Cement reinforced with short carbon fibers: a multifunctional material

This is a review of cement-matrix composites containing short carbon fibers. These composites exhibit attractive tensile and flexural properties, low drying shrinkage, high specific heat, low thermal conductivity, high electrical conductivity, high corrosion resistance and weak thermoelectric behavior. Moreover, they facilitate the cathodic protection of steel reinforcement in concrete, and have the ability to sense their own strain, damage and temperature. Fiber surface treatment can improve numerous properties of the composites. Conventional carbon fibers of diameter 15 μm are more effective than 0.1 μm diameter carbon filaments as a reinforcement, but are much less effective for radio wave reflection (EMI shielding). Carbon fiber composites are superior to steel fiber composites for strain sensing, but are inferior to steel fiber composites in the thermoelectric behavior.