Fibrous and Composite Materials for Civil Engineering Applications (Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles)

The use of fibrous materials in civil engineering, both as structural reinforcement and in non-structural applications such as geotextiles, is an important and interesting development. Fibrous and composite materials for civil engineering applications analyzes the types and properties of fibrous textile and structures and their applications in reinforcement and civil engineering.
Part 1 introduces different types of fibrous textiles and structures. Chapters cover the properties of natural and man-made fibers and of yarns, as well as an overview of textile structures. Part 2 focuses on fibrous material use in concrete reinforcement, with chapters on the properties and applications of steel fiber reinforced concrete, natural fiber reinforced concrete and the role of fiber reinforcement in mitigating shrinkage cracks. In part 3, the applications of fibrous material-based composites in civil engineering are covered. Chapters concentrate on production techniques and applications such as reinforcement of internal structures, structural health monitoring and textile materials in architectural membranes.

Environmental Science Experiments (Experiments for Future Scientists)

Volume 11, Number 1, February 2011

BS 5839-1:2002+A2:2008 Fire detection and fire alarm systems for buildings. Code of practice for system design, installation, commissioning and maintenance

PD CEN/TR 196-4:2007 Methods of testing cement. Quantitative determination of constituents

Concrete Society Technical Report 63
Guidance for the design of steel-fibre-reinforced concrete

Although steel-fibre-reinforced concrete (SFRC) has been used in the UK and elsewhere for a number of years, there are no agreed design approaches for many of the current applications. This differs from conventional reinforced concrete using steel bars or welded fabric, which has been covered by national and international design codes for many years.
One example is the design of pile-supported floors, which are widely used for industrial buildings, warehouses and similar applications, for which various fibre manufacturers and specialist contractors have produced guidelines. RILEM (the International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures) published a design method for steel fibres combined with reinforcement in 2003('). This used the draft Eurocode 2, ENV 1992-1-V2)a, s a framework but modified it to reflect the behaviour of fibrereinforced concrete observed in beam tests. In the Netherlands, CUR (the Centre for Civil Engineering Research and Codes) is preparing recommendations for SFRC industrial floors on piles(3)t;h is guidance will be restricted to applications beneath which there will be neither occupancy nor crawl spaces. This restriction is presumably aimed at limiting the risk to life from a failure. It should be noted that in some cases failures of such floors could still lead to a risk to life due to collapse of supported structures or fittings. The choice of design method should take into account this risk.
This Technical Report summarises the wide range of current applications for SFRC, including ground-supported and pile-supported slabs, sprayed concrete, composite slabs on steel decking and precast units. The Report also considers practical aspects such as production and quality control. Where possible it presents a detailed review of the design methodologies currently in use, with the aim of promoting an understanding of the technical issues involved. Normally, it is not possible to give definitive design guidelines but the information provided will allow the designers to exercise judgement in this area of evolving technology.
In general, the concrete in these applications has a fibre content of around 40kg/m3. Elevated suspended slabs with dosage in the region of 100kg/m3 have been built but elements with such dosages are outside the scope of this Report, as are ultra-high performance concreted4) which are highly specialised materials that may have a dosage of 150kg/m3 or more.