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The use of fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC) is a significant advance for the construction industry, in the industrial sector and in underground or prefabricated construction. In most fibre-reinforced structures, steel fibres are used (steel-fibre reinforced concrete, SFRC). However, over the last ten years, the use of synthetic microfibres has been gradually introduced in structural applications. This use has clear advantages over steel-based reinforcements for concrete in marine environments, as synthetic fibres do not corrode due to the salts dissolved in seawater or transported by the wind. In this way, the costs of repair and maintenance can be reduced, and the level of sustainability of the structures increased.
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- © Fernando Alda
Pavilions of Puerto de Motril (Granada) made from prefabricated concrete panels reinforced with synthetic microfibres. Design: Elisa Valero (PhD Architecture, Prof. Univ. of Granada) and structural calculations: Albert de la Fuente (PhD Civil Engineering, Prof. UPC and coordinator of the CREEF project).
Despite this, the use of synthetic macrofibres to reinforce steel structures is not considered sufficiently in international design guides. Consequently, their use is limited to non-structural elements or elements with little structural importance (for example, flooring and sprayed concrete for non-resistant tunnel coatings). At regulatory level, the use of synthetic-fibre reinforced concrete in elements of greater structural importance is hampered by lack of knowledge. This is due to a lack of research into the response of the material when it is subjected to fatigue and creep in cracked elements (elements of reinforced steel subjected to flexion are designed to crack or at least the potential of cracking should be considered).
Expected results
In this context, CREEF has been developed: a project whose aim is to provide representative results in these situations via experimental programmes (image on the right) and numerical approaches to be able to include synthetic macrofibres as reinforcement for concrete structures in design guides.
Rack with pre-fissured concrete reinforced with microfibres and loaded for 9 months to quantify the potential effects of creep. A beam tested until failure after 9 months of a permanent load. Tests carried out in the UPC Structures and Materials Technology Laboratory (LATEM) “Lluís Agulló”, as part of the CREEF project.
Contribution of the UPC
CREEF is carried out with the collaboration of two research groups: the Construction Engineering Group (EC) and the Architecture and Technology Group (GAT), both with experience in materials and tests in structures, as well as numerical parametric simulation.
Fundamental aspects will be covered, such as the connections between prefabricated elements of concrete and their seismic response. For this reason, prototypes of prefabricated concrete for marine environments will be designed and tested. Notably, in maritime zones and their surrounding areas, metal-based reinforcing bars for concrete are prone to suffer from problems of corrosion and require an economic investment during their useful life. The new solutions that are proposed will represent alternatives with higher sustainability indices (measured using the approaches developed in the project) and greater competitiveness than existing solutions. The results of this project will represent considerable advances with respect to knowledge of fibre-reinforced concrete and their structural use, which are required to ensure the inclusion of this material in future reviews of standards.
Budget and financing
Other participants in the project are the companies MBCC Group and Smart Engineering (a UPC spin-off). The total budget for the project is €151,250. It was funded by the State Plan for Scientific and Technological Research and Innovation 2017-2020. CREEF started at the beginning of June 2020 and will end at the end of May 2023.
Related Projects
- The Interdisciplinary Group on Building Science and Technology (GICITED) and the Energy, Catalysis, Process and Reaction Engineering (ENCORE) research group at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) are participating in the European ArchiSpace project, to develop infrastructure prototypes for human settlements in extraterrestrial environments using materials and conditions analogous to those on the Moon and Mars.
- The Research Group in Smart and Sustainable Resources and Industries (RIIS) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) is developing the ZeroCarbonPave project, which aims to assess the feasibility of incorporating biochar as filler and/or as the fine fraction of granular material in bituminous mixtures, with the objective of reducing the carbon footprint associated with the manufacture and laying of road pavements.
- The Group of Construction Research and Innovation (GRIC) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) leads the RESILIENT project, which develops advanced models and methodologies to assess climate-resilience strategies in buildings and optimise decision-making.
- A research team from the Sustainable Construction Engineering Group (ECS) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC), together with the Catalan company La Farga, a manufacturer of copper products and semi-finished copper products and a leader in copper recycling, has taken part in the development of a solution to use slag from the copper refining process as new materials and to optimise the use of natural resources in industry. Through this project, La Farga aims to valorise this slag for high added-value industrial applications, such as conductive cements used to manufacture road pavements or industrial sensing products.
