Control of Plastic Shrinkage Cracking of Concrete with Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Grids

Abstract

Five different configurations of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) grids were tested for the control of plastic shrinkage cracking of concrete using carbon FRP rods with two different spacings, two configurations of conventional steel wire meshes, and fiber reinforced concrete with two different fiber volume fractions. The experimental program followed the standard acceptance criteria test method for concrete with synthetic fibers. Test results showed that carbon FRP grids meet or exceed the acceptance criteria of minimum 40% reduction in shrinkage cracking of concrete. Introducing a crack reduction efficiency factor as the ratio of crack reduction to the equivalent area of steel reinforcement, carbon grids proved to be the most efficient type of reinforcement tested in this study.