POLYMER FIBER REINFORCED

CONCRETE PAVEMENT
 BRIEF HISTORY OF FIBER REINFORCEMENT

Roman Coliseum was built in 80 AD,

used horse-hair as secondary
reinforcement.
Tipu Sultans palace at
Srirangpattnam has been built with
Sheeps 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many historical references.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 REINFOR
CONCRETE
 HISTORY OF SYNTHETIC FIBER REINFORCED
CONCRETE

1965 : First Usage : Use of Monofilament Short Fibers U.S. Army

Corps of Engineers for Blast Resistance Structures.

1970s-1980s : Usage of Low Volume Fractions Monofilaments & Fibrillated

Fibers.

1990s : Development of High Volume Fiber Application with

improvement in dispersion characteristics.

2000 Onwards : # Development of Structural Synthetic Fibers.

# Development of HPFRCC High Performance FRC.
# Development of Engineered Cement Composites ECC.
 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.

Reduces the risk of plastic settlement cracking over rebar.

Cont. .

It enables easier and smoother finishing.

Reduced bleeding of water to surface during concrete

placement.

Improves the homogeneity of the concrete matrix.

Reduced water absorption.

Greater impact resistance.

 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
 PAVEMENT DESIGN

Cross section of a typical PFRC pavement

 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 per square meter of the slab area.

After about 1.5 hours moist Hessian cloth is

spread, covered with curing compound spray.

Water curing by keeping the Hessian moist by

sprinkling water is ensured for 3 days.
 PROTECTION AND MAINTENANCE

Insert performed neoprene sealant to protect

joint groove from dirt .

Test are to be conducted on fine and coarse stone

aggregates, water, cement, granular sub base,
DLC etc as per standards and specification
published by Indian roads congress.

No vehicular traffic until the completion of 28

days of curing, sealing of joints and completion of
paved shoulder construction.
 POLYESTER FIBER WASTE IN PFRC
The tests resulted in the
following inferences:
1. The polyester FRC in thicknesses of 100mm or
more can be used.
2. The use of polyester fibers increases the abrasion
resistance of concrete by 25%.
3. The polyester fibers are resistant to the strong
alkaline conditions in concrete.
4.There is no decrease in long term compressive
strength or UPV of PFRC.
5. The results of this study promote effective
disposal of these non bio-degradable synthetic
fibers.
COMPARISONS BETWEEN PFRC
AND NORMAL CONCRETE
DHAULA KUAN
UNDER PASS
NEW DELHI
CHENNAI RAILWAY STATION

CONCRETE PLATFORM
 AIRPORT TAXIWAYS & HARDSTANDINGS

Airport Authority of India

Defence Air Feilds
 CONCRETE ROADS

MAJOR PROJECTS:
NHAI
J&K ERA
RAJSTHAN RSRDC
HIMACHAL PWD
UTTRANCHAL PWD
HARYANA PWD
SURAT MUNICPAL CORPORATION
ANDHRA MKTG BOARD
UTTRANCHAL MANDI PARISHAD
UP MANDI PARISHAD
 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, 4 th

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.