Concrete @ your Fingertips

Glassfibre reinforced concrete (GRC)

GRC (Glassfibre Reinforced Concrete) is the name given to the material produced when Alkali Resistant (AR) fibres are added as reinforcement to a mortar or concrete mix. AR glassfibre was developed some 30 years ago and gave rise to a new industry and material, GRC. GRC is used increasingly for a wide range of building and civil engineering applications.

The fibres act as a primary reinforcement for cement based matrices, for example mortars and concrete. Whilst unreinforced mortar is a durable material and strong in compression, it is weak and unreliable in tension.

The addition of the reinforcing glassfibre gives properties to the resulting GRC material of:

• Much increased flexural and tensile strength
• homogeneous dispersed reinforcement
• high impact resistance
• thin section
• light weightdurability (no steel to corrode)

In typical use as building cladding,GRC offers the possibility of large surface area lightweight panels with ease of transport and installation. GRC material allows freedom of design and mouldability, reproduction of fine surface detail and choice of finish, and a maintenance free performance.

As well as being used widely in bespoke cladding applications, GRC components are extensively used in building and civil engineering particularly as standard components such as cable ducts, drainage channels, street furniture, permanent formwork panels, noise barriers, electrical housings, roof slates and many more.

Acknowledgement: GRCA