According to foreign media report,researchers at the University of British Columbia,Canada (UBC in brief) are experimenting with different ways to prevent concrete from cracking by using polymer fibers obtained from used tires.Adding polymer fibers to existing concrete can prevent minor cracks in the concrete fromgetting bigger.

In the laboratory tests, compared to conventional concrete, it was found that the concrete with fiber added was more than 90% resistant.What’s more,the fiber was only 0.35% of the total mixture.The technology will help recycle waste tires and reduce the number of concrete structures to be replaced.Cement has long been considered an important source of carbon dioxide emissions in the world in view of the large amount of carbon dioxide produced in the cement production process.The less use of the material ,the less greenhouse gas emissions will produce.
Under the leadership of civil engineering Professor Nemkumar Banthia, the researchers used this fiber-added concrete in UBC's McMillan building. Using sensors embedded in concrete, they are monitoring factors such as cracking.