Key issue: failure mode
Small fiber reinforcing has been done before, and is attractive because you can add it to the mix, and don’t need to place it beforehand.
The problem is that when small-fiber-crete fails, it tends to fail suddenly and catastrophically. Monolithic Domes(TM), for example, are no longer shotcreted that way for that reason. Rebar provides warning, and (usually) more gradual failure.
Indeed, I see no reason why this new formulation can’t be used with traditional, coated or stainless rebar for a lifetime of Roman proportions.
I noticed when they were repaving a section of freeway near her that they use almost no rebar anymore. Just a little strip at the joints.
i wouldn’t thinmk that b/c short fibers are added, that they’d not use rebar. rebar is needed for structural stablility, regardless. plus with water repellant concrete it will not rust and fail for a very, very long time, if ever.
Couldn’t there also be a problem using it for swimming pools in very wet climates or places prone to floods? In those places the porousness of cement is needed to help reduce the likelihood of the pool popping out of the ground.
Also, constructing roads in that environment with this type of cement may allow road sections to float out of alignment. Maybe?