Habitat of fiber reinforced concrete

After thirty years of expanding research and development, fiber reinforced concrete is increasingly making inroads into commercial application. Although the term fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) is used generically, the name actually represents a great diversity of formulations achieved by altering the fiber component as well as the matrix, i.e., the concrete component. This paper discusses the use of synthetic fiber in composite with cellular concrete as a new formulation and as applied to housing construction. The system is being applied to the construction of new single-family homes in cooperation with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami. The fiber reinforced cellular concrete panels evaluated in this study were found to perform in a way which is ideally suited to residential construction in the limited testing that has been accomplished. This is especially true where wind storm and home energy conservation are important design criteria.