What is GFRC?

Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC) is a concrete mixture created from a combination of Portland cement, silica sand, alkaline resistant chopped fiberglass and may include any combination of additives. Once the raw materials are prepared, measured, and blended appropriately, the mixture is then expertly applied in thin layers into a product mold. GFRC is uniquely beneficial in that it is capable of making lightweight decorative concrete products while maintaining large load capacities and unparalleled overall strength.

All professionally mixed and placed concrete has great compression strength, but it is not flexible and has practically no tensile strength. Large cracks commonly occur in concrete applications due to drying, shrinkage and movement. When cracks form in concrete, the severity of the crack will depend on how much reinforcement is present in the concrete. However, Alkaline resistant chopped fiberglass, when added to concrete mixtures correctly, adds advanced flexibility and lightens the weight of the concrete creating Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete. The alkaline resistant chopped fiber glass gives GFRC three times higher tensile strength than that of unreinforced concrete and will help prevent anything larger than standard hairline cracks in the finished product.

WHAT’S IN YOUR PRODUCT?

GFRC (glass fiber reinforced concrete) is a specific type of concrete product that must contain Alkaline Resistant Chopped Fiberglass. Without this key ingredient, all the strength and flexibility benefits of GFRC are removed, leaving just standard concrete behind. There are only a handful of manufacturers around the world who create this special form of fiberglass. Ask your theming manufacturer if they are providing true GFRC in their concrete products.

THE ORIGINAL. THE BEST.


Themed Concepts’ ThemeCRETE mix has over 30 years of experience backing it up. We actively search for new and improved additives to further enhance our formula to meet current concrete expectations for strength and longevity.   For your next themed project, demand a high level of expertise in artistic creation, a product you can count on, and a team with the ability to execute your vision.

To ensure the highest levels of craftsmanship, all molds and sculptures utilized by Themed Concepts are created by our own team of in-house sculptors and artistic professionals. We understand that developing and maintaining a highly skilled team of artists as well as our own library of molds will ensure a level of quality and consistency that our customers can count on for decades to come.

FEATURES OF GFRC:
  • Advanced Bending Strength
  • Great Impact Strength
  • Tough and Crack Resistant
  • Lightweight Products
  • Allows for Artistic Design
STRESS STRAIN CURVES OF GFRC

GFRC acts as an elastic solid up to point A (Limit of Proportionality). The curves between A (LOP) and B (MOR) illustrate the fact that only glass fiber contributes to the reinforcement, which is the main characteristic of GFRC’s high impact strength.

BENDING STRENGTH OF GFRC USED WITH NET OR SEWN FIBER

THE SECRET FORMULA

At Themed Concepts, our proprietary GFRC formula – ThemeCRETE®, has been created utilizing decades of application experience and field observations along with the most modern technologies available. Our ability to enhance the finest details in our product stems from a unique combination of specialized expertise spanning across several industries and honed over decades of working with and pioneering advances in GFRC environments.