Difference between Flexible Concrete and Normal Concrete

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Flexible or bendable concrete gains ductility property while normal concrete shows the brittle property. This difference of flexible concrete from normal concrete makes it available for large applications due to its efficiency in durability and strength.

Some of the major differences between flexible concrete and normal concrete are explained in the table below.

Table.1. Difference between Flexible Concrete and Normal Concrete

Sl.No	Normal Concrete	Flexible Concrete
1	Normal Concrete are highly brittle in Nature	Bendable or Flexible Concrete are ductile in Nature
2	Normal concrete have less durability	Flexible concrete are more durable compared to normal concrete
3	Normal concrete possess lesser amount of free cement concrete which reduces its property of self - healing	Flexible concrete gains high self – healing property by healing the micro-cracks formed by the reaction product of carbon-di -oxide and water
4	With time, the normal concrete develops cracks and other connected defects	The flexible concrete does not develop as much cracks and defects as developed by normal concrete
5	The curing time required for normal concrete is around 28 days	A flexible concrete can be cured within a period of 7 days
6	The normal concrete is the conventional concrete that hence does not demand skilled labor	The flexible concrete is an engineered composite concrete (ECC) which demands skilled labour and high quality materials
7	The normal concrete is made of common materials that are easily available in the market	The materials used for flexible concrete highly include fibers. Quality fibers as per the specification is not a common material and difficult to collect.
8	The initial cost for normal concrete construction is less	The initial cost for flexible concrete construction is high
9	Steel reinforcement is used highly in normal concrete.	Fibers are used highly in flexible concrete
10	Less Crack Resistance	High crack resistance
11	Normal concrete structures are heavy	Flexible Concrete structures are twenty to forty percent less light in weight compared to normal concrete.
12	Construction of structures using normal concrete emits harmful gases.	Flexible concrete construction emits less harmful gas compared to normal concrete structures.