Properties and advantages of concrete pavements reinforced with EKOMET steel fibres.

       Taking into consideration mechanical properties of concretes and cement mortars, their primary disadvantages arise from low bending tensile strength and brittleness. Thus, by the stretching of concrete elements many microcracks and microfractures appear, even before the concrete elements or constructions are weighed down with service loads. Under service loads, microcracks enlarge and merge together, which results in low tensile strength and contributes to brittleness and progressing destruction of concrete. As a consequence of cracks in concrete elements, their tightness and durability decreases.

       Dispersed fibrous reinforcement plays main role in providing cohesion between the structural elements of concrete. The presence of fibres considerably inhibits processes of developing microcracks in concrete, both during setting and curing phase as well as under service loads. It is therefore an effective method of improving mechanical properties of concretes and cement mortars by reducing, in particular, the above mentioned disadvantages. The presence of dispersed reinforcement makes it possible to improve significantly many mechanical and physical properties of concrete reinforced with steel fibres in comparison with concrete without fibres. Concrete pavements made with use of dispersed fibrous reinforcement are characterized by substantial increase of impact strength, bending fatigue strength, bending crack resistance and bending tensile strength.

        Reinforcing of pavements with EKOMET hooked fibre shows numerous advantages in relation to traditional method of reinforcing with grids made of steel rods. Composite concrete with steel fibres counteracts development of shrink cracks much more effectively, while maintaining good load transfer. Use of fibre-reinforced concrete contributes to substantial reduction of manufacturing costs of pavements, owing to lack of difficulties related to spreading and spacing steel grids. Composite concrete can be transported by concrete mixer trucks directly to a specific location at a building site, it can also be dispensed with use of concrete pumps.

       Pavements made of fibre-reinforced concretes produced by EKOMET have been in use in various buildings and structures, confirming good properties of dispersed fibrous reinforcement.