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A Review on Effect of Fiber Reinforced Concrete on Rigid Pavement

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 A Review on Effect of Fiber Reinforced
Concrete on Rigid Pavement
Ms.Amreen N. Ali * Mr. Milind. V. Mohod
Student, M.E.[Structure Engg.] Asst. Professor,
Department of Civil Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering,
Prof Ram Meghe Inst of Tech and Research, Prof Ram Meghe Inst of Tech and Research,
Badnera, Amravati Badnera, Amravati
amreen26ali97@gmail.com milindmohod88@gmail.com
Abstract: Road transportation is undoubtedly the lifeline of the nation and its development is a
crucial concern. In recent years, cement concrete pavements are being adopted in many new
road projects in India in view of their longer services lives, lesser maintenance requirements
and smoother riding surface. This paper presents a comprehensive review on work done on
fiber reinforced concrete pavement using polypropylene, steel, hybrid and glass fibers.
Polymer fiber reinforced concrete pavement is a recent advancement in the field of reinforced
concrete pavement design. Polymer fiber reinforced concrete pavements are more efficient
than ordinary cement concrete pavements. Various issues and behavior of fiber reinforced
concrete in pavement are also discussed.
Keywords: Fiber Reinforced Concrete, Cement, Polypropylene Fibers

1.0 INTRODUCTION concrete properties in all directions. The plain

C oncrete pavements, often called rigid
pavements, are made up of Portland cement
concrete and may or may not have a base
course between the pavement and subgrade as
shown in figure 1. A pavement is the layered
structure on which vehicles travel. It serves two
purposes, namely, to provide a comfortable and
durable surface for vehicles, and to reduce
stresses on underlying soils. In India, the
traditional system of bituminous pavements is
widely used. Because Concrete has some
deficiencies as low tensile strength, low post
cracking capacity, brittleness and low ductility,
limited fatigue life, not capable of
accommodating large deformations, low impact
strength. Cement concrete is characterized by
brittle failure, the nearly complete loss of loading
capacity, once failure is initiated. Within two to
three decades the bituminous pavement would
be a history and required periodical
maintenance. Now it is very essential to rethink
of another material which satisfies required
facilities. More recently micro fibers, such as
those used in traditional composite materials
have been introduced into the concrete mixture
to increase its toughness, or ability to resist
crack growth. FRC is Portland cement concrete
reinforced with more or less randomly distributed
fibers. In FRC, thousands of small fibers are
dispersed and distributed randomly in the
concrete during mixing, and thus improve
concrete structure cracks into two pieces when
the structure is subjected to the peak tensile
load and cannot withstand further load or
deformation. The fiber reinforced concrete
structure cracks at the same peak tensile load,
but does not separate and can maintain a load
to very large deformations. Fibers help to
improve the post peak ductility performance,
pre-crack tensile strength, fatigue strength,
impact strength and eliminate temperature and
shrinkage cracks. FRC satisfies two of the much
demanded requirements of pavement material in
India, economy and reduced pollution. It also
has several other advantages like longer life, low
maintenance cost, fuel efficiency, good riding
quality, increased load carrying capacity and
impermeability to water over flexible
pavements.[2]
1.1 Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC)
Polymeric fibers are gaining popularity
because of its properties like zero risk of
corrosion and cost effectiveness. The polymeric
fibers commonly used are polyester, Recron 3s,
and polypropylene. Various forms of recycled
fibers like plastic, disposed tires, carpet waste
and wastes from textile industry, and
FortaEcono net, can also be used as fiber
reinforcements.
These fibers act as crack arresters,
restricting the development of cracks and thus

* Corresponding Author
transforming a brittle material into a strong accomplishes improved durability and reduced
composite with superior crack resistance, surface water permeability of concrete. It
improved ductility and distinctive post cracking reduces the risk of plastic settlement cracking
behavior prior to failure[4]. over rebar. It enables easier and smoother
finishing. It also helps to achieve reduced
1.2 Polypropylene fibers bleeding of water to surface during concrete
Polypropylene fibers as shown in fig 3 are placement, which inhibits the migration of
new generation chemical fibers. They are cement and sand to the surface and the benefits
manufactured in large scale and have fourth of the above will be harder, more durable
largest volume in production after polyesters, surface with better abrasion resistance. A
polyamides and acrylics. About 4 million tonnes uniform distribution of fibers throughout the
of polypropylene fibers are produced in the world concrete improves the homogeneity of the
in a year. Polypropylene fibers were first concrete matrix. It also facilitates reduced water
suggested for use in 1965 as an admixture in absorption, greater impact resistance, enhanced
concrete for construction of blast resistant flexural strength and tensile strength of concrete.
buildings meant for the US Corps of Engineers. [4]The use of polymer fibers with concrete has
Subsequently, the polypropylene fiber has been been recognized by the Bureau of Indian
improved further and is now used as short Standards (BIS) and Indian Road Congress and
discontinuous fibrillated material for production is included in the following Standard documents:
of fiber reinforced concrete or as a continuous IS:456:2000 – Amendment No.7, 2007
mat for production of thin sheet components.
Further, the application of these fibers in IRC:44-2008 – Cement Concrete Mix Designs
construction increased largely because addition for Pavements with fibers
of fibers in concrete improves the tensile
strength, flexural strength, toughness, impact IRC:SP:76:2008 – Guidelines for Ultra Thin
strength and also failure mode of concrete. White Topping with fibers
These fibers are manufactured using Vision: 2021 by Ministry of Surface Transport,
conventional melt spinning. Polypropylene fibers New Delhi
are thermo plastics produced from Propylene
gas. Propylene gas is obtained from the
petroleum by products or cracking of natural gas
feed stocks. Propylene polymerizes to form long
polymer chain under high temperature and
pressure. However, polypropylene fibers with
controlled configurations of molecules can be
made only using special catalysts.
Polypropylene fibers were formerly known as
Steal the,. These are micro reinforcement fibers
and are 100% virgin homopolymer
polypropylene graded monofilament fibers. They
contain no reprocessed Olifin materials. The raw
material of polypropylene is derived from
monomeric C3H6 which is purely a hydrocarbon.
For effective performance, the
recommended dosage rate of polypropylene
fibers is 0.9 kg/m3, approximately 0.1% by
volume. Monofilament polypropylene fibers can
be used in much lower content than steel fibers
[5].
Concrete pavements may be weak in
tension and against impact, but PFRC is a
suitable material which may be used for cement
concrete pavement as it possesses extra
strength in flexural fatigue and impact etc. The
usage of fibers in combination with concrete also
results in a mix with improved early resistance to
plastic shrinkage cracking and thereby protects
the concrete from drying shrinkage cracks. It

Monofilaments fibres Bundled fibres
Fig.3: Polypropylene fibers[5]
Advantaged and Disadvantages of PPFRC
Advantages:
1) Water logging is a major reason for potholes
in roads. WBM and Asphalt roads are
permeable to water which damages the road
and sub grade. But PFRC roads are highly
impermeable to water so they will not allow
water logging and water being coming out on
surface from sub grade.
2) Implementation of sensors in roads will be
easier while using polymer fibers for
concrete.
3) Environmental load of PFRC pavement was
found to be significantly lower than the steel
fiber reinforced pavement.
4) Maintenance activities related to steel
corrosion will be reduced while using PFRC.
5) In fresh concrete polymer fibers reduces the
settlement of aggregate particles from
pavement surface resulting in an
impermeable and more durable, skid resistant
pavement.
6) Fibers reduce plastic shrinkage and
substance cracking. Fibers also provide
residual strength after cracking occurred.
7) The use of PFRC produces concrete of
improved abrasion resistance and impact
resistance.
8) PFRC also enhances ductile and flexural
toughness of concrete.
9) The use of fibers in concrete can result in
cement saving up to 10%and in the presence
of fly ash, savings may be up to 35%.
10) All these advantages result in overall
improved durability of concrete.
Disadvantages:
1) The use of PFRC, being a relatively new
technology poses a threat of a high initial
cost of construction.
Literature Review:
Fiber reinforced concrete was successfully
used in variety of engineering applications,
because of its satisfactory and outstanding
performance in the industry and construction
field. However, most of the engineers and
researchers have think that how and why the
fibers perform so successfully. So, to recognize
the usage of fibers in concrete, in these last four
decades, most of the researches were done on
behavior of fiber reinforced concrete in
pavements.
Md Zoheb1 Amaresh S Patil[6] has done
the work on steel fiber Reinforced concrete
He analyse the rigid pavements reinforced
with steel fibers for temperature stresses under
Static vehicular load using ANSYS software. He
determines the temperature stresses for both
linear temperature gradient and non-linear
temperature gradient. He also determines the
effect of slab length & slab thickness on curling
stresses. Also to determine the critical
temperature stresses at various locations in
pavement under Static loads. He has done the
work using Finite Element Software. In his
project work the model is generated &
engineering analysis is carried out using
ANSYS. & from his work he concluded that:
a) There is 2 to 5% increase in stresses
yielded from Positive curling temperature
gradient & negative curling temperature
gradient in steel fiber reinforced concrete,
when compared to conventional concrete.
b) The variation of length of slab does not
influence the curling stresses distribution in
both the case of positive and negative
temperature gradient for SFRC slab. The
increment in stresses for SFRC lies in the
range of 20-41% when compared with
those of conventional concrete.
Mohammed Maaz Salman1 Prof.
Amaresh S Patil [7] has also done the work on
steel fibre reinforced rigid pavements are
analyzed for stresses developed due to Moving
loads & temperature differentials. Comparison of
curling stresses in SFRC with conventional
concrete is carried out. All the models are
generated and analysis is carried out using the
ANSYS software. Parametric study for the effect
of change in slab length & slab thickness of
pavements on curling stresses is also done.
Curling stresses due to Linear &Non linear
temperature distribution in top & bottom layer of
SFRC pavement slabs are also calculated.
Analysis results shows, SFRC develops more
stresses as compared to conventional concrete
&Non linear temperature distribution develops
more stresses than linear temperature
distribution.
He reported that Positive curling
temperature gradient & negative curling
temperature gradient in steel fibre reinforced
concrete pavements yields 3 to 5 % higher
stresses as compared to conventional concrete
pavements. He also reported that the variation of
length of SFRC slab up to 8M does not influence
the curling stresses in both the case of positive
and negative temperature gradient, thus
confirming Westergaard’s finding that slab
curling stresses are independent of slab length.
With increase in thickness or temperature
(temperature gradient) in SFRC slab, curling
stresses in SFRC slab increases. Frictional
stresses in steel fibre reinforced concrete
pavements calculated using ANSYS are almost
similar to the stresses obtained for conventional
concrete pavements. For 1% to 3% percentages
of steel fibres in concrete, Non-linear
temperature distribution causes 21.17% to
25.15% higher curling stresses in SFRC than the
linear temperature distribution. For moving loads
in SFRC, maximum loading stress will be at
starting position of edge for both the speeds of
45kmph & 80kmph.
Constantia Achilleos Diofantos
Hadjimitsis, Kyriacos Neocleous, Kypros
Pilakoutas, Pavlos O. Neophytou and Stelios
Kallis[8] has reported that Steel fibre reinforced
concrete (SFRC) i.e environmental and
economical loadings of SFRC pavements.
The innovative concept of the project is the
use of recycled steel tyre-cord wire as concrete
fibre reinforcement, which provides additional
environmental benefits for tyre recycling over
landfilling. Within the project framework a
demonstration of a steel-fibre-reinforced roller-
compacted concrete (SFR-RCC) pavement was
constructed in a rural area in Cyprus. In order to
assess the economical and environmental
picture of the demonstration pavement, life cycle
cost analysis (LCCA) and life cycle assessment
(LCA) studies were undertaken, which also
compared the under study pavement design with
four conventional alternatives. From their work
they concluded that the proposed SFR-RCC
pavement design is well sustainable alternative
to SFRC for use in road construction industry
both in economical and environmental terms.
Given available design methodology, existing
laying and material production equipment, SFR-
RCC pavement may be the ideal new approach
in road construction. Further work can be done
towards a more environmental and economical
pavement design. Most importantly, the life cycle
studies showed that the steel fibre type and
dosage can greatly influence the environmental
(emissions and energy consumption) and
economical indicators of concrete pavement
layer. This is because the pavement layer depth,
required to support the traffic load, is affected by
the mechanical properties of SFRC which in turn
are influenced by fibre type and dosage.
Rakesh Kumar, Pankaj Goel and Renu
Mathur[9] has reported the work on addition of
polypropylene fiber discrete and fibrillated fibre
on the properties of a paving grade concrete mix
of 48 MPa compressive strength at 28-day. Six
concrete mixes with fiber dosages 0.05%, 0.10%
and 0.15% by volume fraction besides the
control concrete mix were manufactured.
Discrete and fibrillated polypropylene fiber was
used in his study. The properties such as
settlement, compressive strength, drying
shrinkage, and abrasion resistance of the
concrete were evaluated. The study suggested a
significant reduction in settlement and drying
shrinkage without significant change in
compressive strength for the concrete mixes
reinforced with fiber.
The major conclusions that emerged from
the experimental work are as:
Fibrillated fiber is more effective in reducing
the settlement of concrete than multifilament
fiber. However, it has lesser effect on slump
reduction than multifilament fiber at the same
fiber content. There is no adverse effect of the
addition of multifilament and fibrillated fiber on
28-day compressive strength of concrete.
Fibrillated fiber performs better than
multifilament fiber in controlling drying shrinkage
of concrete. Concrete containing fibrillated fiber
performs similar to concrete containing
multifilament fiber in the development of
abrasion resistance. Concrete reinforced with
polypropylene fibrillated fiber may be used in the
construction of concrete pavements.
Jun Murakoshi1, Naoki Yanadori, and
Hironori Ishii[10] has describes ongoing
studies about application of Steel Fiber
Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) pavement for
existing orthotropic steel deck as a
countermeasure for fatigue problems. In order to
evaluate durability of the pavement, strength
tests and fatigue tests under negative bending
have been conducted using half meter size
specimens taking into account of effects of
reinforcement in SFRC and influence of water.
Researches on SFRC so far have been usually
conducted through experiments and fatigue test
by several entities. PWRI’S research is
mentioned In order to establish the SFRC
pavement as an anti-fatigue technology,
followings are needed to be evaluated. One is to
confirm the improvements of fatigue
performance of OSD, the second is to evaluate
SFRC’s durability, and third is to clarify whether
any side-effects occur or not. Finally they
conclude that SFRC pavement is expected to
reduce stress that is related to fatigue crack
initiation at the weld between trough ribs and
deck plate. The effect has been confirmed both
in FE analysis using 3-D models and stress
measurement using real size specimens. For
negative bending on SFRC, the effect of
reinforcing bars and CFRP were tested in static
and fixed point cyclic loading tests. Increase of
loads corresponding crack initiations and
decrease of crack width are not clear in the
specimens using reinforcements, while small
differences are observed as to crack width in
accordance with rigidities of Reinforcement. In
the case that a crack penetrated SFRC and
water reached the interface between SFRC and
steel plate, decrease of tensile strength was
observed. However, the decreased area was
limited to vicinity of the crack. Wheel running test
showed that SFRC pavement maintained its
stress reduction effect through 2,000,000 times
loading that caused positive bending in macro-
wise on OSD. Another wheel running test
focusing on negative bending is being prepared.
Rajarajeshwari B Vibhuti [11] studied the
effect of addition of mono fibers and hybrid fibers
on the mechanical properties of concrete for
pavements. Steel fibers of 1% and
polypropylene fibers 0.036% were added
individually to the concrete mixture as mono
fibers and then they were added together to form
a hybrid fiber reinforced concrete. Mechanical
properties such as compressive, split tensile and
flexural strength were determined. The results
show that hybrid fibers improve the compressive
strength marginally as compared to mono fibers.
Whereas, hybridization improves split tensile
strength and flexural noticeably. She suggested
that the improved mechanical properties of
HFRC would result in reduction of warping
stresses, short and long term cracking and
reduction of slab thickness.
Ahmed Shalabyand Scott Murison[12 ]
has presented the work on fiber reinforced
polymer concrete to transfer the loads across
transverse joints and to prevent faulting, they
have use the Glass fiber-Reinforced polymers,
GFRP as load transfer devices. In their
experimental program, two types of dowel
construction are tested. The first type is a round
GFRP dowel bar having a 38-mm diameter and
the second is a concrete-filled GFRP pipe
having a 60-mm outside diameter. Laboratory
testing and a field implementation project were
carried out. The field test section was
constructed on a regional highway in the city of
Winnipeg and involved three types of GFRP
dowels in addition to epoxy-coated steel. Falling
Weight Deflectometer (FWD) testing was
conducted after one year of service and showed
that GFRP dowels produced 30% higher
deflections compared to steel. GFRP dowels are
comparable to those produced by steel dowels,
providing that the diameter of the GFRP dowel is
20-30% larger than the steel dowel. The larger
diameter results in a reduction in bearing
stresses which in turn reduces the potential for
faulting.
Discussion:
From the above literature review it has
been noted that a tremendous work has been
done on steel fiber reinforced concrete
pavement. Such as use of steel fibers in
pavement for temperature stresses
[6].Comparison of curling stresses in SFRC with
conventional concrete was carried out [7]. It has
been also noted that some researchers has
used the recycled steel tyre-cord wire as
concrete fiber reinforcement [8].The steel fiber
reinforced concrete for fatigue problems in
pavement was also carried out [10]. Some
researchers has presented the work on use of
Glass fiber-Reinforced polymers, GFRP as load
transfer devices[12].The effect of hybrid fibers
on mechanical properties of concrete was also
seen[11]. But it is noted that no work was
reported to understand the effect of
polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete in
pavements.
2.0 CONCLUSION
1} Steel fiber reinforced concrete with 2% steel
fibres yields slightly more stress as
compared to 1% & 3% steel fibre reinforced
concrete for both Positive curling
temperature gradient & negative curling
temperature gradient.
2} The increment in stresses for SFRC lies in
the range of 20-41% when compared with
those of conventional concrete.
3} Frictional stresses in steel fibre reinforced
concrete pavements are almost similar to
 the stresses obtained for conventional
concrete pavements.
4} The increased diameter and reduced stiffness
of the GFRP dowels results in lower bearing
stresses between the concrete and dowel,
which are major causes of dowel looseness
and slab faulting.
5} Hybrid fibers improve the compressive
strength marginally as compared to mono
fibers. Hybridization also improves split
tensile strength and flexural noticeably.
6} Fibrillated fibre is more effective in reducing
the settlement of concrete than multifilament
fiber. However, it has lesser effect on slump
reduction than multifilament fiber at the
same fiber content.
7} Polypropylene fibers reduce the water
permeability, plastic, shrinkage and
settlement and carbonation depth.
8} The problem of low tensile strength of
concrete can be overcome by addition of
polypropylene fibers to concrete.
9} Notable increase in compressive strength is
reported with addition of polypropylene
fibers.
10} Polypropylene fibers enhance the strength of
concrete, without causing the well known
problems, normally associated with steel
fibers.
11} Concrete reinforced with polypropylene fiber
may be used in the construction of concrete
pavements.
12} Resistance to change though however small
disturbs our society hence we are always
reluctant to accept even the best. It’s high
time that we overcome the resistance and
reach for the peaks. PPFRC opens a new
hope to developing and globalizing the
quality and reshaping the face of the “True
Indian Roads”.
References:
[1] Mohd. Imran Khan, “Mechanistic Analysis of
Rigid Pavement for Wheel Load Stresses
Using Ansys”.
[2] K. Vamshi krishna1, J. Venkateswara Rao2
“Experimental study on behavior of fiber
reinforced concrete for rigid pavements”
[3] Westergaard, H.M., “Stresses in Concrete
Pavements Computed by Theoretical
Analysis”, Public Roads, 7, 25 – 35 (1926).
[4] B. Vimalrajan and G. Manimaran“ polymer
fiber pavements”.
[5] Dr.T.Ch.Madhavi, L.Swamy Raju, Deepak
Mathur “polypropylene fiber reinforced
concrete” International Journal of Emerging
Technology and Advanced Engineering
(ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified
Journal, Volume 4, Special Issue 4, June
2014.
[6] Md Zoheb Amaresh S Patil “Analytical Study
of Steel Fibre Reinforced Rigid Pavements
under Static Load” IJSRD - International
Journal for Scientific Research &
Development| Vol. 2, Issue 09, 2014 | ISSN
(online): 2321-0613.
[7] Mohammed Maaz Salman Prof. Amaresh S
Patil “Analytical Study of Steel Fibre
Reinforced Rigid Pavements Under Moving
Load” IJSRD - International Journal for
Scientific Research & Development| Vol. 2,
Issue 07, 2014 | ISSN (online): 2321-0613.
[8] Constantia Achilleos,*, Diofantos Hadjimitsis,
Kyriacos Neocleous, Kypros Pilakoutas,
Pavlos O. Neophytou and Stelios Kallis
“Proportioning of Steel Fibre Reinforced
Concrete Mixes for Pavement Construction
and Their Impact on Environment and Cost” 8
July 2011.
[9] Rakesh Kumar, Pankaj Goel and Renu
Mathur “Suitability of Concrete Reinforced
with Synthetic Fiber for the Construction of
Pavements” Rigid Pavements Division,
Central Road Research Institute, Delhi-
Mathura Road, New Delhi - 110025, India.
[10] Jun Murakoshi, Naoki Yanadori, and
Hironori Ishii “research on steel fiber
reinforced concrete pavement for orthotropic
steel deck as a countermeasure for fatigue”.
[11] Rajarajeswari B vibhuti, Radha Krishna,
“Mechnical properties of hybrid fiber
reinforced concrete for pavement” in IJRET,
2013.
[12] Ahmed Shalaby, Assistant Professor, and
Scott Murison, Graduate Student “using fiber-
reinforced polymer load transfer devices
injointed concrete pavements”.
Author’s Biography
Ms. Amreen.N.Ai is pursuing her
M.E in structural engineering
from Prof. Ram Meghe Institute
of Technology & Research
Badnera, SGBAU, Amravati
University. She obtained her B.E
from the same institute. She has
worked in the area of concrete research at UG
level.
 Mr.Milind V. Mohod is currently Engineering) from GCOE, Amravati. He has
Assistant Professor at Prof. presented and published numerous research
Ram Meghe Institute of papers in several National confernces,
Technology and Research, International Conferences and Journals. His
Badnera, Amravati. He obtained area of interest are related to Structural
his BE degree from Dynamics, Earthquake Engineering, Plate
PRMIT&R,Badnera, SGBAU, Analysis, Finite Element Method. He has an
Amravati University and M.Tech (Structural experience of 4.5 years

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