DURABILITY OF PAVEMENT REPAIRS: POINT OF VIEW ABOUT THE ROLE OF FIBERS

Abstract

The work described in this paper is part of a research program aimed at establishing the factors which give a good durability to pavement repairs made with metallic fiber reinforced concrete. The experimental study shows that fibers, as they do not significantly reduce the shrinkage of concrete, have a positive effect by enhancing (by 15%) its relaxation and creep capacity. On the other hand, one must not ignore the indirect effects of cracking which may be of major importance. A finite elements study demonstrates that, among these effects, the stresses induced by the passage of vehicules, very dependent on the cracking characteristics, give a significant advantage to the fiber reinforced overlays.