Introduction
ous (chopped) lengths. GFRC has been used for the past 30 years to produce many concrete products, especially thin architectural cladding panels, but also for ornamental Glass fiber reinforced concrete, also known as GFRC or GRC, is a type of concrete such as domes, statues, planters, and fountains. Recently, decorative fiber-reinforced concrete. Glass fiber concretes are mainly used in exterior concrete artisans have discovered the benefits of GFRC for decorative panels building façade panels and as architectural precast concrete. Somewhat sim(such as fireplace surrounds), concrete countertops, and artificial rock work. ilar materials are fiber cement siding and cement boards.
0.1
GRC has been used for over 30 years in several construction elements, mainly GFRC is a specialized form of concrete with many applications. It can be nonstructural ones, like facade panels (about 80% of the GRC production), effectively used to createpiping for sanitation network systems, decorative nonrecoverable formwork etc. Façade wall panels Fireplace surrounds There is virtually no limit to the shape or profile that can be created in a vari Vanity tops ety of smooth, profiled or textural finishes. Moulds can be created to replicate Concrete countertops the most complex of profiles in restoration, renovation and new construction. Support systems can be adapted to meet the demand for unitised off site construction.
What is GFRC?
GFRC is similar to chopped fiberglass, although much weaker. It’s made by combining a mixture of fine sand, cement, polymer (usually an acrylic polymer), water, other admixtures and alkali-resistant glass fibers. Glass fiber-reinforced concrete consists of high-strength glass fiber embedded in a cementitious matrix. In this form, both fibers and matrix retain their physical and chemical identities, while offering a synergism: a combination of properties that cannot be achieved with either of the components acting alone. In general, fibers are the principal load-carrying members, while the surrounding matrix keeps them in the desired locations and orientation, acting as a load transfer medium between the fibers and protecting them from environmental damage. In fact, the fibers provide reinforcement for the matrix and other useful functions in fiber-reinforced composite materials. Glass fibers can be incorporated into a matrix either in continuous or discontinu-
Fig 1.1 GRC
Fig 1.2 Images
members being used as decorative railings thus reducing the overall weight of the structure
of Zaha Hadid’s Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre pre and post construction, using glass reinforced concrete as a cladding material