ACI SP-319

Fiber reinforcement is the most effective way of improving the resistance of concrete to cracking, but little is known of the extent of the reduction of crack width with fiber.

The papers included in this special publication discuss the role of fiber reinforcement in reduction of crack width and lay the foundation for Life Cycle Engineering Analysis with fiber reinforced concrete.

Recognizing the reduction of crack width with fibers in cement-based materials, ACI Committee 544 Fiber Reinforced Concrete, together with 544F Fiber Reinforced Concrete Durability and Physical Properties sponsored two technical sessions entitled Reduction of crack width with fiber at the Fall 2016 ACI Convention in Philadelphia. Papers were presented by invited international experts from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.

This Symposium Publication (SP) contains eleven papers which provide insight on the state of the art of the topic in the academia, in the industry and in real life applications. The topics of the papers cover the reduction of crack widths in steel reinforced concrete bridge decks with fiber, 15 years of applying SFRC for crack control in design from theory to practice, the effectiveness of macro synthetic fibers to control cracking in composite metal decks, conventional and unconventional approaches for the evaluation of crack width in fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) structures, reduction of water inflow by controlling cracks in tunnel linings using fiber reinforcement, a review of Engineering Cementitious Composites (ECC) for improved crack-width control of FRC beams, tailoring a new restrained shrinkage test for fiber reinforced concrete, a model to predict the crack width of FRC members reinforced with longitudinal bars, a probabilistic explicit cracking model for analyzing the cracking process of FRC structures, toughening of cement composites with wollastonite sub micro-fibers and self healing of FRC: a new value of “crack width” based design. The papers included in this publication have been peer reviewed by international experts in the field according to the guidelines established by the American Concrete Institute.