15 – High performance fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC) for civil engineering applications

: Portland cement concrete is a brittle material. The main reason for incorporating fibres into a cement matrix is to improve the cracking deformation characteristics, increasing not only the toughness, impact and tensile strength, but also eliminating temperature and shrinkage cracks. Several different types of fibres have been used to reinforce cement-based materials. This chapter briefly discusses the characteristics of fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC), reporting the effect of the fibres on the physico-chemical and mechanical properties. It also presents some of the recent research and future perspectives of FRC.