Fiber Reinforced Concrete in Pavements

Dr. K.M.Soni, Superintending Engineer, Central P.W.D., New Delhi

Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) i defined a a co!poite !aterial coniting of concrete
reinforced with dicrete rando!l" but unifor!l" dipered hort length fiber. #he fiber can be
!ade of teel, pol"!er or natural !aterial. Wo$en fabric, long wire, bar, and continuou wire
!eh are not conidered dicrete fiber.
FRC i conidered a a !aterial of i!pro$ed propertie and not a reinforced ce!ent concrete
wherea reinforce!ent i pro$ided for local trengthening of concrete in tenion region. Since in
FRC, fiber are ditributed unifor!l" in concrete, it ha better propertie to reit internal tree
due to hrin%age. & fiber i!pro$e pecific !aterial propertie of the concrete, i!pact
reitance, fle'ural trength, toughne, fatigue reitance, ductilit" alo i!pro$e.
Fiber generall" ued in ce!ent concrete pa$e!ent are teel fiber and organic pol"!er fiber
uch a pol"prop"lene and pol"eter.
Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete
Steel fiber ha$e been ued for a long ti!e in contruction of road and alo in flooring,
particularl" where hea$" wear and tear i e'pected. Specification and no!enclature are
i!portant for a !aterial to be ued a the tender are in$ited baed on pecification and
no!enclature of the ite!. Such no!enclature i not a$ailable in Delhi Schedule of Rate. (n a
wor% where teel fiber reinforced concrete wa ued for o$erla" )ut li%e flooring, the following
no!enclature can be adopted for concreting of !all thic%ne.
Pro$iding and la"ing *+ !! teel fiber reinforced ce!ent concrete in pa$e!ent (in panel ha$ing
area not !ore than ,.- .!) coniting of teel fiber / *+%g per cubic !eter of concrete and
ce!ent concrete !i' of ,0,.1-0,.1- (, ce!ent0 ,.1- coare and of finene !odulu 2.*20 ,.1-
tone aggregate ,+ !! and down gauge of finene !odulu -.11) o$er e'iting urface i3c
ce!ent lurr", conolidating, tapping, and finihing but e'cluding the cot of teel fiber which
hall be paid eparatel", co!plete a per direction of Engineer in Charge (Ce!ent to be ued
hall be 4PC *5 grade and and and aggregate ha$e to be wahed).
Second ite! of fiber wa pro$ided eparatel" a 6Pro$iding and !i'ing teel fiber of dia +.*-
!! in ce!ent concrete dul" cut into piece not !ore than 2- !! in length.7
#hough the ite! of teel fiber reinforced concrete
ha been pro$ided with a deign !i' of concrete, which i al!ot of ,0202 grading, it can now be
ued of !i' li%e 85+ or 85-. Since in the e'ecuted ite!, the thic%ne wa to be retricted, the
tone aggregate ued were of ,+ !! i9e and below howe$er, in cae of the concrete of !ore
than :- !! thic%ne, tone aggregate of 2+ !! grading can be ued.
#he contruction wa carried out !ore than a decade bac%. (t iober$ed that the perfor!ance of
the concrete i atifactor" e$en after !an" "ear of contruction (Figure ,). E$en, no corroion
ha been ober$ed in the teel fiber. (n fact the concreting ha been done )ut li%e flooring ite!
in thi cae o$er alread" e'iting hard urface. (n uch a cae a bonding coat hould alo be
pro$ided li%e a coat of ce!ent lurr". #he fiber reinforced concrete ha been pro$ided in !all
panel conidering the wor%abilit". #hough $acuu! dewatered concrete ha not been done with
teel fiber reinforced concrete but the a!e i alo poible. ;acuu! dewatered concrete, though
cannot be done in !all thic%ne li%e *+ or -+ !! but can be ued if thic%ne i ,++ !! or
!ore.
Polymer Fiber Reinforced Concrete
Pol"!eric fiber are being ued now becaue of their no ri% of corroion and alo being cot
effecti$e (Si%dar et al, 2++-). Pol"!eric fiber nor!all" ued are either of pol"eter or
pol"prop"lene. Pol"!er fiber reinforced concrete (PFRC) wa ued on two ite with read" !i'
concrete and ;acuu! dewatering proce.
#he no!enclature can be ued in the wor% a gi$en here.
<Pro$iding and la"ing read" !i' fiber reinforced ce!ent concrete of 85- grade (#he concrete
hall alo ha$e !ini!u! wor% tet bea! fle'ural trength of *+ %g per .! at 2= da") in
re.uired lope and ca!ber in panel i3c haping at drainage point a re.uired uing
ce!entitiou !aterial not le than *5- %g per cu! of finihed concrete fro!
&CC3>?#3&@>C4N3 AN(#EC@ or e.ui$alent batching plant for all lead and lift with Fiberco!B
CF3Fiber!eh3Recron or e.ui$alent (,++ C $irgin "nthetic fiber i9e ,2 !! long) to be !i'ed /
1++ gra! per cu! of concrete i3c finihing with creed $ibration, $acuu! dewatering proce,
floating, trowelling, broo!ing and nor!al curing etc. co!plete a per tandard !anufacturerD
pecification and a per direction of EngineerD in charge (&ll related e.uip!ent hall be
arranged b" the contractor. Cot of centering, huttering, groo$ing etc. hall be paid eparatel".
Deign 8i' hall be got appro$ed fro! the Engineer in Charge).
(n both the ite, $acuu! dewatered concrete wa ued. Eoth the ite are to be ued for
par%ing. (n a ite, fiber reinforced concrete wa ued o$er a bae ce!ent concrete of lean !i' of
,0*0= (Figure 2) while in other ite it wa laid o$er water bound !acada! (WE8) (Figure 5).
When dewatered concrete it ha no proble! of water being co!ing out on urface during
co!paction proce but when it i done o$er WE8, a lot of concrete water i oa%ed b" WE8
and thu the concrete loe the water to WE8 and the water which co!e out during
dewatering3co!paction proce i not in a!e .uantit" ain cae of lean concrete. (t appear that
it i better to pro$ide bae concrete than WE8 a the bae. #he groo$e wa !ade in one cae
before etting of concrete and alo panel were cat with e'panion )oint in one direction. No
crac% were ober$ed in the direction in which e'panion )oint were pro$ided au!ing thi i
longitudinal direction. (n lateral direction, no )oint were pro$ided and the width of uch panel wa
about ,2 !. (t wa later ober$ed that crac% ha$e de$eloped in thi direction (Figure *).
& it i %nown that the width of ,2 ! i too long for e'panion3
contraction. (t ha been ober$ed that al!ot at about oneFthird of the panel width, uch crac%
de$eloped i.e. i9e of panel fro! one ide i about * ! and fro! other ide it i about =!. Fro!
the ite ober$ation, it i therefore inferred that the panel hould ha$e the i9e of about *! ' *!
in the te!perature condition of Delhi howe$er !all $ariation can alo be !ade a per ite
condition. (n other cae, the contractor dela"ed the cutting of groo$e and thereafter the area
wa occupied due to o!e urgent re.uire!ent, the crac% in both the direction de$eloped. #he
crac% were al!ot in line. >ater on the groo$e were !ade through cutter. (t ha been
ober$ed that the ditance of crac% in one ide wa al!ot near to * ! and on other ide at
about : to 1 ! (Figure -). #hu fro! thi cae tud" alo, inference can be !ade that groo$e if
!ade in panel of *! ' *!, it would be appropriate.
(n both the cae, no lateral groo$e were !ade, a wor%ing wa not a proble! due to ue of
$acuu! dewatering proce. (n both the cae, hori9ontal line crac% ha$e been ober$ed
indicating that the groo$e in other direction are alo eential. Fro! thi, it i i!perati$e that
pol"!er fiber reinforced concrete hould be laid in panel or groo$e hould be pro$ided o that
concrete act li%e in panel. Cutting groo$e i ea" a it can be !ade after cating of the
concrete. Eut it hould not be dela"ed for long and hould be !ade before concrete achie$e it
deired trength. #he i9e of panel !a" be %ept around *! ' *!.
Conclusions
Fiber reinforced concrete ha ad$antage o$er nor!al concrete particularl" in cae of ce!ent
concrete pa$e!ent. Pol"!eric fiber uch a pol"eter or pol"prop"lene are being ued due to
their cot effecti$e a well a corroion reitance though teel fiber alo wor% .uite atifactoril"
for a long ti!e. (t appear that fiber reinforced concrete hould be laid on bae concrete of lean
!i' uch a ,0*0= ce!ent concrete rather than o$er WE8 and pro$ided with groo$e in panel of
about *! ' *! to a$oid e'panion3 contraction crac%. Groo$e can be !ade after cating of
concrete through cutter.
References
Si%dar, P.H., Gupta, Saro), Hu!ar Satander (2++-). &pplication of Fiber a Secondar"
Reinforce!ent in Concrete. Ci$il Engineering and Contruction Re$iew, Dece!ber iue, pp 52B
5-.,