1

BY
HARSHAVARDHAN A.K
2
Introduction
Concrete posses many desirable properties like
high compression strength and stiffness and
low thermal and electrical conductivity. But
two of its characteristics ie weak in tension and
brittleness at failure have limited its use for
various applications.
These limitations can be overcome by adding
materials strong in tension to concrete
resulting in a composite material.
3
One of the ways is achieved by placing steel
bars in concrete , in region where concrete is
subjected to tension , what is called
Reinforced Cement Concrete.
It still falls many desirable properties like
toughness, ductility, controlling of cracking
and energy absorption. The above can be
solved be adding constituents to the concrete.
Short fibers of small diameter , that are either
metallic or non metallic . The new improved
matrix is called Fiber Reinforced Cement
Composite
4
Definition :FRC is defined as composite material
which consists of conventional concrete
reinforced by randomly dispersed short length
fibers of specific geometry , made of steel,
synthetic or natural fibers.
There are two types of reinforcement in
concrete , primary and secondary.
Primary reinforcement is provided for local
strengthening of cement concrete in tension
region ,where as secondary reinforcement are
needed to improve the structural quality and
also the inherent flexural strength of concrete.
5
Plain concrete has very low tensile strength
and causes tensile cracks in concrete. And also
low strain at failure and brittleness of concrete
with less ductility in case of high strength
concrete.
Secondary reinforcement is the approach to
modify the brittleness properties of concrete.
The fibers are capable of carrying load across
the crack.
6
Matrix materials: Matrix materials consists of
Plain portland cement
Cement with additives such as soil, fly ash or
condensed silica fumes.
Mortar containing cement and fine
aggregates.
Concrete containing cement , fine and
coarse aggregates.
7
contd/-
Addition of fibers to the concrete reduces its
workability. In order to keep the water cement
ratio within reasonable limits of not affecting
the compressive strength but still to achieve
the workability, water reducing admixtures are
added to the fiber reinforced composite. In
addition mineral admixtures like fly ash and
silica fume are added. Silica fume is added to
achieve high strength matrix. Fly ash is used to
improve the workability.
8
Major advantages of FRC
Resistance to micro cracking
Toughness and post-failure ductility
Impact resistance
Resistance to fatigue
Improved strength in shear , tension ,flexure ,
and compression
Reduced permeability
9
Types of fibers used in cement
concrete
Metallic fibres
Polymeric fibres
Mineral fibres
Natural fibres

10
Parameters influencing the properties
of FRC
Types of fibers
Relative Fiber Matrix Stiffness
Aspect Ratio of the Fibers
Orientation of Fibers
Workability and Compaction of
Concrete
Size of Coarse Aggregate
11
Some of the other properties are:
Tensile strength significantly higher than that
of concrete
Bond strength with concrete matrix preferably
same order or as higher than tensile strength of
matrix.
The elastic modulus in tension is higher than
that of concrete.
The poissons ratio and the coefficient of
thermal expansion should preferably be of the
same as that of the matrix
12
Metallic fibres: metallic fibres are either made
of carbon steel or stainless steel. It is referred
to as steel fibres.
Steel fibres are considered as the structural
fibres, as they enhances the strength of a
structure to a great extent.
The properties of steel fibres are:
Improved flextural toughness
Impact resistance
Flextural fatigue endurance
13

Tensile strength varies from 345MPa -1380MPa
Modulus of elasticity is about 200GPa
Their aspect ratio is generally less than 100,with
common range of 40 to 80.
Most steel fibres found in round section and the
diameter varies from 0.4 to 0.8mm and the
length ranging from 25 to 60mm
14
15
16
17
18
19
Polymeric fibres: polymeric fibres are
byproducts of petrochemicals and textile
industries. The different types are
Aramid
Acrylic
Nylon
Polyester
Polyethlene
polypropylene
20
Fibre
type
Effective
Diameter
x10-3
Specific
gravity
Tensile
Strength
(MPa)
Elastic
Modulus
(GPa)
Ultimate
Elongatio
n
(%)
Acrylic
13-104
1.17 207-
1000
14.6-
19.6
7.5-
50.0
Aramid 10 1.44 3620 117 2.5
Nylon - 1.16 9.65 5.17 20
Polyster - 1.34-
1.39
896-
1100
17.5 -
Polyethyl
ene
25-
1020
0.96 200-300 5.0 3.0
Polypropy
lene
- 0.9-0.91 310-760 3.5-4.9 15
21
22
23
24
25
26
Mineral fibres: Glass fibre is referred as mineral
fibre. Glass fibres are silica based glass
compounds that contain several metal oxides .
These fibres have high tensile strength and
modulus of elasticity compared to polymeric
fibres . They are quite economical and hence
they are most commonly used fibres for
practical applications. They are classified as
A-glass (soda lime silica glass)
E-glass (borosilicate glass)
A-R glass (alkaline resistant glass, ph>12.5)
Chemical composition are discussed

27
Oxides
present
A-Glass
(%)
E-Glass
(%)
AR-Glass
(%)
SiO2 73 54 62
Na2O 13 - 14.8
CaO 8 22 5.6
MgO 4 0.5 -
Al2O3 1 15 0.8
B2O3 - 7 -
Zr2O - - 16.7
28
Physical properties of some selected glass fibre

Property

A-Glass

E-Glass

AR-Glass
Specific
Gravity

2.46

2.54

2.7
Tensile strength
(MPa)
3030 3450 2480
Modulus of
Elasticity(MPa)
64800 71700 80000
Strain at
ultimate(%)
4.7 4.8 3.6
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
Natural fibres: these are naturally obtaining
fibres extracted from plants in cement based
composites. The unique aspect of these fibres
is low energy needed for their extraction.
36

property
coconut Sisal
Sugar
Cane

Bambo
o
Jute Elephant
grass
Wood
Fibre
Fibre length
50-
350
-
-
- 180-
300
-
2.5-5
Fibre dia
(mm)
0.1-
0.4
-
0.2-
0.4
0.05
-0.4
0.1-
0.2
-
0.015
-0.08
Modulus of
elasticity(Gpa)
19-36 13-26 15-
19
33-
40
26-
32
4.9
-
Tensile
strength(MPa)
120-
200
280-
568
170-
290
350-
500
250-
350
178-
700
700
Water
absorption(%)
130-
180
60-70 70-
75
40-
45
- -
50-75
37
Carbon fibres : carbon fibres are the most
expensive of all fibres discussed till now .
This is due to the increased cost of their
manufacturing process as well as the increased
cost of raw materials required for their
manufacture.
Carbon fibres have high strength and modulus
comparable to that of steel . They are used for
manufacturing polyacrylonitrite (PAN), rayon.
Modulus of elasticity is around 300GPa.
Tensile strength is around 5200MPa
38
39
40
41
Mechanical properties of FRC
Behaviour under compression
42
Post cracking stage:
43
Behaviour under flexure
44
Behaviour under tension:
45
Applications:
Highway and airfield pavements
Industrial flooring
Blast resistant structures
Hydraulic structures such as spillways and
sluiceways.
Plain and reinforced concrete
Trenchless construction
Protective lining
Roofing products

46
Under precast applications:
SFRC has been used for man hole covers
Precast slabs for structural applications
FRC with polymeric fibres has been used in
precast cladding panels for buildings.
47
48
49
Conclusion: synthetic fibres such as polyester
and polypropylene are cost effective as well as
reduces plastic and drying shrinkage , and
permeability in concrete. Also polymeric fibres
make the concrete structure and pavement
resistance to seismic loading as well through
its ductility.
50
References :
Construction journal of India
Proceedings of the International symposium on
FRC.
Fibre reinforced cementitious composites by
Dr Bentur.
www.google.com
51

Thank you