Fiber–Matrix Interactions in Fiber-Reinforced Concrete: A Review

Abstract

A significant breakthrough in concrete technology was achieved using fibers to reinforce concrete. Various researchers have reported that fiber reinforcement can alter the brittleness of concrete. The efficiency of fiber reinforcement is based on the fiber–matrix interactions. The understanding of these interactions is a challenging engineering problem, where the frictional bond governs and the physical/chemical bond plays a minor role. This problem is extremely sophisticated because of the following nonlinear interactions: interfacial debonding, plastic material deformations, mechanical bond deformations, and frictional sliding. This paper reports a comprehensive and up-to-date literature review on the fiber–matrix interactions, and physical and theoretical modeling of the fiber–matrix interactions is reported in detail. In addition, the most important conclusions of the parametric studies of the fiber–matrix interfacial bond are summarized. The information of the pullout test standardization to assess the fiber–matrix behavior of a fiber-reinforced concrete is reviewed. The current research in the area of fiber–matrix interactions of fiber-reinforced concrete are discussed.