GFRC: recent uses and developments
Glass fiber reinforcement
applications are increasing
G lass fiber reinforced concrete, usually referred to as
GFRC, is made of a portland cement and aggregate
slurry reinforced with short glass fibers. GFRC is a com-
posite in which the reinforcement is randomly dispersed
throughout the material, thus differing from convention-
al reinforced concrete where steel is placed primarily in
tensile stress areas.
The fibers in GFRC help to stop cracks. Normally, when
a microcrack occurs in concrete, finding little resistance
in the brittle matrix, it travels quickly and causes a break.
In GFRC, howe ve r, when the first microcrack occurs, the
glass fibers pick up the load, thus preventing many cracks
from propagating. Consequently, GFRC does not fail
abruptly but yields gradually. Only when the fibers pull
out or break does the concrete finally fracture.
Figures 1, 2 and 3 show recent examples of how GFRC,
as permanent formwork, architectural concrete facing or
both, can be used to build new structures or renovate old
ones. Panels made of GFRC weigh substantially less than
conventional concrete panels, making them less costly to
transport and erect. Consequently, using GFRC as the skin
of new buildings allows construction to be lighter and
more economical. Using GFRC in renovation projects for
recladding minimizes the load added to the existing
structure.
When GFRC is mixed in batches as normal concrete
would be, the maximum fiber content possible is about 2
percent by volume. With the sprayup process, the fiber
content is generally 4 to 5 percent. Regardless, the flexur-
al strength of GFRC (which can be 2 to 3 times that of con-
Figure 1. For years, motorists driving along the Portway, a 2-
lane highway that runs along England’s Avon River, have had
to beware of falling rocks from the sheer cliff below the
Clifton Suspension Bridge. To protect travelers along this
Bristol-Avonmouth thoroughfare, a 49x295-foot canopy has
finally been constructed. However, with the road squeezed
between the rocky height of the Avon Gorge on one side and
the river Avon on the other side and with the need to
maintain traffic, the working area was highly restricted. In
order to ease construction, permanent concrete formwork
reinforced with alkali-resistant glass fibers was chosen.
Precast and delivered to the site ready for installation, these
GFRC form panels acted as a working deck for the
placement of reinforcing steel and as a protective skin for
the concrete.
 Polymer modified GFRC
The idea of using glass as a reinforcement for concrete
was first conceived in the 1930s, but its long-term dura-
bility was, for several years, quite suspect. Alkaline crys-
tals were found to form in the hollow spaces between the
glass fiber filaments, causing a loss in ductility and thus
a loss in strength. As a result, the use of glass fiber rein-
forced concrete did not become practical until the de-
velopment of a special alkali-resistant glass about 10
years ago. As an alternative to using alkali-resistant glass
fibers, a special polymer admixture has now been devel-
oped which prevents this detrimental alkali crystalline
growth and improves the long-term durability of GFRC.
It also permits using the lower cost fibers called E-glass
that would otherwise be subject to alkaline attack.
GFRC modified with this polymer can be laid up,
sprayed, extruded or cast in place. Usually though, the

Figure 2. To maintain identity with its main office building,

a prototype branch office of the First Federal Savings and
Loan Association of Lake Worth, Florida was built with a
facing of exposed aggregate concrete. However, to simplify
erection and save cost in supporting steel many of the
building components, including the overhanging fascia, the
drive-in canopy and ribbed wall units, were built of glass
fiber reinforced concrete. After painting the panel forms
with retarder, a mix of 3/8-inch white quartz aggregate
and sand-cement slurry was placed in the forms. This was
next sprayed with a 3/8-inch layer of GFRC containing 5
percent by weight of alkali-resistant glass fibers in a sand-
cement slurry.
After panels were stripped from the forms, the retarded
matrix was hosed off to expose the aggregate face before
final curing. Though conventional concrete panels were
used in the building where GFRC offered no significant
advantage, a difference between the two types cannot be
distinguished.
Figure 3. Glasgow’s Grosvenor Hotel, after being partially
destroyed by fire in 1978, was rebuilt recently so that the
new elevations again match the facade of the remaining
ventional unreinforced concrete) does not increase fur- section of the building. The old, original facade, however,
ther with fiber contents above 7 percent. Fibers range in was an elaborate, Venetian Renaissance-style facade,
length from 1 to 21⁄2 inches. Typically the cement con- complete with ornate arches, columns, column capitals,
tents are higher and the amount and sizes of coarse ag- moldings and balustrades. To form these intricate shapes,
GFRC made with alkali-resistant fibers was used. Over 1750
gregate are smaller than for regular concretes.
sandwich panels were precast, each consisting of two 3/8-
Panels made of GFRC are from 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick for inch-thick layers of sprayed GFRC separated by a
single-skin panels, but may be as thin as 1⁄4 inch for sand- lightweight polystyrene-bead-concrete fill. Wherever the
wich panels. By selecting the appropriate core materi- face of a panel was heavily detailed, the outer skin was, by
al—expanded polystyrene foam, polyurethane foam or necessity, made considerably thicker. The soffit of the
lightweight insulating concrete—sandwich panels can balcony consisted of single-skin GFRC panels which were
be produced with effective insulation and fire resistance used as permanent formwork for casting the balcony slab.
characteristics as well as attractive finishes. Highly ornate details such as the capitals were cast solid in
GFRC.

Figure 4. First use of polymer-modified glass fiber reinforced
concrete in the United States was in panels for this
Massachusetts office building. Panels covering about 75
percent of the wall area had a urethane-foam core
sandwiched between two layers of the GFRC, with an R-
value of more than 20.
low-cost E-glass fibers are sprayed onto a mold simulta-
neously with the cement slurry and then compacted by
rolling, thus permitting an application of up to 10 per-
cent glass fiber by volume. The polymer additive—as
much as 15 percent by volume—makes the concrete flu-
id enough to be sprayed and yet viscous and gel-like
enough to stick when sprayed, even when sprayed ve rt i-
cally. Spraying can also be interrupted without any fear
of clogging. Curing is reported to be simpler than for
other GFRC composites.
Polymer modified GFRC used in exterior walls
Polymer-modified GFRC was used recently to precast
exterior wall panels for a two-story office building in
Massachusetts (Figure 4). Constructed with a built-in
layer of urethane foam, these panels covered about 75
percent of the exterior wall area, providing an insulation
value greater than R-20. The panels cost 20 percent less
than the $9-per-square-foot cost of conventional 4-inch-
thick, uninsulated precast architectural panels. They
PUBLICATION #C820649
Copyright © 1982, The Aberdeen Group, All rights reserved
weighed only 16 pounds per square foot instead of 50
pounds, which conventional panels would weigh.
Because of the light weight of GFRC panels, shipping
costs and trailer time are decreased. Installation is quick-
er, and the amount of structural steel or concrete re-
quired is reduced.
Aramid fibers—a step towards structural GFRC?
Because of concern over long-term durability of GFRC
made with alkali-resistant glass, it has not been recom-
mended for use in structural members such as load
bearing frames, suspended floor slabs, or self-support-
ing roofs. Tests of the polymer-modified GFRC show
somewhat better durability, but it has not yet been vali-
dated for purely structural applications.
To broaden the applications of GFRC, the English
magazine Concrete reported that a man-made aramid
fiber has been developed and used to form a composite
with the glass fiber. The aramid fiber is four times as
strong in tension as steel but has a density only one-fifth
that of steel. The fibers do not burn but degenerate at
about 400 degrees C, and, when combined with GFRC,
full structural integrity can be maintained at tempera-
tures in excess of 1000 degrees C. The aramid fibers cost
almost four times as much as alkali-resistant glass fibers,
but they can provide strength in the composite that glass
cannot. Shear and torsional resistance is provided by the
glass fibers, compressive strength by the cement-sand
matrix, but the aramid fibers function in direct bending,
providing fatigue resistance.
The aramid fibers are neither cut nor chopped, but
used rather as continuous filaments. According to Con-
crete, they have been used in thin folded sheets, usually
about 1/8 to 3/8 inch thick, that serve as permanent
forms for cast-in-place concrete. When casting the
GFRC sheets the aramid fibers are spaced on 1- to 2-inch
centers longitudinally and tra n s ve r s e l y. The GFRC is
then sprayed and rolled, the aramid rovings are post-
tensioned and the GFRC is rolled again.
Conclusions
GFRC is emerging as an important construction mate-
rial—desirable because of worldwide availability, com-
p a ra t i vely low-cost raw materials, simple fabrication
processes and its ability to replace asbestos in many ap-
plications. Continuing technological developments are
improving its long-term durability. This composite,
alone or in combination with layers of other materials,
offers greater design versatility and some economical
energy-saving alternatives.
* September 1979, page 24.