There
is more than 1 way of coming up with reinforced concrete. Concrete can either
be reinforced using fibres used in concrete or fiber. Both of them serve almost the exact same purpose of
strengthening your structure. The pre-stressed
concrete patent was first presented in Britain and it contained rods, cables, and other elongate reinforcing members.
A
mold made from these reinforcement materials is strong
and incase you think of bringing it down,
then you better think again. Historically, the concept of fiber came when
straws and horse hair were used in mud bricks. Later concrete was blended with
asbestos fibers in the early 1900s and by early
1950, thecomposite material came into
being and together with concrete, they built a very strong combination. The
reason why asbestos was stopped being used in fibre reinforced concrete was cited as being health related.
When
this happened there was aneed to come up
with another substance which was benign to take the place of asbestos. The
fibers which were invented at that time to replace asbestos are still being
used even today. The reason why fibers are used on concrete is to control
drying shrinkage cracking and plastic shrinkage cracking. Aside from that, the
bleeding of water has reduced the fibers
lowering the permeability of concrete. Some fibers are very aggressive, produce
greater impact, shatter resistance and abrasion in concrete.
This
isn't to say that you cannot use reinforced concrete and steel when you are
using fibers. This is because the fiber doesn't take the role of the Fibre in Concrete. There are instances
where some fibers are known to reduce the strength of concrete. This means that
when selecting fibers to be used on the concrete you need to be very careful.
This can only be possible if you do a whole lot of research and consultations.
Advisers from Construction Company are in a much better position to advise you on this issue. If you do not have
the chance to see them, you can visit the internet where you will also get the
chance to sample comments from other folks in your position.
Some
critics are quoted saying that Fibre in
Concrete has limited effect on the concrete material. If this is the case,
then it is much better to stick to the usual reinforcement steel other than
relying entirely on fibers. As previously stated, it all depends on the type of
fibers that you are using. So this means that there are still quality fibers
out there in the market.