The purpose of this paper is to bring to the attention of the audience the numerous cases around the world that have substituted steel mesh and steel fibres for structural synthetic fibres as their reinforcement option in different types of tunnels.
The paper will explore the state of the art usage of structural synthetic fibres including, the characteristics of such fibres (the physical characteristics, the bond of the fibres to the cement matrix and the tensile properties, as well as how synthetic fibres function within the cracked matrix) and how they compare to traditional reinforcement options.
The way in which the performance of such fibres is determined, showing the different testing methods used, such as beam tests, EFNARC panels tests and RDP panels tests and what sort of performance can be expected, (joules of energy absorption or residual flexural energy resulting in an re3 number) will also be discussed.
#FRC #tunnel
