Civil Engineering Materials

Moisture in Timber  Equilibrium Moisture Content  Timber is hygroscopic, that is it will absorb moisture from the atmosphere if it is dry and correspondingly yield moisture to the atmosphere when wet, thereby attaining a moisture content that is in equilibrium with the water vapour pressure of the surrounding atmosphere. Thus, for any combination of vapour […]

During the introduction of FRP composites into the building and construction industry in the 1970s glass fibres were used in a polyester matrix as a construction material. Skeletal frames constructed from reinforced concrete (RC) or steel columns and beams were in-filled with non-load-bearing or semi-load-bearing GFRP panels manufactured by the wet lay-up process or by

Component Materials of FRC FIBRE Almost every imaginable type of fibre has been used at some time or another with cement or concrete. The most commercially significant types are described below and their properties are summarised in Table 1. Here we focus on the properties particularly relevant to FRC. Polymer fibres Polymer fibres have been

FRC Reinforcement Layouts The manner in which fibres are distributed throughout an FRC component is determined largely by the manufacturing method. As with FRP, choosing the correct fibre layout or fibre architecture for a given loading case is crucial in order that the fibre can be used most efficiently. There are two key parameters: fibre

Manufacturing of FRC Cast premix By mass of FRC produced, casting of premixed FRC is probably the most common method, especially for secondary or tertiary FRC. Fibres are normally supplied in ‘pre-batched’ bags, with each bag suitable for direct addition to one cubic meter of concrete to provide the correct volume fraction Vf . Steel

Durability of FRC Combining a continuously hydrating, highly alkaline matrix with a wide variety of types, shapes and sizes of reinforcing fibres will lead to complex, time-dependent fibre–matrix interactions. These interactions lead to the engineering properties of most FRC varying markedly with time. This was recognised by even the earliest modern FRC researchers, so the

Structure of Timber Structure of timber at macroscopic level The trunk of a tree has three physical functions to perform: firstly, it must support the crown, a region responsible for the production not only of food, but also of seed; secondly, it must conduct the mineral solutions absorbed by the roots upwards to the crown;