Fiber reinforced concrete?

   / Fiber reinforced concrete? #2  
Usually no, but if you are going to park the space shuttle on it sometime in the future you want to add it. Fiber or wire will not make it any stronger, it will keep it from separating if it ever cracks.
 
   / Fiber reinforced concrete? #3  
i have seen a lot of that fiber reinforced concrete crack and fall apart. a buddy of mine used that fiber concrete for runners under his house for his piers to sit on and all the runners ended up cracking and falling apart. he saved a few hundred by not using steel mesh but it cost him thousands to repair his problem.
always use steel mesh in concrete ALWAYS.
 
   / Fiber reinforced concrete? #4  
My barn floor was put in with fiber only, no wire or rebar. About ten years old now with no problems or cracks. I grew up working construction and had never seen the fiber used before, not real comfortable with the concept. Now a believer.
 
   / Fiber reinforced concrete? #5  
I was very hesitant to trust any fiber reinforced concrete until we had an idiot driver put in 5% calcium when I didn't order any. Needless to say, it got hard a bit too fast for us. It totally screwed that pour. The concrete plant owner came out and agreed to refund me my money and give me the next truck load free. Okay, cool, I thought.

It took 3 of us almost two full days with a 90 pound jack hammer and 8 pound sledge hammers with a Case 450 dozer to remove a 12' X 20' section. I'm telling you, that stuff flat sucks to rip out!!! I always thought that exposed aggregate with 6 gauge wire mat was the worst I've ever torn out. That fiber reinforced stuff takes the cake though. Based on how hard it was to remove, I'd believe that it adds quite a bit of strength.
 
   / Fiber reinforced concrete? #6  
Dargo,

I am suprised they came out and refunded your money. How did you know that they put the calcium in it? And did it crack a lot after the pour?
 
   / Fiber reinforced concrete? #7  
The fiber reinforcing is for cracking in slabs, not structural reinforcing. It replaces the wire mesh. You can't do a foundation with the "fibermesh" but as you've read here it makes a heck of a floor slab. I've done a few equipment pads with it and no cracks at all after 10 years.

Now, if you want to fool around, try this website:
http://www.bekaert.com/building/default2.asp?groep=1&groep_land=35&taal=22&land=44
I have used steel fiber reinforcing in warehouse slabs and have been very successful. Very popular in Europe.
 
   / Fiber reinforced concrete? #8  
Concrete does 2 things, gets hard & cracks!
Gene
 
   / Fiber reinforced concrete? #10  
The key to slabs, foundations block joints and so on cracking or not has to do with the settling that does or doesn't take place. The better compacted and more stable the soil, the less settling and subsequently the less cracking. Moisture control thru proper drainage allows the ground to stay dry which reduces movement. Now of course fibermesh isn't applicable in all circumstances but.....One idea behind fibermesh was to eliminate the need for wire in slabs. Wire degrades, oh maybe not enough to really make a difference, but it does none the less. The amount of fiber needed in any given size slab is far less expensive than wire and more cost effectively introduced into the process. You only need one man to put in the fiber for that slab but many men to lay the wire. From a production construction prospective it makes sense and cents. That was the primary thing to drive fibermesh. As with any concrete element, moisture content and proper curing, can also play a role in whether or not cracking will occur. In the well over 100 houses I've built in my time, The only thing I didn't care for about fibermesh is it finishes fuzzy. The little fibers are like little hairs and if your flatwork crew isn't careful....Fuzzy wuzzy is your floor.

Humbly submitted
 
 
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