Electrical Resistivity of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Concrete

Fariborz Vossoughi
Department of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720

March, 2004

Table of Contents

Abstract

Introduction

Carbon Fibers

Resistivity Measurements

Theory

Polarization Effects

Test Results

Percolation Phenomena

Damage Detection Property

11

Conclusions

12

References

13

Figures

15

Tables

19

ABSTRACT

An investigation into the electrical resistivity of carbon fiber reinforced concrete is presented.
To this end, first, properties of carbon fiber and its effects on cementitious composites are
outlined. Then, measurement techniques for calculating electrical resistivity are discussed.
Percolation phenomena associated with electrical conductivity is investigated, and it is observed
that the threshold is dependent on the fiber geometry. Finally, the self-sensing property of
carbon fiber reinforced concrete is discussed. This aspect can be used to monitor damage even
in the elastic regime.

KEYWORDS
Carbon fiber reinforced concrete; Carbon fiber; Resistivity; Conductivity; Percolation; Damage.

INTRODUCTION
Concrete is a brittle material with low tensile strength and low strain capacity that result in low
resistance to cracking. To improve such properties, fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) has been
developed [1]. Fibers are intended to improve tensile strength, flexural strength, toughness and
impact strength [2], to change failure mode by means of improving post-cracking ductility, and
to control cracking [3]. Tensile strength of the composite, related more to the stress at which
matrix develops a macrocrack, will not differ much for most conventional fiber reinforced
cementitious materials [1-3].
The addition of fibers can also have a strong effect on the electrical properties (DC conductivity
and AC impedance) of the composite, but only when the added fibers are highly conductive
compared to the matrix [4]. Currently different kinds of fibers are used with hydraulic cement:
conventional fibers such as steel and glass; new fibers such as carbon or Kevlar; and low
modulus fibers, either man-made (polypropylene, nylon) or natural (e.g. cellulose). These types
of fibers vary considerably in mechanical properties, effectiveness, cost and geometry.
Concrete containing conductive fibers, such as steel and carbon, has many structural as well as
non-structural applications. For example, electromagnetic interface shielding, electrostatic
discharge, self-regulated heater, conductive floor panels and cathodic protection of reinforcing
steel in concrete structures. Besides these, carbon fiber reinforced cement composites have been
considered as intrinsically stress/strain sensor for damage assessment [7,8]. This is due to the
effect of strain on the electrical resistivity. The resistivity in both stress direction and transverse
direction increases upon tension, because of slight fiber pull-out that accompanies crack
opening, and decreases upon compression, due to slight fiber push-in that accompanies crack
closing. This electromechanical phenomenon, called piezoresistivity (i.e. change of the electrical
resistivity with strain), allows the use of electrical resistance measurement (DC or AC) to
monitor the strain of the cement-based material. This method is in contrast to the conventional
method of using embedded or attached strain sensors. Self-sensing involves lower cost, higher
4

durability, larger sensing volume and absence of mechanical property degradation (which tends
to occur with embedded devices) [8].
The present study addresses the electrical resistivity of carbon fiber reinforced cement and
concrete. To this end, first, the properties of carbon fibers are explained. After that, resistivity
measurement techniques will be discussed. Usually, the effect of conductive fibers is explained
with reference to the percolation threshold of the fibers, so this topic will also be mentioned
breifly. Finally, damage detection, which is one application of carbon fiber reinforced
composites, is reviewed.
Torrents et al. [4] mention that, since the properties of fibers with respect to the matrix change
with frequency, the effects of the fibers on overall electrical properties will be seen in the
complex impedance plane. They introduce a multi-frequency A.C. conductivity/impedance
approach for the study of conductive fibers. This relatively recent development, which requires
more modeling, will not be covered in this paper. Also, for experimental results, details of the
experimental procedures will not be mentioned.

CARBON FIBERS
Carbon fibers are inert in aggressive environments, abrasion-resistant and stable at high
temperatures, medically safe, as strong as steel fibers and more chemically stable than glass
fibers in alkaline environments. Moreover, carbon fibers are low in density, especially when
compared to steel fibers, and their strength to density ratio is one of the highest among all fiber
types. The main drawback of carbon fibers has been their high cost - and low cost is essential for
most applications concerning cements. Carbon fibers possess an additional advantage of having
a high electrical conductivity. The presence of carbon fibers greatly increases the electrical
conductivity of the cement [8,9].
The two main processes for making carbon fibers are based on different starting materials; either
PAN (polyacrylonitrite) carbon fibers or petroleum and coal tar pitch (pitch-based carbon
5

fibers). Both processes utilize heat treatments, and various grades of carbon fibers can be
obtained with each, depending on the combination of heat treatment, stretching and oxidation.
Typical properties of carbon fibers are presented in Table 1. In order to strengthen the matrix,
the specific fiber spacing must be decreased to reduce the allowable flaw size. This may be
achieved by using fine short discrete fibers, such as carbon fibers of approximately a few
microns in diameter. These fibers can provide bridging of the microcracks before they reach the
critical flaw size [1]. Carbon reinforced cement composites can be produced by hand lay-up of
continuous fibers or mats, filament winding, spraying, and conventional mixing.
The maximum carbon fiber content that can be incorporated in a cement matrix is based on the
assumption that the diameter of the filament ( 10m) is of the same order of magnitude as the
size of cement particle. For cement particles to be able to penetrate between the individual
filaments, the maximum fiber content is about 12% by volume for unidirectional orientation, and
less than 4-5 % for random orientation [1]. Different attempts to improve bond and to
compensate for potentially poor dispersion have also been made, e.g. using filament winding.
The engineering properties of carbon fiber reinforced cement composites have been studied by
many researchers [1-2,9]. As shown in Fig. 1 (a) and (c), the tensile and flexural strengths of
carbon fiber-reinforced concrete increased as the content of carbon fiber was increased [9]. Fig.
1 (b) shows the relationship between tensile stress and strain and (d) shows the relationship
between flexural stress and deflection for carbon fiber-reinforced concrete containing pitchbased carbon fibers of 3 mm length. It can be seen that the fracture energy increases as the
carbon fiber content increases. Also, it has been mentioned that a 3% (by volume) addition of
high-modulus carbon fiber to cement results in a two-fold increase in the modulus of elasticity
and a five-fold increase in tensile strength over similar values for the unreinforced matrix [10].
However, the compressive strength slightly decreases with increasing carbon fiber content or
with increasing carbon fiber length [10], and this has been attributed to the increase in air void
content as the fiber content increases [11].
6

RESISTIVITY MEASUREMENTS
Theory
Electrical resistivity measurements on solids are often made by applying a known D.C. current,
A, to two electrodes connected to the specimen made with the material under investigation [12].
Then, the electrical resistance, R, is determined by measuring the resultant drop in the voltage
across the specimen, V, from the following well known Ohms law:
R=

V
A

(1)

The resistivity of the material, , which is a material constant, is defined as:

R=

LS
AS

(2)

where LS is the length of the specimen, and AS is the specimen cross sectional area [12].
Although D.C. current has been used for determining the electrical resistivity of concrete, it is
recognized that the true resistivity of cementitious materials may not be determined by a single
measurement of V and A as in Equation 1. This fact is due to polarization that occurs at the
electrodes.

Polarization Effects

Generally, there are two basic types of electrical conduction in moist specimens: electronic and
electrolytic. The former is through the motion of free electrons in the conductive phases, e.g.
carbon or steel fibers, and the latter is through the motion of ions in the pore solution [13]. Due
to electrolytic conduction, chemical reactions take place at the electrodes and hydrogen and
oxygen gases are liberated that deposit around the electrodes in the form of thin film, which
eventually results in polarization effect [12].
The conductivity measurement, therefore, requires the elimination of the effect of electrolytic
conduction. Three methods have been used: one way is to use completely dried specimens. In

another method it is assumed that the polarization potential opposes the flow and manifests itself
in the form of reduced current for a given applied voltage V [12],
I=

V VP
R

(3)

where VP is the polarization potential. It follows that in this case at least two different values of
the applied voltage should be used to determine the two unknowns VP and R. However, the best
method is through using alternating currents. In this method the effect of polarization is
considered by introducing a capacitor in series or parallel with the resistance, and Equation 1
takes the form [12]:

Z=

V
A

(4)

where Z is the system impedance in Ohms. Also, Z and R are related as:
Z=

R
(1 + 2C2 R 2 )

(5)

and =2f, where f is the applied frequency in cycle per second (Hz), and C is the capacitance
in farads.
It can be seen that by increasing our frequency, we can reduce the effect of the capacitor.
Usually impedance is plotted versus frequency, and the frequency in which the impedance gets
constant is calculated (Fig. 2). At this frequency Z approaches R.

Test Results
Banthia et al. [12] used the A.C. current procedure with a high frequency to test carbon fiber
reinforced cement. The carbon fibers used in their study had a length of 6 mm and diameter of
18 mm. Their tensile strength was 590 MPa, with modulus of elasticity of 30 GPa. The mix
proportions are shown in Table 2. Also, the results obtained from A.C. frequency test are shown
in Fig. 3.

It is observed that, the improvements in conductivity appear to be more pronounced at later ages.
Also, it is seen that hydration has a negative effect on the conductivity. One interesting thing
about carbon fiber comparing to steel fibers is that, although carbon resistivity values
( 12 14 10-4 - cm ) are far greater than that of steel ( 9 10 10-6 - cm ), it produces
resistivity values far inferior than the steel cement composites with the same amount of fibers.
This may be attributed to a better inter-fiber continuity in the case of carbon fibers, due to
smaller size of carbon fibers, and thus having more total number of fibers. So it is suggested that
[12] in case of electrical properties of multi-phase materials, although the various phase
behaviors are added together, a more complicated weighting procedure which considers shape,
and distribution of each phase is necessary. However, recently it has been shown that even steel
fibers with smaller diameters and higher volume fractions comparing to carbon fibers give us
lower signal to noise ratio, and weaker reversibility upon unloading and thus lower
piezoresistivity. Therefore, the difference in performance of carbon and steel fiber cement has
been attributed to the difference in piezoresistivity mechanisms [8].

PERCOLATION PHENOMENA
One way to discuss the electrical conductivity of cement composites is with refernce to
percolation phenomena. This refers to the volume fraction above which the fibers touch one
another to form a continuous electrical path [8]. Xie et al. [13] used the D.C. current on dry
specimens and calculated the electrical conductivity of the mortar reinforced with carbon fibers
(Fig. 4). It can be seen that, the conductivity changes by several orders of magnitude when the
fibers volume reaches a critical value (percolation threshold). Also, it is observed that
water/cement ratio does not have influence on our electrical conductivity (Fig. 4). Moreover, it
has been shown that, conductivity is almost independent of sand/cement ratio [13].
The percolation theory can be explained with the help of Fig. 5. Four different systems and the
corresponding fiber connectivity are displayed. At point 4 fibers are in contact with each other
9

within an individual cluster. A characteristic length (spanning length or diameter) is defined for
each cluster as:

l max{ ri r j }i , j

in cluster

(6)

where ri and rj are the position coordinates of two sites i, j in the cluster. It is said that the
average spanning length for all clusters, l av , obeys a power- law when the fiber concentration
approaches the percolation threshold:

( c ) 0
l av

1
( c )

(7)

where the exponent is a positive value, is the volumetric percent of conductive fibers, and
c is the threshold value. It is observed that as c , then l av , which implies that the
clusters are in contact with each other, and a network has been formed. According to the
percolation theory, the conductivity, , of the composite can be defined as:

( c ) t

(8)

where, t is dependent only on the fiber properties, and is found from experiments. c is between
0.5 and 1.0 vol% for carbon fiber, and the threshold for steel fibers is between 0.27 and 0.36
vol% [8].
As mentioned before, the percolation threshold is mainly dependent on the fiber length and
diameter. Fig. 6 shows the effect of fiber length on the electrical conductivity. It is observed
that, the higher our fiber length, the smaller the volume percent needed to reach percolation. Xie
et al. [13] reported that below percolation threshold our hydration has a negative effect on our
conductivity, due to sensitivity of our composites conductivity to the number of contact points.
However, Banthia et al. [12] does not differentiate above percolation, and below that for the
hydration effect.

10

DAMAGE DETECTION PROPERTY

One application of having conductivity in our fiber reinforced concrete is the topic of damage
monitoring [6-7,14]. This detection is totally nondestructive. Cement reinforced with carbon
fiber has the strain sensing ability. Chung et al. [8] have investigated strain induced D.C.
resistance changes in carbon fiber reinforced cement and attributed that to partial pull-out of
crack bridging fibers, changes in contact resistance between fiber and matrix, and changes in
alignment/spacing; And consequently, introduced the piezoresistive application for this type of
fiber. In this paper we look at one of their experiments on damage monitoring [6]. In this
research they used dynamic compression, and investigated the reversibility of stress/strain
condition of damage. The carbon fiber content was 2% by weight of cement. Figs. 7 and 8 show
the different results for different highest stress amplitudes. Fig. 7 shows the fractional change in
resistance, strain, and stress during repeated compressive loading at increasing and decreasing
stress amplitude. The stress amplitude is 40% of compressive strength in this case. It can be
seen that the strain returns to zero at the end of each cycle, indicating elastic regime. However,
the damge is found to be accompanied by a partially reversible increase in the electrical
resistivity of concrete. It is seen that the resistance decreases upon compressive strain, but
increase upon damage (Fig. 7). Also, after each cycle we have an increase in resistivity due to
damage. This damage is probably due to interface degradation and thus reversible upon
unloading. However, a little decrease is seen in the baseline resistivity. This is said to be, due to
enhancement of the chance of adjacent fibers to touch one another because of matrix damage.
So, it is concluded that, the damage induced resistance increase, is a more sensitive indicator of
minor damage comparing to strain measurements. Fig. 8 shows the same results for above 90%
max stress amplitude. It is observed that, the strain does not return to zero, and also our peak
strain increases during different cycles, which is due to modulus decrease.
In this case our damage is not reversible, and the resistance increases. It is concluded that, fiber
fracture is probably the controlling factor in this case.
11

Temperature sensing ability has also been investigated for composites reinforced with carbon
fiber [7,14].
However all these results are at their early stages, and more experimental studies and theoretical
models are still needed.

CONCLUSIONS

The reinforcement of cement with carbon fiber produces a highly conductive composite. Carbon
is more effective comparing to steel fiber due to a better inter-fiber continuity. Usually, the
conductivity of composite is described by a percolation model. The conductivity changes
significantly at a critical fiber content, which is found to be independent of the matrix. Also,
longer fibers reduce the threshold value. One property of carbon fiber is its piezoresistivity, and
it is observed that concrete reinforced with carbon fiber has a self-sensing ability. Therefore,
damage can be monitored by measuring D.C. electrical resistivity. Damage increases the
electrical resistivity of the specimen. In the case of major damage, this increase is irreversible
and fiber fracture is found to be the controlling factor.
However, all these studies have been conducted on small laboratory specimens, and their
application to bigger size elements requires more research. Also, the place of damage
occurrence, which is crucial in large elements, can not be found with these methods. Finally,
theoretical models that confirm experimental results are still lacking.

12

REFERENCES

[1]

Bentur, A., and Mindess, S., Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composites, London,
Elsevier Applied Science, 1990.

[2]

Balaguru, P. N., and Shah, S. P., Fiber-Reinforced Cement Composites, Singapore,

McGraw-Hill, 1992.

[3]

Banthia, N., and Sheng, J., Fracture Toughness of Micro-Fiber Reinforced Cement
Composites, Cement and Concrete Composites, Vol. 18, 1996, pp. 251-269.

[4]

Torrents, J. M., Mason, T. O., Peled, A., Shah, S. P., and Garboczi, E. J., Analysis of
the Impedance Spectra of Short Conductive Fiber-Reinforced Composites, Journal
of Materials Science, Vol. 36, 2001, pp. 4003-4012.

[5]

Wang, X., Wang, Y., and Jin, Z., Electrical Conductivity Characterization and
Variation of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Cement Composites, Journal of Materials
Science, Vol. 37, 2002, pp. 223-227.

[6]

Bontea, D. M., Chung, D. D. L., and Lee, G. C., Damage in Carbon Fiber-Reinforced
Concrete, Monitored by Electrical Resistance Measurement, Cement and Concrete
Research, Vol. 30, 2000, pp. 651-659.

[7]

Chung, D. D. L., Damage in Cement-Based Materials, Studied by Electrical Resistance

Measurement, Materials Science and Engineering, Vol. 42, 2003, pp. 1-40.

[8]

Wen, S., and Chung, D. D. L., A Comparative Study of Steel- and Carbon-Fiber
Cement as Piezoresistive Strain Sensors, Advances in Cement Research, Vol. 15, No.
3, 2003, pp. 119-128.

[9]

Zheng, Z., and Feldman, D., Synthetic Fiber-Reinforced Concrete, Prog. in Polym.
Science, Vol. 20, 1995, pp. 185-210.

13

[10] Soroushian, P., Bayasi, Z., and Nagi, M., Fiber Reinforced Cements and Concretes:
Recent Developments (R. N. Swamy and B. Barr Eds.), London, Elsevier Applied
Science, 1989.
[11] Chen, P. W. C., Fu, X., and Chung, D. D. L., Microstructural and Mechanical Effects of
Latex, Methylcellulose, and Silica Fume on Carbon Fiber Reinforced Cement, ACI
Materials Journal, Vol. 94, No. 2, 1997, pp.147-155.

[12] Banthia, N., Djeridane, S., and Pigeon, M., Electrical Resistivity of Carbon and Steel
Micro-Fiber Reinforced Cements, Cement and Concrete Research, Vol. 22, 1992, pp.
804-814.
[13] Xie, P., Gu, P., and Beaudoin, J. J., Electrical Percolation Phenomena in Cement
Composites Containing Conductive Fibers, Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 31, 1996,
pp. 4093-4097.
[14] Chung, D. D. L., Cement Reinforced with Short Carbon Fibers: a Multifunctional
Material, Composites: Part B, Vol. 31, 2000, pp. 511-526.

14

FIGURES

Fig. 1. (a) Effects of carbon fiber content on the tensile strength; (b) relationship between tensile
stress and strain for carbon fiber-reinforced concrete; (c) flexural strength as a function of the
carbon fiber content; (d) flexural stress and deflection curves at different carbon fiber content [9].

Fig. 2. Influence of applied frequency on the measured impedance [12].

15

Fig. 3. Resistivity of carbon fiber reinforced cements at various ages [12].

Fig. 4. Conductivity versus carbon fiber content for paste systems [13].

.
Fig.5. Relationship between conductivity and connectivity of conducting fibers [13].

16

Fig. 6. Effect of carbon fiber length on threshold content: () 3 mm, () 1 mm. 1 day hydration,
w/c = 0.50 [13].

Fig. 7. Fractional change in resistance, strain (a) and stress (b) during repeated compressive
loading at increasing and decreasing stress amplitudes, peak= 40% compressive strength [6].

17

Fig. 8. Fractional change in resistance, strain (a) and stress (b) during repeated compressive
loading at increasing and decreasing stress amplitudes, peak > 90% compressive strength [6].

18

TABLES

Table 1. Properties of carbon fibers [9].

Table 2. Mix proportions [12].

19