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FIBER Doctor Answers

Shrinkage Cracks occur mainly due to moisture loss in concrete. Shrinkage cracks are short, irregular cracks that can develop in concrete within the first 24 hours after placing. A crack which occurs before the initial setting time of concrete mix (less than 30 minutes) is known as plastic shrinkage cracks. Whereas dry shrinkage cracks occurs after the final setting time of concrete mix (greater than 10 hours).

When we add fibers into concrete, fibers holds the concrete in position both in plastic state and dry state which in turn prevents the formation of cracks in concrete. And fibers also help in keeping the crack width smaller and give strength after cracking also.

  • Fibers are used in concrete in order to control plastic and dry shrinkage cracks.
  • Reduces segregation and bleeding of concrete during placing of concrete.
  • Addition of fibers into concrete mixture enhances flexural strength, tensile strength of concrete which in turn increases the durability of concrete. And also increases resistances to abrasion, impact, shear loads.

Apart from above features

  • Fibers are easily added to the concrete mix easily at the time of mixing.
  • The rate of speed of construction activity is faster.
  • Uniform texture is obtained on the plastered surface.
  • Fibers are light in weight and easy to handle.
  • Fibers act as 3D or 360° Spherical Reinforcements.
  • Low inventory space is required at the construction site.
  • Fibers do not get corroded, therefore durability of concrete increases, which intern increases the life span of structure.
  • Reduces the consumption of steel for reinforcement, which eliminates the man power for bar bending works.

Fibers are coated with spin finish oil, so that when we add fibers into concrete mix, fibers get dispersed uniformly in a concrete mix without the formation of lumps. When we add fibers into concrete during dry mix, the cement particles covers the oil coating and results in the formation of clogs/lumps in concrete mix.

So, we suggest customers to add the fibers into concrete during wet mix process only.

Fibrillated Fiber (FF) – 125Gms or 0.125Kg

Monofilament Fiber (MF) – 125Gms or 0.125Kg

Polyester Fiber (PF) – 125Gms or 0.125Kg

  • Industrial Floorings, Mining workshop Floorings
  • PQC Roads and White Topping
  • Tunnels, Slope stabilization and Canals
  • Airport Runways, Sea Ports
  • Foundations and Footings
  • Plastering of Walls and Tanks
  • Precast Concrete Elements
  • Paver Blocks and Parking areas
  • Pre-stressed Concrete Elements
  • Halo or Solid Blocks
  • Thermal Power Plants
  • Nuclear Plants
  • Soil Stabilizations, Canals, Green House Slabs
  • Pervious Concrete, Walk ways
  • Oil Exploration (Loss Circulation Fluid for Drilling )
  • Water Proofing, Cement Coating, Roof Coating, Sealants
  • Painting, Wall Putty
  • Fibrillated fibers are most commonly added to concrete in order to reduce the Plastic Shrinkage Cracks.
  • They also reduce the permeability of concrete and thus reduce bleeding of water. Some types of fibers produce greater impact, abrasion in concrete.
  • 6mm Fibrillated Fibers are mainly used in mortar and plastering application. So that there will be a uniform texture over a surface.

Fibrillated Fiber (FF) – 6mm, 12mm, 20mm

Monofilament Fiber (MF) – 6mm, 12mm, 24mm

Polyester Fiber (PF) – 6mm, 12mm, 24mm

Polyester Fiber (PF) – 6mm, 12mm, 24mm

Ferro Fiber (FE) – 36mm, 55mm

Hybrid Fiber (HY) – 36mm, 55mm

Other lengths of fibers can be provided upon a request.

Polyester Fibers are having a Melting Point of about 240°C. Hence, it offers high resistance to heat. They have very good mechanical properties such as Tensile and elastic property. Hence it is used as a reinforcement material in concrete for Infra projects. So that it can resist a heavy loads which is imposed on the concrete.

The major difference is Fibrillation Fibers have interconnected mesh like structure, where as Monofilament Fiber has a fine hair like single strand structure and has an excellent dispersion characteristics.

Yes, we can use fibers to repair concrete defects, which intern improves appearance, restore structural integrity, increases durability and extends the structure’s longevity.

When finishing a Fiber Reinforced Concrete, use only steel or magnesium trowels and floats. Because wood trowels and tools are more abrasive to surface and may reveal more fibers. And also, don’t use tined garden rakes to move or place the concrete

For larger finishing areas, use Laser Screed Machines and Electronic Floats for finishing Fiber Reinforced concrete.

Waved Macro Fiber is a stiff material having a wave form factor for adhesion, which is mainly used in shotcrete applications such as tunneling, slope stabilization, rock support etc. where anchoring is required. This fiber offers high anchoring power for concrete.Ferro Fiber is a heavy duty Twisted Fibrillated fiber mainly used in industrial floorings, warehouse floorings, mining workshop floorings etc. This heavy duty fiber offers long term durability, structural stability and effective temperature / shrinkage crack control

We recommend smaller length of FIBERCRETE–MF and FIBERCRETE–PF; they have monofilament hair like structure in which they form a uniform texture over the plastered surface.

When we use fiber which has a longer length, the fibers will overlap resulting in a non uniform texture. And we don’t recommend the fibrillated fiber for plaster work because it reveals from the surface and it is difficult for the labors to handle during plastering work and won’t give a uniform surface.

Hybrid Fiber (HY) is mainly used in the applications where concrete is designed to carry a high loads and need of excellent surface finish. Macro fiber helps in sustaining heavy loads, whereas monofilament fibers help in uniform surface finish and avoids the formation of shrinkage cracks.

Addition of fiber into concrete is similar to that of addition of salt into food. People won’t choose the food which is salt less, because it will be tasteless and we cannot consume much. As we know that, salt plays a major role in enhancing the taste of food. Similarly fiber plays an important role in enhancing the physical and mechanical properties of fresh and hardened concrete. So we will suggest our customers to use SFRC.

  • Fibers can be added to concrete mixture at any time prior to placement of concrete.
  • In RMC plants, the fiber material is added during batching process. And fibers must be mixed with concrete for a minimum of 3 minutes (10 – 15 rotations) at a maximum mixing speed to ensure complete dispersion and uniformity before placing.

Do not add any additional water to the concrete mix along with the fibers. Addition of extra water leads to the change in Water-Cement ratio, which intern changes the strength of concrete.

Synthetic fibers are chemically inactive and offer high resistance to chemical reactions due to hydration of cement and other acid and alkali agents.

Synthetic fibers are hydrophobic in nature, which means that fibers do not absorb water in the concrete mixture. Synthetic fibers do not alter the water-cement ratio in the concrete mix design.

Length Applications Remarks
6mm Mortar, Plastering and Precast Because of surface finish, we suggest small length fiber. So that they can be easily embedded within the exterior layer.
12mm, 20mm, 24mm,36mm, 40mm, 48mm RMC, Airport Runways Industrial floorings, Mining Workshop floorings, Parking area, PQC Roads, Bridges, Dams, Tunnels, White Topping roads, Halo or Solid blocks, Thermal Plants, Nuclear plants, Pervious Concrete, Soil Stabilization etc. Aspect Ratio is higher; we can achieve high tensile strength.

Pervious Concrete is a composite material consisting of coarse aggregate, cement and water. It is completely different from conventional concrete, whereas conventional concrete consists of fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, cement and water. Pervious Concrete is weak in Compression, which means that it has very low compressive strength due to the absence of fine aggregate.

In order to enhance the compressive strength of pervious concrete, Fibrillated Polypropylene Fibers are used.

Synthetic fibers are hydrophobic in nature, they do not absorb water. When we apply water proofing agent with fiber as an ingredient over the surface of any layer, there will be a formation of impermeable membrane / layer so that water seepage is blocked. We can use fibers in water proofing agents, coats, sealants, wall paint, wall putty etc. Lower length of monofilament fibers is used for these kinds of applications.

During oil and gas operations there will be a loss of drilling fluid, which flows into a subterranean rock formation such as cracks and fissures. This is known as lost circulation. In order to prevent this undesirable flow of drilling fluid into cracks, long length of fibrillated fibers which are having a greater aspect ratio are used. These fibers help in sealing the cracks in underground terrains.

Green House slabs are made out of pervious concrete, pervious concrete helps in percolating of excess water which is generated due to irrigation in green houses. Pervious Concrete is a composite material consisting of coarse aggregate, cement and water. It is completely different from conventional concrete, whereas conventional concrete consists of fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, cement and water. Pervious Concrete is weak in Compression, which means that it has very low compressive strength due to the absence of fine aggregate.In order to enhance the compressive strength of pervious concrete, Fibrillated Polypropylene fibers are used.

Prepare a dry mortar and make a pond. Add some water into pond and prepare 30% of dry mortar into slurry. Then open the Fiber packet and sprinkle fibers onto slurry uniformly and mix thoroughly for 5 to 10 minutes. Then mix that slurry with remaining dry mortar until you get a uniform paste.

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