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Establishing toughness performance in concrete using steel fibres is well understood, and design guides are available to assist with this process. What is less readily understood is the use of Type 2 synthetic fibres to provide toughness. This problem is exacerbated by the wide range of synthetic fibres available, with each different fibre providing different structural properties. This paper seeks to address this issue.

The paper examines the relative pull‐out values of two single fibre types, i.e. steel and Type 2 synthetic fibres. The pull‐out test results have informed the doses of fibre additions to beams which have been used to equate near equal toughness performance for each fibre type.

The results show that synthetic Type 2 fibres, when used at a prescribed additional volume, can provide toughness equal to steel fibre concrete.

The scientific study of fibre pull‐out behaviour is well understood and described herein under additional reading. Practical testing to show contractors and clients how to balance the dose of fibres in concrete, so that synthetic fibres could be used as a steel fibre replacement, is not well researched. This paper bridges the information gap.

To evaluate manufacturers' claims that structural polypropylene fibres provide satisfactory crack control reinforcement and compare the findings against steel fabric used as crack control in screeds where tensile forces are likely to occur.

The procedure used to provide load, deflection data, toughness indices and residual strength factors was compliant with ASTM C1018‐97 and in part ASTM C78‐02 to define first crack toughness and first crack strength.

A142 steel fabric reinforcement as used in screeds was more effective in producing toughness and residual strength when directly compared with the performance of structural polypropylene fibre reinforced concrete. Where polypropylene fibre reinforced concrete did have an advantage over the steel reinforced concrete was when I₂₀ was exceeded and the deflection and crack width was excessive. Steel fabric tended to fail and/or the screed material failed either prior to or in excess of I₂₀, whereas the fibre reinforced concrete held together albeit at a very much reduced load transfer when compared with steel fabric.

If the forces to be encountered through expansion or contraction are small, then, due to the small distances between the fibres redistributing the stress and minimising the cracks within the concrete matrix, polypropylene fibres may be suitable for crack control when directly compared with A142 fabric reinforcement. The use of fibres has benefits to the floor screed companies, using screed‐laying machines as the process avoids laying steel on which the screed machine will have to operate.

There is a general lack of research coverage examining crack control in screed floor finishing materials.

This study reports the performance of thermally deteriorated concrete with and without fibres. Attempts have been made to find the suitable performance of steel polypropylene (PP) hybrid fibre combination that could significantly enhance the performance of mechanical properties at elevated temperatures.

In this experimental investigation, concrete cubes of 100 mm in size of various compositions were cast and water-cured for 28 days, and later exposed to elevated temperatures of either 200 or 400°C or 600 and or 800°C with a retention period of 2 h. The properties like change in colour and percentage weight loss were evaluated. Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity test was used to obtain qualitative information of strength variation. Residual strength of thermally deteriorated concrete specimen was measured by destructive testing.

Steel fibre volume fraction of 1 per cent improves the compressive strength of concrete in the temperature range of 400 to 800°C. The addition of steel fibre and PP fibre (Mix 3) improves the splitting strength of the concrete at elevated temperature range of 400 to 600°C.

Performance enhancement is observed with hybrid fibres for temperature endurance of concrete.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the spalling phenomenon in ultra-high performance fibre reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) beams on exposure to a standard fire curve (ISO 834) under a sustained load.

The variables in this study were steel fibre dosage, polypropylene (PP) fibres and loading levels. The research investigated seven beams – three of which contained steel fibres with 2 vol.%, another three had steel fibres with 4 vol.% dosage and the seventh beam had a combination of steel fibres (2 vol.%) and PP fibres (4 kg/m³). The beams were tested for 1 h under three loading levels (20, 40 and 60 per cent) based on the ambient temperature ultimate flexural strength of the beam.

Spalling was affected by the loading levels; it exacerbated under the load level of 40 per cent, whereas under the 60 per cent load level, significantly less spalling was recorded. Under similar loading conditions, the beams containing steel fibres with a dosage of 4 vol.% spalled less than the beams with fibre contents of 2 vol.%. This was attributed to the additional tensile strength provided by the excess steel fibres. The presence of PP fibres eliminated spalling completely.

There is insufficient research into the performance of UHPFRC beams at elevated temperature, as most studies have largely focussed on columns, slabs and smaller elements such as cubes and cylinders. This study provides invaluable information and insights of the influence of parameters such as steel fibre dosage, PP fibres, loading levels on the spalling behaviour and fire endurance of UHPFRC beams.

Seeks to examine the bond strength of a large range of structural polypropylene fibres, as used in concrete, to determine the most effective fibre capable of transmitting load (N/mm²) between fibre and cement within the concrete matrix.

Following fibre selection characterised by the highest bond strength, determined from a series of pull out tests, BS flexural tests were carried out using high bond strength fibres (40 mm × 0.9 mm diameter used at 6 kg/m³) to determine whether or not structural polypropylene fibres had any effect on the ultimate flexural strength of fibre‐reinforced concrete, when compared with the plain control sample. Fibre orientation, type of rupture failure mode and post‐crack performance were examined.

Even structural fibre dispersion was found to be best achieved with the use of monofilament polypropylene fibres (19 mm × 22 micron used at 0.9 × kg/m³) in addition to the 6 kg/m³ structural fibre dose. Structural polypropylene fibres were found not to provide additional flexural strength however, they did provide post‐crack control, limiting the crack width with subsequent enhanced durability that in turn will provide lower life cycle costs.

In addition to increased durability the use of fibre reinforcement negates the need to place steel reinforcement bars.

Investigates the ambiguity in literature between claims made by different investigators regarding the effects of polypropylene fibres on compressive and flexural strengths.

Present study focuses on scope of developing sustainable heat resistant concrete by adding steel fibre (Sf) and polypropylene fibre (PPf) along with partially replacement of ordinary portland cement (OPC) and natural fine aggregate with fly ash (FA) and granular blast furnace slag (GBFS). Replacement percentages of FA and GBFS were 40% and 50%, whereas Sf and PPf for fibre-added mixes were 1% by volume of concrete and 0.25% by weight of cement, respectively.

An experimental work had been carried out to make comparison between control mix (CM), fibre-added sustainable mix (SCMF) and fibre-added control mix (CMF) with reference to weight loss, mechanical strength (compressive, split and flexure) after exposed to room temperature (27°C) to 1000°C at the interval of 200°C for 4 h of heat curing followed by furnace cooling and then natural cooling. Furthermore, microstructural analysis was executed at 27°C, 400°C and 800°C, respectively.

Colour change and hair line cracks were started to appear at 600°C. Fibre-added control mix and sustainable mix did not exhibit any significant cracks as compared to control mix even at 1000°C. Major losses were occurred at temperature higher than 600°C, loss in compressive strength was about 70% in control mix, while 60% in fibre-added mixes. SCMF exhibited the highest retention of strength with respect to all cases of mechanical strength.

Present study is based on the slow heating condition followed by longer duration of heat curing at target temperature.

Present work can be helpful for the design engineer for assessing the fire deterioration of concrete structure existing near the fire establishment such as furnace and ovens. Building fire (high temperature for short duration) might be the further scope of work.

Concept of incorporating pozzolanic binder and calcareous fine aggregate was adopted to take the advantage pozzolanacity and fire resistivity. To the best of author’s knowledge, there is a scope for fill the research gap in this area.

Tribology of the carbon‐fibre‐reinforced plastics has been investigated. The wear‐resistance of carbon‐fibre‐reinforced plastics was found to be much better than those of other plastics reinforced with fibres of glass and stainless steel and was affected by the fibre‐orientation relative to sliding. Law of mixture in the frictional coefficient of composite materials was deduced; a comparison of calculated values with experimental data showed good agreements. Wear‐resistance of the carbon‐fibre‐reinforced plastics against fretting was also examined; good wear‐resistance was obtained when sliding within a region about 30° from the carbon‐fibre axis.

The present day world is witnessing the construction of very challenging and difficult civil engineering structures. Self-compacting concrete (SCC) offers several economic and technical benefits; the use of steel fiber extends its possibilities. Steel fiber acts as a bridge to retard their cracks propagation, and improve several characteristics and properties of the concrete. Therefore, an attempt has been made in this investigation to study the Flexural Behaviour of Steel Fiber Reinforced self compacting concrete incorporating silica fume in the structural elements. The self compacting concrete mixtures have a coarse aggregate replacement of 25% and 35% by weight of silica fume. Totally eight mixers are investigated in which cement content, water content, dosage of superplasticers were all constant. Slump flow time and diameter, J-Ring, V-funnel, and L-Box were performed to assess the fresh properties of the concrete. The variable in this study was percentage of volume fraction (1.0, 1.5) of steel fiber. Finally, five beams were to be casted for study, out of which one was made with conventional concrete, one with SCC (25% silica fume) and other were with SCC (25% silica fume + 1% of steel fiber, 25% silica fume + 1.5% of steel fiber) one with SCC (35% silica fume), and other were SCC (35% Silica fume + 1% of steel fiber, 35% Silica fume + 1.5% of steel fiber). Compressive strength, flexural strength of the concrete was determined for hardened concrete for 7 and 28 days. This investigation is also done to determine the increase the compressive strength by addition of silica fume by varying the percentage.

High-strength concrete shows particular characteristic behavior at elevated temperatures, such as explosive spalling, that is rarely observed in normal-strength concrete. This behavior has been attributed to the very dense concrete matrix usually associated with high-strength concrete. Recently the addition of polypropylene fibres into high-strength concrete was reported to be very effective against the explosive spalling. However, it is hopeless to maintain the residual strength and the fracture toughness when the fibres melt. Steel fibre reinforcement can help to maintain the residual strength and fracture toughness after heated. In this paper, hybrid fibre reinforcement with the combination of polypropylene and steel fibres is proposed for improving the strength as well as the fracture characteristics after heating. This paper investigates the recovery possibility, up to 6 months observation, of heated hybrid fibre reinforced high-strength concrete. Tests results of hybrid fibre reinforced concrete showed significant recovery possibility on the physical properties and the permeability after high temperature.

The present experimental investigation attempts to study the behaviour of hybrid fibre-reinforced self-compacting concrete (HFSCC) subjected to elevated temperature. The purpose of this study is to find out the performance of hybrid fibres of 0.5 per cent by volume of concrete (out of which 75 per cent are steel fibres and 25 per cent, polypropylene fibres). Reinforced beams were casted and tested for the flexural load-carrying capacity, and comparisons were made with the load-carrying capacity of reinforced beams without the inclusion of fibres.

The study includes 60 concrete cubes of 150 mm and 60 beams of 150 × 150 × 1,100 mm reinforced with minimum tension reinforcement according to IS 456-2000. The specimens were subjected to elevated temperature from 100°C to 500°C with an interval of 100°C for 2 h. The residual compressive strength and the load-carrying capacity of beams for 5-mm deflection were measured. Parameters such as load at first crack, width and length of cracks developed on the beam during the application of load were also studied.

The result shows that for self-compacting concrete without fibres (SCCWOF), there is a gain in compressive strength between 200°C and 300°C, beyond which the strength decreases. For HFSCC, the gain in strength is between 300°C and 400°C, and thereafter the strength gets reduced. The load-carrying capacity of beams reduces with an increase in temperature. An increase in load-carrying capacity (up to 40.7 per cent) for HFSCC beams is observed when compared to SCCWOF beams at 500°C.

Better performance was observed with the usage of fibres when the specimens were subjected to elevated temperatures.