Fibre Reinforced Concrete

Prof. Ravindra Gettu

IIT Madras

1
 Fibre-Reinforced Concrete (FRC)

Definition:
Conventional fibre performance
concrete is that which has a
homogeneous distribution of
randomly-oriented short fibres.
The fibres are generally
• much shorter than the dimensions
of the concrete element
• stronger and can elongate more
than the matrix under tension
• introduced in the matrix during the
mixing of the concrete

2
FRC: General
Matrices
In addition to concrete, FRC matrices can be made up of
• Hardened cement paste without/with admixtures
• Cement mortar

Fibres
• Metallic (steel, stainless steel)
• Polymeric (polypropylene, nylon, acrylic, polyester, etc.)
• Carbon
• Mineral (glass, basalt)
• Naturally-occurring (sisal, cellulose, jute, coconut, etc.)

3
FRC: Historical Perspective
• Straw and hair have been used
for centuries in mud bricks
• Patent of Alfsen in France for
using fibres to increase tensile
strength of concrete (1918)
• Patent of Martin for the use of
Barn swallow nest (made of
smooth and deformed steel mud, straw, leaves, feathers)
fibres in concrete (1926)
• Patent of Constantinesco for the Wide usage of
use of fibres in concrete to fibre reinforced
increase the toughness (1943); concrete began in
military applications and the 1960s.
machinery foundations

4
FRC: Function of the Fibre
Comparison of the tensile
response of different fibre-
reinforced cement-based
composites

5
FRC: Fibre-Matrix Interaction
Uncracked matrix

Cracked matrix

or

fibre pullout fibre rupture

with/without
interface crack

6
FRC: Fibre-Matrix Interaction
In a bond test, fibre rupture occurs
• when bond strength is high
• when embedment length is large
• when fibre tensile strength is
low

7
FRC: Fibre-Matrix Interaction
In a composite with strong fibres in a brittle matrix, post-
crack load-carrying capacity increases with fibre volume
fraction.

Increasing fibre content

8
FRC: Fibre-Matrix Interaction
For low volume fractions of fibres (Vf < 1%) , single
(or few) cracks occur at failure.
For high volume fractions of fibres (Vf > 5%),
multiple cracks occur.

Cement mortar with 12%

volume fraction of
fibrillated continuous
uniaxial polypropylene
fibres.

At tensile strain of 1%.

9
FRC: Fibre-Matrix Interaction
Depends on
• Condition of the matrix (cracked or uncracked)
• Matrix composition
• Type of fibre (mechanical characteristics)
• Geometry of the fibre
• Surface characteristics of the fibre
• Distribution of the fibre in the matrix
• Volume fraction of fibres
• Durability and long-terms effects

10
FRC: Types of Fibres

Fibre Diameter Unit Elastic Tensile Elongation

(microns) weight modulus strength limit
(gm/cc) (GPa) (MPa) (%)
Steel 5-1000 7.8 200 500-2000 0.5-3.5
AR-Glass 9-15 2.6-2.8 70-85 1700-4000 2-3.6
Polypropylene 20-200 0.9 3.5-5 300-750 8-15
Aramid 10-12 1.4 60-130 3200-3600 2.0-4.5
Carbon 7-100 1.8-2.1 230-640 2600-5500 0.4-2.1
Nylon 20 1.2 4-5 900-1000 13-20
Sisal 10-50 1.5 13-26 280-900 3-5
Hardened
1.8-2.4 10-45 2-4 0.01
cement paste

11
FRC: Polypropylene Fibres
fibrillated or
monofilament

12
FRC: Polypropylene Fibres
Used for
• Controlling plastic shrinkage cracking
• Increasing post-crack load-carrying capacity
• Increasing fire resistance (especially in high-strength
concrete tunnel linings)

Applications include
• Industrial slabs and pavements
• Mine walls and waste disposal covers (shotcrete)
• Repair or plastering mortar
• Thin sheet and extruded products

13
FRC: Glass Fibres
E- and A-glass fibres lose their strength in a typical cement-based
matrix. Therefore, only alkali-resistant AR-glass is widely used.

14
FRC: Glass Fibres
Used for
• Controlling crack widths
• Increasing post-crack load-carrying capacity

Applications include
• Panels for architectural cladding and other thin-sheet
products
• Extruded products
• Repair or plastering mortar

15
FRC: Steel Fibres
Steel fibres can be
• of low- or high-carbon steel, or
stainless steel.
• produced by cold-drawing, shaving
or melt-extraction.
• smooth or deformed (crimped)
• of round or irregular cross-section

16
FRC: Steel Fibres - Collated

Zerbino

17
FRC: Steel fibres
Used for
• Limiting crack propagation

• Increasing ductility and energy dissipation during

failure

• Distributing cracking (i.e., finer micro- instead of

localized macro-cracking)

• Increasing abrasion, impact and fatigue resistance

• Decreasing shrinkage cracking

18
FRC: Steel fibres
Applications include
• Shotcrete for tunnel and other linings, and repair
of structural elements
• Pavements and industrial floors (as primary
reinforcement and for controlling shrinkage
cracks)
• Pipes
• Thin-walled elements
• Some structural applications

19
Steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC)
Main Applications Today

For providing resistance against

shrinkage cracking, and impact
and local compressive loads in
floors and pavements.

For improving the post-crack

load-carrying capacity of
shotcrete.

Why are not there more structural applications?

• Lack of standards regarding SFRC structural design
• Incomplete material characterization
• Insufficient standard test methods

20
Steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC)
Recent developments:
• Proposal for European test standards
• European structural design code being checked
• Thin-walled elements are being used more
commonly in Japan and Europe

Due to these and ongoing research, promising

applications can be expected in:
• Slender structural elements
• Elements where crack widths have to be limited
• Structures where brittle failure has to be avoided
and/or more energy dissipation capacity is required

21
 SFRC PANELS FOR BUILDING WALLS (Germany)
Fabrication
Two thin SFRC panels separated by lattice girders.
The space in between is filled with plain concrete on site.

22
 SFRC PANELS FOR BUILDING WALLS (Germany)
Installation on site

With SFRC, the lattice girder separation could be increased,

conventional reinforcement was eliminated in the panels
and a higher casting rate could be implemented for the plain
concrete on site.

23
 PRECAST PIPES FOR WATER SUPPLY (Spain)

Concrete pipes with a 3-layer wall

External reinforced concrete layer, steel layer in the middle
& SFRC interior layer

With SFRC, shrinkage cracking in the

interior layer was practically
eliminated.

24
SFRC STRUCTURAL ARCHES (United Kingdom)

Berlin-type retaining walls

Made up of SFRC arches with U-shaped or rectangular
cross-sections placed between king posts

25
SFRC: Important Considerations
Fibre parameters:
• Length, l
• Diameter, d, or aspect ratio, l/d
• Volume fraction, Vf

For a concrete where cracking occurs

along the aggregate-mortar interfaces
(i.e., in usual concretes), an effective
fibre should be much longer than the
maximum aggregate size (dmax).

¾ l ≥ 2.5 dmax

For a concrete where cracking occurs through the aggregates (e.g., HSC), fibre
length is not important as Vf (which is normally higher than in usual concrete).

26
SFRC: Important Considerations
Mixing and placing:
• Mixing time should be longer (i.e., 2-3 more minutes)
than usual to get a homogeneous fibre distribution
• High slump can lead to segregation of the fibres
• Excessive vibration can lead to segregation and
preferential orientation of the fibres
• In flowing concrete, fibres are usually oriented along
the direction of flow

27
FRC: Fresh state
Balling of fibres can occur during mixing due to an
inappropriate combination of fibre dosage, aspect
ratio and/or length

Collated fibres (i.e., fibres held together by water-

soluble glue) can reduce the problem of balling

28
 SFRC: Fresh State
Incorporation of fibres can lead to lower workability

l/d=100 l =19 mm
Different fibre length Different aspect ratio

(s)
(s)
(sec)

(sec)
invertido
invertido
Cono cone

Cono cone

19 mm l/d = 100
Inverted

Inverted

10 mm l/d = 75

20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100
Contenido
Fiber content (kg/ m 3 )
de fibras
(kg/m3) Contenido de fibras
Fiber content (kg/3)m 3 )
(kg/m

Implications
z Slightly higher paste/mortar content (about 10% more)
z Need for superplasticizer
z Slump of the matrix (without the fibers) should be 3-5 cm more
than that expected in SFRC

29
SFRC: Mechanical Behaviour
Stress (load)-displacement response
• Strength is not affected for low volume fractions of fibers
• Sharp post-peak drop is avoided
• Post-peak ductility increases with an increase in the
dosage and effectiveness of the fibers

stress Toughening
(load)
FRC effect of the
fibers in
concrete
Usual
concrete

displacement

30
 SFRC: Mechanical Behaviour
Response under compression
Loading platten
Stress-(nominal) strain curve
Displacement
100 extensometer

Strain gauges
80
Circumferential
extensometer
Tensión (MPa)

60
HSCconwith 3 Specimen
HAR 8080 kg/m
kg/m.cu.
of steel fibers
Stress

de fibras metálicas
40 HSC
HAR

20 Hormigón
NSC
Convencional

0
0 3000 6000 9000 12000
Axial
Deformación strain
axial (microstrains)
(microdeformaciones)

31
 SFRC: Mechanical Behaviour
Response under uniaxial tension
Stress-crack opening response
4
(MPa)

3
σ (MPa)

Tensión (MPa)

2
Stress

C 70/40
C 70/20
Stress,

C 70/00
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2

Crack CMOD
opening,(mm)
w (mm)

32
 SFRC: Mechanical Behaviour
Evaluation of concrete in existing structures
Tests on cores
3
Vertical core
Horizontal
Reference cylinder
Filling Vertical
direction 2
σ (MPa)

0
Horizontal core 0 500 1000 1500 2000
w (µm)

33
 SFRC: Mechanical Behaviour
Response under direct shear (push-off test) 260 mm
75 mm
deep
notch
12 C70/40
Shear stress, τ (MPa)

150 mm
C70/20
C70/00 Loading
8 bar

Vertical
LVDT

4
Horizontal
LVDT

0
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
Vertical displacement (mm)
Maximum stress and post-peak strength increase with fibre content

34
 SFRC: Mechanical Behaviour
Flexural Toughness: Conventional Approaches
Third-point loaded beam
150 mm 150 mm

45
Tests of 30 MPa concrete
75 mm 40

35
40 kg/m3
350 mm
30
Load (kN)

25
30 kg/m3

20

20 kg/m3
15 40
Load (kN)

30

10 20
10
INITIAL PART
5 0
0 50 100
Deflection (microns)
0

0 1000 2000 3000 4000

Deflection (µm)

35
SFRC: Mechanical Behaviour
Flexural Toughness: Conventional Approaches
Non-dimensional indices: ASTM, Spanish standards
In = area up to a certain deflection divided by the area up to first-
crack such that the index is equal to n for elastic-plastic response

36
 SFRC: Mechanical Behaviour
Flexural Toughness: Conventional Approaches
Absolute toughness & Equivalent flexural strength: Belgian,
Japanese, Spanish, Dutch and German standards

Bn = area under load-

deflection curve up to δn
(i.e., deflection equal to the
span/n)
Equivalent flexural strength
σn = {Bn/δn} {1.5 span/bd 2}
where b & d = beam width &
depth

37
 SFRC: Mechanical Behaviour
Flexural toughness based on notched beam response
Notched beam
Measurements:

• Load-deflection curve
• Load-crack mouth Clip gage
opening displacement
(P-CMOD) curve LVDT

40
40

40 kg/m3 1 40 kg/m3
30
deflection (mm)

30
load (kN)

0.8
load (kN)

20 0.6 20
20 kg/m3 20 kg/m3
0.4
10 10
Plain 0.2
Plain
0 0 0
0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2
deflection (mm) CMOD (mm) CMOD (mm)
Toughness measures: equivalent flexural strength(s), residual strength(s)
Proposed by RILEM, to be adopted by CEN (as European standard)

38
SFRC: Mechanical Behaviour

Time-dependent response
• Restrained plastic shrinkage cracking can be
decreased by the incorporation of polymeric and steel
fibres
• Restrained drying shrinkage crack widths are reduced
with steel fibres
• Impact and fatigue resistance of SFRC is higher than
in plain concrete

39
SIFCON: Slurry-Infiltrated Fibre Concrete
Properties
• Contains 5-20% volume fraction of steel fibres.
• Cast by preplacing fibres in mould and then filling the
voids with a cement-based slurry. (The fibres tend to be
oriented perpendicular to the casting direction.)
• Unit weight = 1900-3200 kg/m3
• Compressive strength = 60-210 MPa
• Tensile strength = 4-14 MPa
• Ductility can reach values of 1000 times that of the plain
matrix
Applications
• Safety vaults
• Explosion resistant containers
• Repair and rehabilitation

40
UHPC: Ultra-High Strength Concrete
RPC: Reactive Powder Concrete
Properties
• w/c ≤ 0.2
• High binder content (e.g., a cement dosage of
1000 kg/m3; silica fume dosage of 30%)
• Aggregate grain size is limited to 0.5 mm.
• Short steel fibres of 5-13 mm length at high
dosages (e.g., 2-6% volume fractions) are used.
• Compressive strength can be as high as 230 MPa
• Flexural strength can be as high as 50 MPa
• Elastic modulus = 50-60 MPa
Applications
• Thin and slender precast structural elements
• Strong and compact products

41
 References
• Fiber-Reinforced Cement Composites, P.N.Balaguru &
S.P.Shah, McGraw Hill, New York, 1992
• Les bétons de fibres métalliques, P.Rossi, Presses Ponts
et Chaussées, Paris, 1998
• The Science and Technology of Civil Engineering
Materials, J.F. Young, S. Mindess, R.J. Gray & A. Bentur,
Prentice Hall, 1998
• http://www.ductal-lafarge.com/
• ACI Materials Journal
• Intnl. Journal of Cement Composites
• Materials and Structures Journal
• Concrete International Journal, ACI

42