POLYMER FIBER REINFORCED

CONCRETE PAVEMENT

By
Md Mutiullah
Md Faisal
Mohd Abdul quddus
B. Madhuri
 Introduction
• The traditional system of bituminous pavements is widely used in our
country.

• Bitumen is a by product of petroleum which is depleting day by day.

• Locally available cement concrete is a better substitute to bitumen.

• Concrete – Low Impact and Abrasion Resistance .

• The perfect solution would be POLYMER FIBER REINFORCED

CONCRETE PAVEMENTS.
FIBER REINFORCED
CONCRETE
 BRIEF HISTORY OF FIBER REINFORCEMENT

• Roman Coliseum was built in 80 AD, used

horse-hair as secondary reinforcement.

• Tipu Sultan’s palace at Srirangpattnam has

been built with Sheep’s wool.

• A Pueblo house built in 1540 with straw

reinforcement adobe brick is believed to be
the oldest house in USA.

• Use of horsehair in plaster has many historical

references.
 Fiber Reinforced Concrete
• “FRC is defined as a composite material consisting of
concrete reinforced with discrete randomly but uniformly
dispersed short length fibers.”

• Fibers are generally discontinuous, randomly distributed

through out the cement matrices.

• Enhances flexural and tensile strength of the concrete.

• Fibers may generally be classified into two: organic and

inorganic.
Contd. ….

• Volume fraction – measure of fiber in concrete.

• Typically ranges from 0.1 to 3%.

• Aspect ratio - fiber length (l) divided by its diameter (d).

 Main categories of F.R.C.
 

1. SFRC - Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete.

2. GFRC - Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete.

3. SNFRC - Synthetic Fiber Reinforced Concrete.

4. NFRC - Natural Fiber Reinforced Concrete.

POLYMER FIBER REINFORCE
CONCRETE
 POLYMER FIBER REINFORCED
CONCRETE (PFRC)
• It comes under the category of Synthetic FRC.

• Mainly preferred due to its cost effectiveness and zero corrosion risk.

• This method has been recognized and approved by BIS, IRC and various
national bodies.
 Why PFRC for pavements?
• Crack arresters-restricting the development of cracks .

• Enhanced flexural strength and tensile strength of concrete.

• Improved early resistance to plastic shrinkage cracking.

• Improved durability and reduced surface water permeability of concrete.

 The two components of PFRC
1) Concrete Mix

• The code IRC: 44-2008 – For cement concrete mix designs for pavements
with fibers.

• In presence of fly ash – cement savings upto 35%.

• Flexural strength- 40 MPa at 28 days.

Concrete mixing plant
2) Polymer fibers

• Recron 3S, Polypropylene, Forta ferro, Forta econo net.

• Recycled polymer waste from plastic, carpet industry, textile industry,

disposed tires.

• Size 12mm long and 0.045 mm diameter.

• Mixed at the rate of 900gms/m3 of concrete.

Various polymers used in PFRC
Design and operation
 PAVEMENT DESIGN

Cross section of a typical PFRC pavement

 PAVING OPERATION

The figure shows fully mechanized pavement construction

REQUIREMENTS FOR PAVING OPERATIONS

1) Use of microfilm or antifriction layer of 125 micron in between PFRC

and DLC layers.

2) The DLC layer is to be swept clean before applying microfilm .

3) Film is nailed to the DLC layer without wrinkles and holes.

4) Should be carried out in early or later hours.

5) The temperature should always be below 35 degree Celsius.

 CURING

• Membrane curing is used.

• Texture-cum-curing machine performs the task.

• The resin based curing compound is used at the rate of 300

ml/sqm of the slab area.

• After about 1.5 hours moist Hessian cloth is spread, covered

with curing compound spray.
Completed PFRC pavement
 Advantages of PFRC
• Highly impermeable to water.

• Implementation of sensors in roads will be easier.

• Environmental load of PFRC pavement was found to be

significantly lower.

• Maintenance activities are reduced.

• Impermeable and more durable, skid resistant pavement.

 Disadvantages of PFRC
• Fibers which are too long tend to “ball” in the mix and create
workability problems.

• Being a relatively new technology poses a threat of a high

initial cost of construction.

• In case the road breaks, the whole concrete slab needs to be

replaced.
COMPARISONS BETWEEN PFRC AND
NORMAL CONCRETE
APPLICATIONS OF PFRC

• Slab On Grade.

• Structural Concrete.

• Water retaining Structures.

• Water proofing in rooftops, sunken toilets, etc.

DHAULA KUAN
UNDER PASS
NEW DELHI
During construction…
Completed pavement…
CHENNAI RAILWAY STATION

CONCRETE PLATFORM
NO VISIBLE CRACKS AFTER 1 YEAR OF RIGROUS USAGE
 BRIDGES / STRUCTURAL CONCRETE

MAJOR PROJECTS:
1. AMRITSAR ELEVATED ROAD MUNICPAL CORP.
2. AMROLI & VARCHA FLYOVER SURAT MUNICIPAL CORPORATION
3. TAWI BRIDGE JAMMU
 FLOORINGS

MAJOR PROJECTS: •BMW

•INDIAN RAILWAYS •VLOKSWAGON
•TATA COMPANY •MINISTRY OF TEXTILES
 AIRPORT TAXIWAYS & HARDSTANDINGS

• Airport Authority of India

• Defence Air Fields
 CONCRETE ROADS

MAJOR PROJECTS: •HIMACHAL PWD

•NHAI •UTTRANCHAL PWD
•J&K ERA •HARYANA PWD
•RAJSTHAN RSRDC
 IRRIGATION (CANAL LININGS)

J&K Irrigation & Flood Control

Himachal Irrigation & Public Health
Rajasthan Irrigation
Uttranchal Irrigation
 Kerala based projects using PFRC
• CIAL Airports: Turning Pad Concrete, New Arrival Bldg, Cargo
storage complex.
• ICTT Vallarpadam: Jetty Construction 8000 cubic mtr
slab/Simplex infra.
• Cochin Port Trust: Mattancherry Warf, NCB, UTL etc.
• MES: GE Air Force – Tvm Projects, DGMAPs Projects Cochin
• Southern Railway: Platforms at Quilon, Kochuveli, etc.
• Harbour Engineering Dept: Vipin Jetty wearing coat.
 CONCLUSION
• PFRC can be used advantageously over normal concrete pavement.

• PFRC requires specific design considerations and construction procedures

to obtain optimum performance.

• Reduction in maintenance and rehabilitation operations, makes PFRC

cheaper than flexible pavement by 30-35%.

• Promote effective disposal of non bio-degradable synthetic fibers.

• A new hope to developing and globalizing the quality and reshaping the
face of the “True Indian Roads”.
TURN POLLUTION INTO SOLUTION
 REFERENCE
• 1.Dr.K.M Soni, May 2007, “Fiber Reinforced Concrete in Pavements”,
NBM&CW vol 12, pp 178-181.

• 2. Dr.S.S.Seehra, March 2007,” An Innovative concrete technological

development of fully mechanized construction of cement concrete
pavement”, NBM&BW vol 12 pp76-93.

• 3. B.K.AGRAWAL, Introduction to Engineering Materials”, 4th edition, Tata

Mc Grawhill Publishing company ltd, pp194-195.

• 4. KENNETH G. BUDHINSKI, MICHEL K. BUDHINSKI,” Engineering materials-

Properties & selection”, 8th edition, Prentice Hall India, pp 194-195.

• 5. Gopal Krishna, July 2007,”Key role of chemical admixtures for pavement

quality concrete”, NBM&BW vol 13, pp166-169.