Title: Fiber-reinforced Concrete and bridge deck cracking

Author: Daniel Stephen Myers

Date of Publication: 2006
Place: University of Oklahoma
Abstract: Bridge deck cracking is a huge problem in the United States, and various agencies have
sponsored research endeavoring to determine the underlying problems. A number of causes have been
identified, including thermal movement, plastic shrinkage, and early age settlement, as well as a number
of other issues. Polymer fibers are a possible solution to many of the causes of bridge deck cracking:
they have been shown to help early age properties like shrinkage and movement, and as a bonus, fibers
improve post-cracking behavior. More understanding of the benefits and uses of polymer fibers in
concrete is needed.
This study researched the properties of four polymer fibers; two of the fibers were macrofibers, and two
were microfibers. Each fiber was tested at several dosage rates to identify optimum dosage levels. Early
age shrinkage, long term shrinkage, compressive strength, and tensile strength were investigated.
Macrofibers and microfibers were found to have different impacts on concrete behavior, with different
optimal dosage rates. Microfibers greatly dried out the concrete mixture, hindering workability.
However, the microfibers substantially reduced plastic shrinkage and improved concrete strength at
early age. Macrofibers, while not hindering workability, did not provide benefits as great as the
microfibers to the concrete strength.
In general, several key results were identified, and it is suggested that many of these impacts can be
explained by considering that the polymer fibers have a modulus of elasticity well below that of the
hardened concrete matrix. Fibers were found to greatly reduce early age shrinkage, with the effect
increasing with increasing dosage levels. Long term shrinkage is not affected by the addition of polymer
fibers. Early age concrete strength is improved with the addition of fibers, but long term strength is
sometimes reduced with high dosages of fibers. It is noted that these characteristics of polymer fibers
indicate that they will be very useful in combating the bridge deck cracking problem.
Source: Unpublished thesis

Title: An Analysis of the Abaca Natural Fiber in Reinforcing Concrete Composites as a Construction
Material in Developing Countries
Author: Rolando Magdamo
Date of Publication: 1988
Place: University of Northern Iowa
Abstract: This study analyzed the flexural and splitting tensile strengths and the ductility of abaca fiberreinforced concrete composites. Abaca fibers are natural fibers of vegetable origin from the abaca plant
native to the Philippine Islands. The purpose was to investigate how various volume-fractions of the
abaca fiber could affect the mechanical properties of the concrete matrix. A concrete design mix
containing a volume ratio of 1.0 part Type I Portland cement and 3.0 parts sand was used in the
preparation of laboratory test samples. Abaca fibers were 1 to 1.5 inches long and randomly mixed with
the concrete at 0.2% and 0.4% volume fractions. The fibers were not chemically treated and no
admixtures were used. Samples were cast into concrete cylinders and flexural beams. Standard ASTM
procedures in casting of flexural beams and concrete cylinders and the curing of 28-day concrete
samples were followed. The center-point loading method of the flexural test and the splitting tensile
test was utilized. Addition of abaca fibers decreased the mean flexural and splitting tensile strengths of
the concrete matrices. However, ductility of the matrices increased with the addition of abaca fibers at
0.2% and 0.4% volume-fractions. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) micrographs revealed that
increasing the fiber volume-fraction influenced the growth rate of dehydration precipitates as CH
(calcium hydroxide) crystals. At the 0.2% volume-fraction, smaller density of precipitates grew into large
crystals, while at the 0.4% volume-fraction, the dehydration precipitates were much more dense, which
were made up of small sized crystals. Abaca fibers in the concrete mix decreased the mean flexural and
splitting tensile strengths, increased the modulus of elasticity, improved the ductility, and acted as a
medium to slow down and stop the propagation of cracks.
Source: Published Book

Title: A study on the confinement effects of fiber reinforced mortar (FRM) on reinforced concrete
columns
Author: OROPEL, Joseph Christopher
PANALIGAN, Gian Carlo
SY, Jerome Caldrich
Date of Publication: 2013
Place: De Lasalle University, Manila
Abstract: The study shows the potential of two fibers namely synthetic and cellulose fibers in retrofitting
RC columns when using them as a jacketing material. The fibers were used as the reinforcing agent for
the mortar which will in turn be the jacket for the RC column specimen. The aim of this research is to
quantify the effectiveness of the retrofit. Evaluating how effective the retrofitting done on the specimen
would be determining the confinement effect of each specimen.
The research conducted a compression test using the Universal Testing Machine with a capacity of 1000
kN on a total of twenty one (21) reinforced concrete column specimens with fiber reinforced mortar as
jacket. These specimens were divided into four (4) different cases in order to investigate the
compressive strengths and confinement effects of Fiber A and Fiber B in combination with no and thirty
percent (30%) fly ash. The confinement effect was quantified by obtaining the individual contribution of
each material that comprised the RC column specimen and subtracting them from the actual load being
resisted. The percentage of the confinement effect was also obtained in order to determine the
percentage contribution of the mortar jacket.
Source: Unpublished thesis

Title: Study of Natural Fibers as an admixture for concrete mix design

Author: Kathleen Rapatalo
John Fhilip Orit
Jeffrey Manzano
Aivy De Vera
Date of Publication: 2010
Place: Technological Institute of the Philippines, Quezon City
Abstract: Technology in concrete has been developing in many ways to enhance the quality and
properties of concrete. One of the technological advances in improving the quality of concrete is by
using admixtures. Admixture is a substance added during or before mixing the concrete, typically so as
to improve its properties.
This study is conducted to evaluate the possibility of incorporating different natural fibers which is
abundant in our country as an admixture for concrete mix design. This study will evaluate the
compressive strength of the concrete containing coconut coir, sugarcane bagasse, pineapple, and abaca
fibers. The behavior of fresh and hardened concrete was investigated with various amounts of natural
fibers. The average compressive strength of concrete cylinder samples with the dimension of 150mm in
diameter and 300mm in height were taken for strength comparison. The mixes were prepared with
fiber-cement ratio of 0.10%, 0.15%, 0.25% and 0.75%. Water-cement ratio of 0.68 was chosen for this
mix design with the design compressive load of 20.7Mpa. The constituents were calculated based on the
ACI Design Standards.
Compressive test was done on hardened concrete with the Universal Testing Machine at a loading rate
of 5kN/sec to determine the compressive load of each specimen. The result of the experiment showed
that the addition of natural fibers will increase the compressive strength of the concrete, but the
increase in strength is up to certain amount of fiber. Among the concrete cylinder which contains
natural fiber, 0.15%sugarcane has the highest compressive load of 26.4MPa. The lowest compressive
load is 10.56MPa which is the 0.75% sugarcane bagasse content.
Source: Unpublished Thesis