Source: Textile Review


Fiber reinforced concrete is a new class ofstrong, tough and highly durable material. Fiber in the cement based matrixacts as a crack arrester which restricts the growth of flow in thematrix, preventing these from widening under load in to cracks whichcause failure. The inclusion of randomly oriented, discrete fibres in concrete,mortar and cement paste can enhance many of the engineeringproperties of the base such as fracture toughness, flexural strength andresistance to fatigue, impact, thermal shock or sapling. Fiberreinforcement is likely to be used if these properties can be exploitedin conjunction with advantages in construction and fabrication techniques.


Concrete is the mostwidely used construction material for permanent structures throughout the worldsince the last few decades. However, this extremely versatile material suffersfrom certain intrinsic deficiencies viz., low tensile strength, brittleness, andpoor durability, especially, under aggressive environmental conditions. Since1960's efforts have been made by scientists and engineers to develop concretecomposites, devoid of the basic drawbacks of concrete, culminating in thedevelopment of two new composite materials - fiber reinforced concrete (FRC)and concrete polymer composites. Concrete polymer composites because of theirexcellent strength and durability properties have found extensive applicationsas protective coatings, overlays, precast products like industrial gratings,light and heavy duty floor tiles, pipe liners, etc. In spite of the enhancementin strength and improvement in durability characteristics, concrete polymercomposites still retain one of the major deficiencies of concrete, viz.,brittleness. The incorporation of fibers in the form of micro reinforcement isextremely useful in overcoming the inherent brittleness of concrete polymercomposites. Thus fiber reinforced concrete polymer composites are a new classof strong, tough, and highly durable materials. The use of polymers also helpsto improve the durability of fiber reinforced concrete especially thoseprepared using vegetable and natural fibers. Thus fiber reinforced concretepolymer composites are a consequence of synergistic synthesis of fiberreinforced concrete and concrete polymer composites. In this paper, theproperties and performance of different types of fibers, concrete polymercomposites and fiber reinforced concrete polymer composites are described andtheir potential applications are highlighted.

 

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Authors are associated with Department ofTextile Technology,D.K.T.E.Textile and Engineering Institute, Ichalkarnji


Originally published in Textile Review :June 2010