!act 7 abrasion resistance
Im!rove free?e-thaw resistance
(lends of both steel and !olymeric fibers are often used in construction !ro@ects in order to combine the
benefits of both !roductsA structural im!rovements !rovided by steel fibers and the resistance to e/!losive
s!alling and !lastic shrin#age im!rovements !rovided by !olymeric fibers.
In certain s!ecific circumstances, steel fiber can entirely re!lace traditional steel reinforcement bar in
reinforced concrete. "his is most common in industrial flooring but also in some other !recasting
a!!lications. "y!ically, these are corroborated with laboratory testing to confirm !erformance
re5uirements are met. Care should be ta#en to ensure that local design code re5uirements are also met
which may im!ose minimum 5uantities of steel reinforcement within the concrete. "here are increasing
numbers of tunnelling !ro@ects using !recast lining segments reinforced only with steel fibers.
Bseful standards>
-= $C::%-$>8&&) Fibres for Concrete. .teel Fibres. Definitions, s!ecifications 7 conformity
-= $C::%-8>8&&) Fibres for Concrete. <olymer Fibres. Definitions, s!ecifications 7 conformity
-= $C:C'-$>8&&E "est methods for fibres in concrete
3."F 3:8&-&) .tandard .!ecification for fibres in Fibre Reinforced Concrete
3."F C$&$:-&E .tandard test methods for fle/ural toughness 7 first crac# strength
+edit,.ome develo!ments in fiber-reinforced concrete
3n FRC sub-category named -ngineered Cementitious Com!osite (-CC) claims '&& times more
resistance to crac#ing and C& !ercent lighter than traditional concrete.
+citation needed,
-CC claims it can sustain
strain-hardening u! to several !ercent strain, resulting in a materialductility of at least two orders of
magnitude higher when com!ared to normal concrete or standard fiber-reinforced concrete. -CC also
claims a uni5ue crac#ing behavior. When loaded to beyond the elastic range, -CC maintains crac# width
to below $&& Gm, even when deformed to several !ercent tensile strains. Field results with -CC and "he
Fichigan De!artment of "rans!ortation resulted in early-age crac#ing
+8,
.
Recent studies !erformed on a high-!erformance fiber-reinforced concrete in a bridge dec# found that
adding fibers !rovided residual strength and controlled crac#ing
+1,
. "here were fewer and narrower crac#s
in the FRC even though the FRC had more shrin#age than the control. Residual strength is directly
!ro!ortional to the fiber content.
3 new #ind of natural fiber-reinforced concrete (=FRC) made of cellulose fibers !rocessed from
genetically modified slash !ine trees is giving good results
+citation needed,
. "he cellulose fibers are longer and
greater in diameter than other timber sources. .ome studies were !erformed using waste car!et fibers in
concrete as an environmentally friendly use of recycled car!et waste
+C,
. 3 car!et ty!ically consists of two
layers of bac#ing (usually fabric from !oly!ro!ylene ta!e yarns), @oined by CaCH1 filled styrene-butadiene
late/ rubber (.(R), and face fibers (ma@ority being nylon ) and nylon )) te/tured yarns). .uch nylon and
!oly!ro!ylene fibers can be used for concrete reinforcement. Hther ideas are emerging to use recycled
materials as fibers