Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete as a Durable and Enhanced Material for Structural and Architectural Elements in Smart City—A Review

Abstract

The article highlights that glass fiber reinforced concretes (GFRC) can meet the requirements of Smart City better than ordinary concretes. The comprehensive discussion on GFRC composition is presented together with the review of glass fibers’ influence on various concrete properties. First of all, because of their bridging abilities, they can limit the width, length, and total area of cracks. Additionally, GFRC are characterized by enhanced tensile, flexural, and splitting strength; impact, abrasion, spalling, fire, and freeze-thaw resistance as well as ductility, toughness, and permeability. All of this positively influences the mechanical behavior, durability, and corrosion resistance of concrete elements. Moreover, decreased thermal conductivity allows for better energy performance from the building’s point of view. This results in cheaper structures both in manufacturing and maintaining even though GFRC are more expensive materials. However, mechanical properties enhance as long as sufficient workability and uniform fiber distribution are assured. From the environmental point of view, GFRC are eco-friendlier materials than ordinary concretes since their application can decrease the emission of CO2 by 17%. The article also describes the GFRC application fields and emphasizes the possibility of the creation of not only structural elements mainly intended for load transferring but also elements accompanying the building process, as well as elements of small architecture that make public spaces more attractive, durable, and safer. Owing to greater design and shaping freedom, GFRC can also better fulfill the needs of habitants of Smart City.

Glass Fibers Reinforced Concrete: Overview on Mechanical, Durability and Microstructure Analysis

“…Both in structural materials, and items associated with the construction process. In addition, modest architectural features, are being manufactured with GF to create more appealing, durable, and safer public places [ 104 ]. Glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene composites are becoming more popular in the automobile sector due to their good mechanical qualities, ease of fabrication, lightweight, and low cost [ 101 ].…”

Compressive and flexural behavior of glass fiber-reinforced concrete

“…Hybrid reinforcement and reinforcement of different sizes and levels are increasingly used, for example, in modern composite materials and concretes, ranging from nanoscale reinforcement [8][9][10][11][12] to macroscale reinforcement [13][14][15]. Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) [16][17][18] is developed by adding reinforcement to the concrete in form of fibers with different materials [19][20][21][22] and forms [23,24]. Short fibers can easily penetrate into concrete while mixing and these are added as a reinforcement so that the fibers will distribute throughout the concrete [25,26] and increases its load bearing capacity.…”

The Influence of Fiber on the Mechanical Properties of Controllable Low-Strength Materials

“…Rosas M. et al [26] found that the addition of GF to concrete enhances the tensile and flexural strength of concrete. Several scholars [27][28][29] have also examined the impact of GF on concrete workability from various perspectives. Li Y. et al [30] explored the advantages of BF when used in concrete, focusing on the study of concrete durability.…”