1.

0 INTRODUCTION
Concrete pavements, often called rigid pavements, are made up of Portland cement concrete and
may or may not have a base course between the pavement and subgrade as shown in figure 1. A
pavement is the layered structure on which vehicles travel. It serves two purposes, namely, to
provide a comfortable and durable surface for vehicles, and to reduce stresses on underlying soils.
In India, the traditional system of bituminous pavements is widely used. Because Concrete has
some deficiencies as low tensile strength, low post cracking capacity, brittleness and low ductility,
limited fatigue life, not capable of accommodating large deformations, low impact strength.
Cement concrete is characterized by brittle failure, the nearly complete loss of loading capacity,
once failure is initiated. Within two to three decades the bituminous pavement would be a history
and required periodical maintenance. Now it is very essential to rethink of another material which
satisfies required facilities. More recently micro fibers, such as those used in traditional composite
materials have been introduced into the concrete mixture to increase its toughness, or ability to
resist crack growth. FRC is Portland cement concrete reinforced with more or less randomly
distributed fibers. In FRC, thousands of small fibers are dispersed and distributed randomly in the
concrete during mixing, and thus improve concrete properties in all directions. The plain concrete
structure cracks into two pieces when the structure is subjected to the peak tensile load and cannot
withstand further load or deformation. The fiber reinforced concrete structure cracks at the same
peak tensile load, but does not separate and can maintain a load to very large deformations. Fibers
help to improve the post peak ductility performance, pre-crack tensile strength, fatigue strength,
impact strength and eliminate temperature and shrinkage cracks. FRC satisfies two of the much
demanded requirements of pavement material in India, economy and reduced pollution. It also has
several other advantages like longer life, low maintenance cost, fuel efficiency, good riding
quality, increased load carrying capacity and impermeability to water over flexible pavements. [2]

1.1 Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC)

Polymeric fibers are gaining popularity because of its properties like zero risk of corrosion and
cost effectiveness. The polymeric fibers commonly used are polyester, Recron 3s, and
polypropylene. Various forms of recycled fibers like plastic, disposed tires, carpet waste and
wastes from textile industry, and FortaEcono net, can also be used as fiber reinforcements. These
fibers act as crack arresters, restricting the development of cracks and thus transforming a brittle
material into a strong composite with superior crack resistance, improved ductility and distinctive
post cracking behavior prior to failure [4].

1.2 Polypropylene fibers

Polypropylene fibers as shown in fig 3 are new generation chemical fibers. They are manufactured
in large scale and have fourth largest volume in production after polyesters, polyamides and
acrylics. About 4 million tonnes of polypropylene fibers are produced in the world in a year.
Polypropylene fibers were first suggested for use in 1965 as an admixture in concrete for
construction of blast resistant buildings meant for the US Corps of Engineers. Subsequently, the
polypropylene fiber has been improved further and is now used as short discontinuous fibrillated
material for production of fiber reinforced concrete or as a continuous mat for production of thin
sheet components. Further, the application of these fibers in construction increased largely because
addition of fibers in concrete improves the tensile strength, flexural strength, toughness, impact
strength and also failure mode of concrete. These fibers are manufactured using conventional melt
spinning. Polypropylene fibers are thermo plastics produced from Propylene gas. Propylene gas is
obtained from the petroleum by products or cracking of natural gas feed stocks. Propylene
polymerizes to form long polymer chain under high temperature and pressure. However,
polypropylene fibers with controlled configurations of molecules can be made only using special
catalysts. Polypropylene fibers were formerly known as Steal the,. These are micro reinforcement
fibers and are 100% virgin homopolymer polypropylene graded monofilament fibers. They contain
no reprocessed Olifin materials. The raw material of polypropylene is derived from monomeric
C3H6 which is purely a hydrocarbon. For effective performance, the recommended dosage rate of
polypropylene fibers is 0.9 kg/m3, approximately 0.1% by volume. Monofilament polypropylene
fibers can be used in much lower content than steel fibers [5]. Concrete pavements may be weak
in tension and against impact, but PFRC is a suitable material which may be used for cement
concrete pavement as it possesses extra strength in flexural fatigue and impact etc. The usage of
fibers in combination with concrete also results in a mix with improved early resistance to plastic
shrinkage cracking and thereby protects the concrete from drying shrinkage cracks. It
accomplishes improved durability and reduced surface water permeability of concrete. It reduces
the risk of plastic settlement cracking over rebar. It enables easier and smoother finishing. It also
helps to achieve reduced bleeding of water to surface during concrete placement, which inhibits
the migration of cement and sand to the surface and the benefits of the above will be harder, more
durable surface with better abrasion resistance. A uniform distribution of fibers throughout the
concrete improves the homogeneity of the concrete matrix. It also facilitates reduced water
absorption, greater impact resistance, enhanced flexural strength and tensile strength of concrete.
[4]. The use of polymer fibers with concrete has been recognized by the Bureau of Indian Standards
(BIS) and Indian Road Congress and is included in the following Standard documents:
 IS:456:2000 – Amendment No.7, 2007
 IRC:44-2008 – Cement Concrete Mix Designs for Pavements with fibers
 IRC:SP:76:2008 – Guidelines for Ultra Thin White Topping with fibers
 Vision: 2021 by Ministry of Surface Transport, New Delhi.

Advantaged and Disadvantages of PPFRC

Advantages:
1) Water logging is a major reason for potholes in roads. WBM and Asphalt roads are permeable
to water which damages the road and sub grade. But PFRC roads are highly impermeable to water
so they will not allow water logging and water being coming out on surface from sub grade.
2) Implementation of sensors in roads will be easier while using polymer fibers for concrete.
3) Environmental load of PFRC pavement was found to be significantly lower than the steel fiber
reinforced pavement.
4) Maintenance activities related to steel corrosion will be reduced while using PFRC.
5) In fresh concrete polymer fibers reduces the settlement of aggregate particles from pavement
surface resulting in an impermeable and more durable, skid resistant pavement.
6) Fibers reduce plastic shrinkage and substance cracking. Fibers also provide residual strength
after cracking occurred.
7) The use of PFRC produces concrete of improved abrasion resistance and impact resistance.
8) PFRC also enhances ductile and flexural toughness of concrete.
9) The use of fibers in concrete can result in cement saving up to 10%and in the presence of fly
ash, savings may be up to 35%.
10) All these advantages result in overall improved durability of concrete.

Disadvantages:
1) The use of PFRC, being a relatively new technology poses a threat of a high initial
cost of construction.

Literature Review:
Fiber reinforced concrete was successfully used in variety of engineering applications, because of
its satisfactory and outstanding performance in the industry and construction field. However, most
of the engineers and researchers have think that how and why the fibers perform so successfully.
So, to recognize the usage of fibers in concrete, in these last four decades, most of the researches
were done on behavior of fiber reinforced concrete in pavements.

Md Zoheb1 Amaresh S Patil[6] has done the work on steel fiber Reinforced concrete
He analyse the rigid pavements reinforced with steel fibers for temperature stresses under
Static vehicular load using ANSYS software. He determines the temperature stresses for both
linear temperature gradient and non-linear temperature gradient. He also determines the
effect of slab length & slab thickness on curling stresses. Also to determine the critical
temperature stresses at various locations in pavement under Static loads. He has done the
work using Finite Element Software. In his project work the model is generated &
engineering analysis is carried out using ANSYS. & from his work he concluded that:
a) There is 2 to 5% increase in stresses yielded from Positive curling temperature
gradient & negative curling temperature gradient in steel fiber reinforced concrete,
when compared to conventional concrete.
b) The variation of length of slab does not influence the curling stresses distribution in both the
case of positive and negative temperature gradient for SFRC slab. The increment in stresses for
SFRC lies in the range of 20-41% when compared with those of conventional concrete.

Mohammed Maaz Salman1 Prof. Amaresh S Patil [7] has also done the work on
steel fibre reinforced rigid pavements are analyzed for stresses developed due to Moving
loads & temperature differentials. Comparison of curling stresses in SFRC with conventional
concrete is carried out. All the models are generated and analysis is carried out using the
ANSYS software. Parametric study for the effect of change in slab length & slab thickness of
pavements on curling stresses is also done. Curling stresses due to Linear &Non linear temperature
distribution in top & bottom layer of SFRC pavement slabs are also calculated.
Analysis results shows, SFRC develops more stresses as compared to conventional concrete &Non
linear temperature distribution develops more stresses than linear temperature distribution.
He reported that Positive curling temperature gradient & negative curling temperature gradient in
steel fibre reinforced concrete pavements yields 3 to 5 % higher stresses as compared to
conventional concrete pavements. He also reported that the variation of length of SFRC slab up to
8M does not influence the curling stresses in both the case of positive and negative temperature
gradient, thus confirming Westergaard’s finding that slab curling stresses are independent of slab
length. With increase in thickness or temperature (temperature gradient) in SFRC slab, curling
stresses in SFRC slab increases. Frictional stresses in steel fibre reinforced concrete
pavements calculated using ANSYS are almost similar to the stresses obtained for conventional
concrete pavements. For 1% to 3% percentages of steel fibres in concrete, Non-linear
temperature distribution causes 21.17% to 25.15% higher curling stresses in SFRC than the
linear temperature distribution. For moving loads in SFRC, maximum loading stress will be at
starting position of edge for both the speeds of 45kmph & 80kmph.

Constantia Achilleos Diofantos Hadjimitsis, Kyriacos Neocleous, Kypros Pilakoutas, Pavlos

O. Neophytou and Stelios Kallis[8] has reported that Steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) i.e
environmental and economical loadings of SFRC pavements. The innovative concept of the project
is the use of recycled steel tyre-cord wire as concrete fibre reinforcement, which provides
additional environmental benefits for tyre recycling over landfilling. Within the project framework
a demonstration of a steel-fibre-reinforced rollercompacted concrete (SFR-RCC) pavement was
constructed in a rural area in Cyprus. In order to assess the economical and environmental
picture of the demonstration pavement, life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) and life cycle assessment
(LCA) studies were undertaken, which also compared the under study pavement design with
four conventional alternatives. From their work they concluded that the proposed SFR-RCC
pavement design is well sustainable alternative to SFRC for use in road construction industry
both in economical and environmental terms. Given available design methodology, existing
laying and material production equipment, SFRRCC pavement may be the ideal new approach
in road construction. Further work can be done towards a more environmental and economical
pavement design. Most importantly, the life cycle studies showed that the steel fibre type and
dosage can greatly influence the environmental (emissions and energy consumption) and
economical indicators of concrete pavement layer. This is because the pavement layer depth,
required to support the traffic load, is affected by the mechanical properties of SFRC which in turn
are influenced by fibre type and dosage.

Rakesh Kumar, Pankaj Goel and Renu Mathur[9] has reported the work on addition of
polypropylene fiber discrete and fibrillated fibre on the properties of a paving grade concrete mix
of 48 MPa compressive strength at 28-day. Six concrete mixes with fiber dosages 0.05%, 0.10%
and 0.15% by volume fraction besides the control concrete mix were manufactured.
Discrete and fibrillated polypropylene fiber was used in his study. The properties such as
settlement, compressive strength, drying shrinkage, and abrasion resistance of the
concrete were evaluated. The study suggested a significant reduction in settlement and drying
shrinkage without significant change in compressive strength for the concrete mixes
reinforced with fiber.
The major conclusions that emerged from the experimental work are as: Fibrillated fiber is more
effective in reducing the settlement of concrete than multifilament fiber. However, it has lesser
effect on slump reduction than multifilament fiber at the same fiber content. There is no adverse
effect of the addition of multifilament and fibrillated fiber on 28-day compressive strength of
concrete. Fibrillated fiber performs better than multifilament fiber in controlling drying shrinkage
of concrete. Concrete containing fibrillated fiber performs similar to concrete containing
multifilament fiber in the development of abrasion resistance. Concrete reinforced with
polypropylene fibrillated fiber may be used in the construction of concrete pavements.

Jun Murakoshi1, Naoki Yanadori, and Hironori Ishii[10] has describes ongoing
studies about application of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) pavement for
existing orthotropic steel deck as a countermeasure for fatigue problems. In order to
evaluate durability of the pavement, strength tests and fatigue tests under negative bending
have been conducted using half meter size specimens taking into account of effects of
reinforcement in SFRC and influence of water. Researches on SFRC so far have been usually
conducted through experiments and fatigue test by several entities. PWRI’S research is mentioned
In order to establish the SFRC pavement as an anti-fatigue technology, followings are needed to
be evaluated. One is to confirm the improvements of fatigue performance of OSD, the second is
to evaluate SFRC’s durability, and third is to clarify whether any side-effects occur or not. Finally
they conclude that SFRC pavement is expected to reduce stress that is related to fatigue crack
initiation at the weld between trough ribs and deck plate. The effect has been confirmed both
in FE analysis using 3-D models and stress measurement using real size specimens. For
negative bending on SFRC, the effect of reinforcing bars and CFRP were tested in static
and fixed point cyclic loading tests. Increase of loads corresponding crack initiations and
decrease of crack width are not clear in the specimens using reinforcements, while small
differences are observed as to crack width in accordance with rigidities of Reinforcement. In
the case that a crack penetrated SFRC and water reached the interface between SFRC and
steel plate, decrease of tensile strength was observed. However, the decreased area was
limited to vicinity of the crack. Wheel running test showed that SFRC pavement maintained its
stress reduction effect through 2,000,000 times loading that caused positive bending in macrowise
on OSD. Another wheel running test focusing on negative bending is being prepared.

Rajarajeshwari B Vibhuti [11] studied the effect of addition of mono fibers and hybrid fibers
on the mechanical properties of concrete for pavements. Steel fibers of 1% and
polypropylene fibers 0.036% were added individually to the concrete mixture as mono
fibers and then they were added together to form a hybrid fiber reinforced concrete. Mechanical
properties such as compressive, split tensile and flexural strength were determined. The results
show that hybrid fibers improve the compressive strength marginally as compared to mono fibers.
Whereas, hybridization improves split tensile strength and flexural noticeably. She suggested
that the improved mechanical properties of HFRC would result in reduction of warping
stresses, short and long term cracking and reduction of slab thickness.

Ahmed Shalabyand Scott Murison[12 ] has presented the work on fiber reinforced
polymer concrete to transfer the loads across transverse joints and to prevent faulting, they
have use the Glass fiber-Reinforced polymers, GFRP as load transfer devices. In their
experimental program, two types of dowel construction are tested. The first type is a round
GFRP dowel bar having a 38-mm diameter and the second is a concrete-filled GFRP pipe
having a 60-mm outside diameter. Laboratory testing and a field implementation project were
carried out. The field test section was constructed on a regional highway in the city of
Winnipeg and involved three types of GFRP dowels in addition to epoxy-coated steel. Falling
Weight Deflectometer (FWD) testing was conducted after one year of service and showed
that GFRP dowels produced 30% higher deflections compared to steel. GFRP dowels are
comparable to those produced by steel dowels, providing that the diameter of the GFRP dowel is
20-30% larger than the steel dowel. The larger diameter results in a reduction in bearing
stresses which in turn reduces the potential for faulting.
Summary of literature review
From the above literature review it has been noted that a tremendous work has been
done on steel fiber reinforced concrete pavement. Such as use of steel fibers in
pavement for temperature stresses [6].Comparison of curling stresses in SFRC with
conventional concrete was carried out [7]. It has been also noted that some researchers has
used the recycled steel tyre-cord wire as concrete fiber reinforcement [8].The steel fiber
reinforced concrete for fatigue problems in pavement was also carried out [10]. Some
researchers has presented the work on use of Glass fiber-Reinforced polymers, GFRP as load
transfer devices[12].The effect of hybrid fibers on mechanical properties of concrete was also
seen[11]. But it is noted that no work was reported to understand the effect of
polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete in pavements.

References:
[1] Mohd. Imran Khan, “Mechanistic Analysis of Rigid Pavement for Wheel Load Stresses Using
Ansys”.
[2] K. Vamshi krishna1, J. Venkateswara Rao2 “Experimental study on behavior of fiber
reinforced concrete for rigid pavements”
[3] Westergaard, H.M., “Stresses in Concrete Pavements Computed by Theoretical Analysis”,
Public Roads, 7, 25 – 35 (1926).
[4] B. Vimalrajan and G. Manimaran“ polymer fiber pavements”.
[5] Dr.T.Ch.Madhavi, L.Swamy Raju, Deepak Mathur “polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete”
International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO
9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Special Issue 4, June 2014.
[6] Md Zoheb Amaresh S Patil “Analytical Study of Steel Fibre Reinforced Rigid Pavements under
Static Load” IJSRD – International Journal for Scientific Research & Development| Vol. 2, Issue
09, 2014 | ISSN (online): 2321-0613.
[7] Mohammed Maaz Salman Prof. Amaresh S Patil “Analytical Study of Steel Fibre
Reinforced Rigid Pavements Under Moving Load” IJSRD - International Journal for Scientific
Research & Development| Vol. 2, Issue 07, 2014 | ISSN (online): 2321-0613.
[8] Constantia Achilleos,*, Diofantos Hadjimitsis, Kyriacos Neocleous, Kypros Pilakoutas,
Pavlos O. Neophytou and Stelios Kallis “Proportioning of Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete Mixes
for Pavement Construction and Their Impact on Environment and Cost” 8 July 2011.
[9] Rakesh Kumar, Pankaj Goel and Renu Mathur “Suitability of Concrete Reinforced with
Synthetic Fiber for the Construction of Pavements” Rigid Pavements Division, Central Road
Research Institute, Delhi- Mathura Road, New Delhi - 110025, India.
[10] Jun Murakoshi, Naoki Yanadori, and Hironori Ishii “research on steel fiber reinforced
concrete pavement for orthotropic steel deck as a countermeasure for fatigue”.
[11] Rajarajeswari B vibhuti, Radha Krishna, “Mechnical properties of hybrid fiber reinforced
concrete for pavement” in IJRET, 2013.
[12] Ahmed Shalaby, Assistant Professor, and Scott Murison, Graduate Student “using
fiberreinforced polymer load transfer devices injointed concrete pavements”.