MODULE 2

Concrete Blocks
A block which has solid material not less than 75 percent of the total volume of-the block calculated
from the overall dimensions.
Concrete blocks are nowadays replacing bricks in masonry construction, notably in many multi-
storeyed buildings. They are available in three types namely solid, hollow and cellular, widely used
for the construction of filler walls and boundary walls in RC framework.

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 Fig: 1.12: Concrete blocks
The hollow (open and closed cavity) concrete blocks shall conform to the following grades:
Grade A — These are used as load bearing units and shall have a minimum block density of 1500
kg/m3. These shall be manufactured for minimum average compressive strengths of 3.5, 4.5, 5.5, 7.0,
8.5, 10.0, 12.5 and 15.0 N/mm‘ respectively at 28 days
Grade B — These are also used as load bearing units and shall have a block density between 1100
kg/m3 and 1500 kg/m3. These shall be manufactured for minimum average compressive strengths of
3.5 and 5.0 N/mm2 respectively at 28 days.
Solid Concrete Block — Grade C
The solid concrete blocks are used as load bearing units and shall have a block density not less
than 1800 kg/m3. These shall be manufactured for minimum average compressive strength of 4.0
and 5.0 N/mm2 respectively
Materials of concrete Blocks as per IS: 2185(part1)-2005

1. Cement
When cement conforming to IS 269 is used, replacement of cement by fly ash conforming to IS 3812
(Part 1) may be permitted up to a limit of 25 percent. However, it shall be ensured that blending of fly
ash with cement is as intimate as possible, to achieve maximum uniformity.
2. Aggregates
The aggregates used in the manufacture of blocks at the mixer or the mixing platform shall be
clean and free from deleterious matter and shall conform to the requirements of IS 383.
3. Water
The water used in the manufacture of concrete masonry units shall be free from matter harmful to
concrete or reinforcement, or matter likely to cause efflorescence in the units and shall conform to the
requirements of IS 456.
4. Additives or Admixtures
Additives or admixtures may be added either as additives to the cement during manufacture, or as
admixtures to the concrete mix. Additives or admixtures used in the manufacture of concrete masonry
units may be:
a) Accelerating, water reducing, air-entraining and super plasticizer conforming to IS 9103,

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b) Waterproofing agents conforming to IS 2645,
and c) Colouring pigments.
Manufacturing process of concrete blocks
1. Selection and proportion of ingredients: The main criteria for the selection of the ingredients
are the desired strength of the block.
2. Mixing: The blending of cement, aggregates and water should be done very carefully. The
mixing should be done preferably in a mechanical mixer.
3. Placing and Vibration: The mixed concrete material is fed in to the mould box upto the top level
and ensures that it is evenly filled. The vibration of concrete is done till it has uniformly settled in
the mould.
4. Curing: The blocks are watered after about one day of casting and it is continued for a minimum
of 7 days and preferably till 28 days. The longer the curing period, the better will be the block.
Physical properties (Characteristics) of Concrete Blocks as per IS: 2185 (Part 1): 2005
1. Dimension
The nominal dimensions of concrete block shall be as follows:
Length: 400, 500 or 600 mm
Height: 200 or 100 mm
Width: 50, 75, 100, 150,200, 250 or 300 mm.
2. Water Absorption
The average water absorption of block is not more than 10% by weight.
3. Compressive Strength
Table 1.3: Compressive strength of blocks

4. Drying shrinkage

The drying shrinkage of the units when unrestrained being the average of three units, shall not exceed
0.06 percent.

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5. Moisture Movement
The moisture movement of the dried blocks on immersion in water, being the average of three units,
shall not exceed 0.09 percent.
Advantages of Concrete Blocks
1. Rapid Execution of Work
Hollow concrete block are of uniform and regular size and it has less weight. This facilitates rapid
execution of work.
2. Increase in Floor Area
It is possible to construct thin walls using hollow blocks. Therefore it helps to save space and increase floor
area.
3. Reduces Construction Cost
Hollow block helps in saving construction materials and therefore use of hollow block reduces construction
cost.
Use of larger size concrete block reduces number of joints in work and hence helps in saving mortar.
4. Better Insulation Properties
Hollow concrete block have good insulating properties against sound, heat and dampness.
5. More Durable
Hollow concrete block masonry can safely withstand the atmospheric action and it requires no
protective covering.
6. Employment of Unskilled Labour
Unskilled labour can also be employed in the construction of hollow concrete block masonry.
7. Good Bonding of Mortar & Plaster
Presence of rough surface on concrete blocks provides good bonding of mortar and plaster
5. Stabilized Mud Blocks
Stabilization of soil is the alteration of one (or) more properties of soil by mechanical (or) chemical
means to create improved soil possessing the densed engineering properties.
Soil may be stabilized to increase strength and during (or) to prevent erosion
There are two methods of soil stabilization

i) Mechanical
ii) Chemical (or) Additives

The most common form of mechanical soil stabilization is compaction of soil.

The addition of cement, lime, bituminous (or) other agents is referrers to as chemical (or) additive method
of soil stabilization.

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 The concept of stabilization

It is now well known that when soils are compacted using external agency the density of the
soil reaches a maximum value at a moisture content known as the optimum moisture content (OMC).
The value of OMC and the maximum density depends on energy input during compaction. It is also
easy to recognize that the comp strength of the soil, in the dry state depends on the density. Thus the
process of mechanical compaction can lead to densification and strengthening of the soil.

It now the soil can be stabilized against loss of strength during saturation. We can think of a
stabilized mud (soil) block when the stabilization is achieved by a combination of densification and
mixing of a stabilizing additive namely cement, lime and bitumen.

Raw Materials used for Manufacture of SMB

⮚ Soil consisting of clay, silt and sand is the basic raw material
⮚ It is preferred that clay should be non-expensive
⮚ Generally soil contains 10 to 15% clay and 65 to 70% and are satisfactory for making SMB
⮚ Cement is another raw material added to the tune of 6.0 to 8.0% by weight of the appropriate soil
for making cement stabilized mud blocks
⮚ If soil has a high clay content, sand (or) a sandy additive like quarry dust may be added to correct
the grading of soil
⮚ A combination of lime and cement can be used for non-expansive soil with clay content around
15% a cement proportion of 5% and lime proportion of 2% can be added for stabilization
⮚ Lime has the advantage of combining with clay in the soil and enhancing the long term durability
and strength

Manufacturing Process
The manufacturing process of SMB involves following steps
a. Sieve the soil in a 4mm sieve to remove stones and limps of clay
b. Mix sand (or) quarry dust to correct the clay sand percentages in the soil
c. Add cement (or) cement and lime in the appropriation proportion and mix them thoroughly in the
dry condition.
d. Sprinkle moisture on to the mixture and further mix thoroughly till the mixture is homogeneous
e. Test for optimum moisture by trying to make a ball of soil in the hand. If a ball can be made
without the soil sticking to the hand the moisture content is right
f. Weight the correct amount of moist soil such that a fresh block density of 2.05 gm/cc can be
achieved. The weight depends on the volume of the finished block density of 2.05 gm/cc may not
be feasible density like 2.0 gm/cc (or) 1.95 gm/cc may be attempted

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g. The weighed soil is now poured in to a soil compaction press.
h. The block is now pressed by operating the toggle after closing the lid. The lid may then be opened
and to block ejected by again using the lever.
i. The ejected block is then stacked in a five (or) six block high stack for curing
j. Sprinkling of moisture may be pursued up to 21 days to complete the block making process.

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 Fig: 1.13: Step by step procedure for preparation of SMB block

Strength of SMB Blocks:

● The SMB technology is well suited to produce a range of block strengths at the site
● As a rule a minimum wet comp strength of 3.0 Mpa is desirable for 2 storey house construction
● A cement content of 6 to 7% and a sand content of 65% and a clay content of 15% is usually
sufficient to achieve a min strength of 3.0 Mpa
● Using high % of cement, wet camp strength in the range of 4.0 to 7.. Mpa can be easily achieved.

Influence of cement content on comp strength

Composition: sand – 65%, silt 18%, clay 17%

Specimen: 76mm x 76mm x 76mm

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 Cement content Dry Comp strength Wet strength /
by Density
Dry Wet Dry strength
weight (%) gm/cc
2. 1. 4.54 0.
5 87 17
0.77
5. 1. 9.20 0.
0 89 32
2.91
7. 1. 11.6 0.
5 88 40
4.63
1 1. 15.0 0.
0 91 39
0 5.82
Advantages
Independence and availability: An important factor in favor of the mud is their independence and
abundance, availability and use of raw materials for community participation and use by unskilled
labor.
Shipping cost: Suitable soils are often available at or near the construction site. Adobe and SMB are
of similar weight, but distance from a source supply gives SMB an advantage. Also, SMB can be
made available in places where adobe manufacturing operations are non-existent.
Uniformity: SMB can be manufactured to a predictable size and has true flat sides and 90-degree
angle edges. This makes design and costing easier. This also provides the contractor the option of
making the exteriors look like conventional stucco houses.
Presses allow blocks to be consistently made of uniform size, while also obtaining strengths that
exceed the ASTM standard for concrete blocks (1900 psi).
Non-toxic: materials are completely natural, non-toxic, and do not out-gas
Sound resistant: an important feature in high-density neighborhoods, residential areas adjacent to
industrial zones
Fire resistant: earthen walls do not burn
Insect resistant: Insects are discouraged because the walls are solid and very dense, and have no food
value
In India, SMB's with cement stabilization have shown to be very beneficial. The observed
compressive strength, flexural strength at 28 days of aging with 9% cement stabilization has been
observed to be 3.2 MPa and 1 MPa respectively.
Disadvantages
Buildings that incorporate the use of clay are particularly vulnerable to deterioration and deserving of
care and maintenance. This of course depends greatly on the degree of stabilization and compaction
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of the material used and its original conditions. In walls of compressed earth and these weaknesses
are minimal while the maximum rise buildings using traditional adobe or not stabilized. Another
weakness is so far down the popularity it enjoys in the field of mechanization of industrial building
systems due to its excessive dependence on manual labor (―work intensive"), which tends to make
the services of its professional production.

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6. Lime Pozzolana Cement
It is a mixture of lime and pozzolana.

Raw materials for Lime Pozzolana Cement

1. Lime stone
⮚ The basic raw materials for all the lime based mortars in lime stone. Lime stone is essentially
calcium carbonates in nature. Calcium being one of the fairly abundant metals on earth. Natural
lime stone is one of the purer forms of calcium carbonates occurring in nature.
⮚ Calcium carbonates is mildly soluble in water and can sometimes be leached out of water and
ultimately deposited with clay as an impurity in the form of ‗Kankar‘ lime stone. There is also an
organic source of lime stone in the form of shell lime which is usually available in coastal areas.

Manufacturing process of lime

Fig 1.14: Lime Kiln

● The burning of lime stone to produce quick lime (CaO) is generally carried out in vertical kiln
using either fire wood or coal or fuel.
● Temperature of 9000 - 10000C are needed to release CO2 from lime stone.
● This 100kg of lime stone will yield 56kg of CaO.
● Again when quick lime is staked, 56kg of CaO will give rise to 74kg Ca (OH) 2.

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● Thus 1 tone of lime stone, when burnt will give 740kg Ca (OH) 2 if there are no impurities. The
proportion will be less if there are impurities.
● This lime kiln is designed for small scale rural applications.
● The height and diameter of kiln can be adjusted to burn 0.5 to 1.0 ton of limestone.
● 500kg kiln will need about 45% of fire wood by weight while, 1 ton of kiln will need about 35%
of fire wood by weight.
● The figure shows the manner in which firewood and limestone are stacked in alternative layers.
● The process of burning is started by igniting the lower most layer of fire mood from below.
● When the fire wood catches fire, the openings at the base are to be closed leaving 2.05cm dia
holes for air entry.
● The half-ton plant will have 3 holes and 1 ton plant will have 4 holes. These holes will control the
rate of wood burning and also will prevent entry of excess air.
● The kiln must have steel rings from bottom to the top to prevent cracking of the kiln due to heat.
● After the completion of burning process the quick lime (CaO) can be discharged by opening the
temporary closed holes at the base.
● The quick lime may now be slaked and the slaked lime is stored in suitable containers (or)
bags Burning of lime stone
CaCo3→CaO+CO2↑
Slaking of quick lime, CaO+H2O→Ca (OH) 2+heat
Setting of fat lime, Ca (OH)2+CO2→CaCO3+H2O

2. Pozzolona
Pozzolona is a material which consists of essentially of amorphous silica (or) a mixture of
amorphous silica and alumina. This is not cementitious by itself, but forms cementitious compound
when it combines with Ca (OH) 2 at ambient temperature in the presence of moisture.
A mixture if finely ground Ca (OH) 2 and pozzolona is known as lime pozzolona
cement. The following sources of pozzolona are commonly used
1. Powered burnt clay (commonly known as surkhi)
2. Fly ash
3. Rice husk ash
1. Powdered burnt clay
● This can be made either by artificially burning clay in a kiln (or) by wastes of burnt clay
materials like brick, tiles and pottery.
● When clay is burnt in a kiln for the purpose of making pozzolona, it is desirable to select a soil
with a high proportion of clay.

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● If the clay occurs with large amount of sand, the sand may be removed by sieving to obtain high
clay soil. This is necessary since sand is a diluent and does not react with lime in the manner in
which the pozzolona does.
● The high clay soil may now be made in to thin briquettes. The wet clay may be spread on level
ground to a thickness of 2.5cm and these sliced into the cakes of 10cmx10cmx2.5cm. Cakes are
dried and then charged into the kiln with alternative layers of firewood.
● The amount of fire wood used could be around 10% of the weight of the clay with a temperature
of about 700C
● The burnt clay now be pulverized to about 90µ size particles ball mills are used for this purpose.

2. Fly ash
● This is obtained from the thermal power plant which and pulverized coal as fuel.
● The exceedingly fine particles of burnt coal which are collect in electrostatic precipitation are
known as fly ash.
● Fly ash contains significant amount of amorphous silica and alumina.
● Thermal power plant produces significant amount of coal ash in the form of pond ash and
bottom ash. These types of ashes are generally not good Pozzolana.
● Fly ash is a waste product and can be considered as zero thermal energy.
3. Rice Husk Ask
● Rice husk ash is a natural source of silica
● It contains 20% silica and rest of its combustible material. This silica is amorphous and if the
husk is burnt under controlled condition a high pozzolana can be produced.
● The technique developed by yoganand et.al, burn rice husk is an annular honey comb brick as
shown in fig. 3.2. Brick structure is created and closely spaced mesh is placed at a height of
20cm above the ground alternative layers of rice husk and clay were placed in a kiln such that
husk is about 30 to 40% by weight of clay. The width of clay layer should be about 15cm less
than width of rice husk to permit easy air movement through the bed of husk.
● The stack is now set fire from below. The entire mass burns over one or two days. The end
product is mixture of burnt clay and rice husk ash. This may be ground in ball mill to obtain fine
pozzolona.

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 Fig 1.15: Honeycomb Kiln for combination pozzolana

Lime Pozzolana cement

An intimate mixture of lime and Pozzolana well set in presence of water forming calcium silicate and
calcium aluminate compounds.
The efficiency of the lime Pozzolana cement depends on the intimacy of the mixing of lime and
Pozzolana experiments conducted by researchers showed that by integrating lime and Pozzolana
power for an hour, the strength of lime Pozzolana sand mortar can be increased to double the value.
Two alternative techniques have been explored at the department of civil engineering IISC Bangalore
they are,
1. Dry blending of lime and Pozzolana
2. Wet blending of lime and
Pozzolana Manufacture process

1. Dry blending
● The slaked lime and Pozzolana should be separated processed as dry powders.
● The Pozzolana may be dried and ground to fineness of 90µ.
● The two powders may now be blend in a ball mill for a duration of about 1hr.
● In this technique, the size reduction of lime and Pozzolana is carried out first and then the mixing
of two is carried out subsequently.
● This mixture is then added to sand and after through dry mixing water is added to complete the
preparation of mortar.
● This procedure also means that the dry mixture of lime and Pozzolana have to be stored in bags.
● It was found that lime and Pozzolana mixture will lose strength rapidly on storage.
● Storage in gunny bags or woven LDPE bags is especially bad for shelf life.
● When stored in such bags the 21 days strength shows a 60% reduction after 45 days of storage
wherever when stored in impervious plastics (or) paper bags the strength fall is about 35% after
45 days of store.

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● The residual moisture present in the lime (or) Pozzolana will initiate reaction b/w the two even
when stored in dry condition.
● It is important to note that the blending dry mixture of lime and Pozzolana should not be stored
for more than 14 days if the strength reduction is to be less than 10%.
2. Wet blending
● The Pozzolana has to be produced and ground to 90µ fineness and stored in gunny (or) woven
LDPE bags.
● The Pozzolana can be stored in definitely.
● Slaked lime and freshly produced by slaking quick lime at the site.
● The slaked lime and freshly produced by slaking quick lime at the site.
● The slaked lime and well ground Pozzolana may now be mixed in a simple drum (or) hand
operated concrete mixer in the presence of water.
● After blending the two for 80 min the lime-Pozzolana slurry may be poured over sand mixed
thoroughly to get the lime Pozzolana mortar.

7. Gypsum Board
Gypsum Board is one of the widely used construction materials mainly in interior design works. The
Gypsum board consists of a core of set gypsum surfaced with specifically manufactured paper firmly
bonded to the core.The basis of all gypsum board products is gypsum, but the surface can be wrapped
in various materials, including paper and fiberglass matting
Gypsum wall board, also known as drywall, or plasterboard is a plaster-based wall finish that is
available in a variety of standard sizes; 4 ft wide by 8 ft high is the most common.
Gypsum is a soft sulphate mineral composed of calcium sulphate dehydrate with the chemical
formulae CaSO4. 2H2O. colourless to white in colour
Properties of Gypsum Board
1. Gypsum is Fire-Resistant
Gypsum boards are fire resistant and safeguard the structure from fire threats by preventing the fire
from spreading further. Due to chemically bound water in the gypsum, it possesses a fire-resistant
quality. When gypsum boards are exposed to fire, the water contained within the gypsum evaporates,
forming a protective layer.
2. Thermal Properties of Gypsum
Gypsum can regulate variables such as humidity and temperature in the home. The insulating
characteristics of gypsum plasterboard or formwork used in buildings are improved.

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3. Acoustic Property of Gypsum
Sound isolation is prioritized in the design of gypsum materials. Other methods, such as masonry,
would work well, as it is commonly used in a thicker thickness and is no less demanding than
gypsum. Gypsum plasterboard is designed to absorb sound and reduce reverberation.
4. Non-combustible Property of Gypsum
The heating of gypsum products causes the water crystals in the gypsum material to heat up.
Calcinations is the process of dehydrating gypsum with heat. Calcinations creates a protective layer
over the components, preventing them from combusting and allowing the materials around them to
retain a lower, safer temperature.
Manufacturing process of gypsum board

Fig 1.16: Manufacturing process of gypsum board

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 Types of Gypsum Board
1. Fire Resistant Gypsum Boards
2. Water Resistant Gypsum Boards
3. Backing Gypsum Board.
4. Dry wall Gypsum Board.
Advantages of Gypsum Board
▪ Gypsum is also used in plaster to provide a smooth, crack-free surface. Gypsum boards give a
smooth, continuous surface to which you can apply paint directly.
▪ Gypsum has the property of balancing the building‘s indoor temperature and humidity. Gypsum
is a low-emission building material that provides excellent thermal and acoustic insulation.
▪ The use of gypsum goods within the budget boosts the creativity of architects. It offers a wide
range of attractive design options.
▪ The gypsum products are simple to install and do not necessitate the use of trained staff. The
installation is simple, clean, and quick.

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 8. Fibre Reinforced Cement Composites
Definition

Fibre reinforced cement composite is a two-phase material consisting of a matrix which is

reinforced with randomly oriented small diameter fibre to improve the mechanical properties of
the matrix.

Materials
1. Matrix or Concrete
The matrix can be any of the following;
(i) Cement
(ii) Cement with additives such as soil, fly ash or condensed silica fume.
(iii) Coarse and fine aggregate
(iv) Water
(v) Admixtures
● Water is added to the concrete mix for hydration of cement for moulding of the concrete to the
desired shape. It is very well established that the compressive strength of the concrete depends on
the water-cement ratio in the mix.
● Even though water-cement ratio of 0.28 is sufficient for the hydration process, to obtain a plastic
workable mixture, a minimum water-cement ratio of 0.6 is needed.
● Addition of fibre to the concrete reduced its workability. In order to keep the water-cement ratio
within reasonable limits of not affecting the compressive strength but to still achieve workability,
water reducing admixtures have become an integral part of fibre reinforced composites.
● In addition to water reducing mixtures, mineral admixtures like fly ash and silica fume are also
added to the matrix.
● Fly ash is used to improve the workability, reduce the heat of hydration, to improve economy and
enhance permeability characteristics of the matrix.
● Silica fume is added mainly to achieve high strength matrix. Shotcrete application such as tunnel
lining, addition of silica fume is found to reduce rebound.

2. Reinforced Material
The reinforcement is in the form of short fibres of small diameter distributed throughout the matrix.
The fibres can be broadly classified as;
1. Metallic fibres
2. Polymeric fibres
3. Mineral fibres
4. Natural fibres

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5. Carbon fibres
1. Metallic Fibres
● Metallic fibres are either made out of carbon steel or stainless steel.
● The tensile strength ranges from 345MPa to 1380MPa.
● The modulus of elasticity is 200MPa.
● The fibre cross section may be circular, rectangular, scent-shaped or irregular.
● Most common steel fibres are round in cross-section with a diameter ranging from 0.4mm to
0.8mm and a length ranging from 25mm to 60mm.
● Their aspect ratio of length to diameter or equivalent diameter is generally less than 100 with a
common range of 40 to 80.
● Round and straight steel fibres are produced by cutting into small piece thin wires. In order to
improve the bond, the fibres have been indented, crimped, hooked at the end and enlarged at the
ends. Fibres with crimped or hooked ends are also available in collated form.

Fig 1.17: Shapes of fibres

2. Polymeric fibres
● Polymeric fibres are by-products of petro chemical and textile industries.
● The fibres types that have been explored for use of cement-based matrices are acrylic, aramid,
nylon, polyester, polyethylene and polypropylene. Even through these fibres have reasonably
high tensile strength; the modulus of elasticity of most of them is quite low (except for aramid).
● Fibre that contains least 85% by weight of ucrylonitrile is classified as acrylic fibres.
● Nylon was the one of the first of the polymer fibres to be included in cement based matrices.
However when used in small volumes (<1% volume fraction of composite) it has been found to
reduce the flexural strength of the composite.
● Compared with other polymeric fibre, aramid fibres have higher tensile strength and modulus of
elasticity and hence they are enhancing the mechanical properties like tensile and bending
strength of the composite.
● The primary limitation for their concrete is their high cost compared to other fibres.

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3. Mineral Fibres
● Glass fibre is the predominately used mineral fibre.
● Glass fibres are silica based glass compounds that contain several metal oxides, which can be
tailored to manufacture different types of glass.
● It has very high tensile strength of 1020 to 4080 Mpa.
● These fibres have relatively high tensile strength and modulus of elasticity compared to polymeric
fibres. They are quit economical and hence are the most commonly used fibres are structural
applications.
● In the initial stages borosilicate glass fibres (E-glass) and soda-lime-silica glass fibres (A-glass)
were employed to reinforce cement based composites.
● Since both E-glass and A-glass fibres were found to loose their strength property in the alkaline
environment of cement based composites (pH≥12.5), the need for alkali resistant fibres resulted in
the development of alkaline-resistant glass (AR-glass) fibres.
4. Natural fibres:
● Since in many parts of the world man-made fibres like steel or polymeric fibres are not available,
attempts have been made to incomplete naturally occurring fibres extracted from plants in cement
based composites.
● A unique aspect of these fibres is the low energy needed for their extraction.
● A major problem in the use of these fibres in cement/concrete matrix is that they distegrate in the
alkaline environmental and hence durability of the composite is a matter of concern.
● Since these fibres are economical, attempts have been made to overcome the problem of
durablitiy either by use of admixture in concrete to reduce its alkalinity or by protecting fibres by
some special treatment.
● Some of the natural fibres used in Portland cement composite are akwara, bamboo, coconut
(coir), jute, sisal, sugarcane bagasse, and wood and elephant grass.
● Even though these fibres are sufficiently strong in tension their modulus of elasticity is quite low.
● Akwara fibre is extracted from a vegetable plant stem, which is grown in large quantities in
Nigeria.
● They are found to be durable in the alkaline environmental and dimensionally stable under
alternate wetting and drying condition. Bamboo fibres have a tendency to absorb water which
adversely affected the bonding between fibre and the matrix during the cutting stage.
● Fibres extracted from coconut are called as coir. Coir fibres are short in length and are found to
be sensitive to moisture changes.

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● Elephant grass fibres are extracted from elephant grass stems which grown up to be height of 3m.
The stems are packed with tough sharp fibres bonded together with lignin. Extraction of the fibres
is difficult but they are stable under varying moisture conditions and alkali resistant.
● Wood fibres constitute a major portion of natural fibre used in concrete. These fibres have tensile
high strength and young‘s modulus and the process of extraction is very well developed.
● The process of extracting fibres from wood is called pulping and the process can be mechanical,
chemical or semi chemical. The primary constituents of wood are cellulose, hemicelluiose and
ligmin.
● The quality if fibres in terms of been of its strength depend on the extent to which lignin has been
removed from wood, as lignin has adverse effect on the strength of the fibres.
● Totally delignified fibres has reported to have tensile strength as high as 200mpa, wheras the
strength of fibres in which lignin has not been removed at all is about 500Mpa.
● Removal of lignin reduces the amount of fibre extracted and hence lignin free fibres are
expensive.
5. Carbon fibres
● Carbon fibres are the most expensive of all the fibres discussed till now.
● This is due to the increased cost of their manufacturing process as well as the increased cost of
increased cost of raw materials required for their manufacture.
● Carbon fibres have high strength and modulus comparable to that of steel fibres.
● They are relatively inert to alkaline environment and their specific gravity is about 1.9
● Hence they are used to make special products requiring high tensile and flexural strength and
light in weight.
● Current manufacturing technologies use polacylonotrile (PAN), rayon (regenerated cellulose) and
pitch as starting materials.
● PAN based carbon fibres have good properties but are high in cost.
● Pitch based carbon fibres are more economical but their mechanical properties are poorer than
PAN based carbon fibres but still higher than polymeric and natural fibres.
● PAN based carbon fibres have a modulus and tensile strength of 300Gpa and 5200Mpa
respectively, whereas pitch based carbon fibres have a modulus and strength of 160 Gpa and 1400
Mpa respectively.

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 Table 1.4: Physical properties of different types of fibres

Application

● Application of FRC can be broadly divided into two categories as those involving site produced
concrete and those concerned with precast products.
● Under site produced concrete FRC has been used in highway and airfield pavement, industrial
flooring, blast resistance structure, hydraulic structures such as slice ways and spillway which
have to resist cavitation, erosion and impact damage and tunnel lining.
● Steel fibre reinforced concrete has also been used resist shear in RCC beams particularly to
decongest to conventional steel reinforcement in beam column joints.
● Under precast application, steel fibre reinforced concrete has been used for producing manhole
covers, precast slabs for structural application, pipes and refractories to resist thermal and
mechanical shocks.
● FRC with polymeric fibres has been used in precast cladding panels for buildings.

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 9. Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites

Introduction
● The need for materials that are strong, lightweight, corrosion and chemical resistant and
permeable to electromagnetic radiations has led to the advent of fibre Reinforced (FRP)
composites.
● In the initial years FRP composites where predominantly used in aerospace applications, but in
the last two decades civil or structural engineers and architects have realize the potential of FRP
composites in building industry.
● In view of good flow characteristics of the polymer, it is used as matrix enables incorporation of
large volume (up to 70%) of Reinforcing fibres in the composite.
This has resulted in the development of a large member of products using FRP composites.
Definition
The fibre-reinforced polymer composite is a two phase material consisting of polymer matrix
reinforced with small diameters fibres, which are either continuous or discontinuous and oriented
unidirectional or randomly.
Materials

1. Matrix

Polymer is a matrix used in a composite which performs the following functions.

i. It glues the bundles of fibres together and helps in distributing the external load to all the fibres.
ii. It protects the fibres from adverse environmental effects and prevents the buckling of fibres
under compressive forces and
iii. It protects the fibres from mechanical abrasion. Polymers, also called as resins are employed as
matrix in FRP composites.
The polymers are classified into two types viz. thermo set polymers and thermoplastic polymers.
Polymers (in Greek: poly+ meros meaning many parts) are large organic compounds formed by the
joining together of many small molecules to form a large molecule by a process called as
polymerization. The simple compounds from which polymers are made are called as monomers. Both
thermo set and thermoplastic polymers are long chained molecules.
The polymers in which their long molecules chains are interconnected with chemical bond or
cross link forming a rigid three-dimensional structure are called as thermo set polymers.
In the case of thermoplastic polymers their long molecules chains are not chemically
interconnected and are held in place by weak secondary bonds like vander walls bonds.
Thermoplastics are solids, which have to be melted by heating, molded to the desired shape and
cooled.

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Thermosets are generally liquid resins, which are heat activates (or cured) to achieve cross-linking of
the molecular chains.
The polymer matrix used are
Polyester Resins
Vinyl Ester Resins
Epoxy resins.
Filler and other additives
Fillers are added to t polymeric matrices for one or more of the fallowing reasons.
1. Reduce cost.
2. Increase stiffness (modulus).
3. Reduce mold shrinkage.
4. Control viscosity.
5. Produce smoother surface.
2. Reinforcing Fibres
Reinforcements in the form of fibres, particles or whiskers are used with resin systems to improve the
mechanical properties of the resins and to produce usable products.
By far the most important fibre used with polyester and epoxy resins is glass fibre which is available
in a variety of forms like rovings, woven rovings, cloths and random chopped fibre mats.
In recent years high strength carbon fibre and polyaramid fibres have found increasing use in the
manufacture of composite materials for a variety of applications.
Natural fibres such as jute and sisal have also been used to reinforce thermosetting resin.
Manufacturing Process

The mechanical properties of the FRP composite depend on the following:

1. Method of manufacture.
2. Type of fibre used.
3. Relative properties of polymer and fibre.
4. Orientation of the fibre in the composite.
There are a number of techniques for the manufacture of FRP composites. These techniques can
be grouped into two categories namely manual methods and automated methods. Composites
processed using manual methods will have lower values of strength and stiffness than the ones
processed by automated methods. All the manufacturing processes of a composite can be divided into
fallowing stages or operations;
1. Mixing of resin and activator.
2. Dispensing the resin into mould.
3. Curing.
4. Positioning of the reinforcement in the mould.
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5. Impregnating the reinforcement with the resin.
The different methods employed in the manufacture of FRP composites are briefly described below:
Hand Lay-up

Fig 1.18: Hand lay-up

● This is the simplest composite fabrication method.
● It involves in placing fibre- reinforcing mats in the open mould of desired shape and applying the
resin to the reinforcement by pouring, brushing or spraying.
● At times reinforcement mats pre-impregnated with the resin may also be used.
● A ribbed metal roller is used to consolidate the laminate and fully impregnate the reinforcement.
● This method involves a lot of manual labor with minimum investment on equipment and has low
rate of production.
● Due to the presence of entrapped air between the layers, which cannot be completely avoided, the
composite manufactured by this method will have variability in the mechanical properties.
Spray-up

Fig 1.19: Spray up

● In this method reinforcement bundles called as roving‘s are fed through a chopper, which cuts the
fibres into smaller pieces.
● The chopped fibres along with the resin systems are sprayed directly on to an open mould.
● Spray up is a highly productive process, but control of fibre distribution and thickness of the

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 Filament Winding

Fig 1.20: Filament Winding

● In this method continuous strands or roving‘s of reinforcement are passed through a bath of
activated resin and then wound on to a rotating mandrel as shown in fig.
● The roving delivery system called the feed eye reciprocates along the length of mandrel and its
speed of movement can be controlled relative to the rotation of the mandrel to give the required
fibre orientation in the composite.
● After appropriate layers are applied, the composite wound round the mandrel.

Pultrusion

Fig 1.21: Pultrusion

● This is a continuous method for moulding composites with prismatic cross section.
● In this method continuous roving are passed through a resin bath and then draw through a heated
die.
● The die controls the cross sectional shape of the composite.
● This process yield continuous length of material with unidirectional strength as well as high
reinforcement to resin ratio.
Table 1.5: Typical mechanical properties of glass fibre composites manufactured by different
methods

Method of Tensile Tensile Flexura Flexura

Manufactu streng Modul l l
re th us streng Modul
(MP (GPa th us
a) ) (MP (GPa
a) )
Hand lay-up 62-344 4-31 110-550 6-28
Spray up 35-124 6-12 83-90 5-9
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Filament Winding 550- 30-50 690- 34-48
1380 1725
Pultrusion 275- 21-41 517- 21-41
1240 1448

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Application

● FRP composites have found application in various branches of engineering and technology.
● During the initial years it was predominantly used in aerospace structure due its light weight and
high strength where cost was not the governing factors.
● With the passage of lime its application spread to other areas of engineering like mechanical,
automobile, chemical, marine and civil engineering.
● Due to its corrosion resistant property it is used in chemical industries.
● It is also used in making sports equipment like tennis racket, fishing and pole-vaulting rods and
baseball bats.
● It is also used in biomedical engineering for making prosthesis.
● Pultruded FRP rods have been used as reinforced in concrete.
● FRP sheet have also been used for repair and retrofit of concrete structures.
● FRP composites will find newer application in future in all spheres of life.

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