DIY Home Improvement

Concrete is one of the most popular materials for buildings because it has high compressive strength, flexibility in its form and it is widely available. Despite the high compressive strength, concrete has limited tensile strength, only about ten percent of its compressive strength and zero strength after cracks develop. In the late nineteenth century, reinforcing materials, such as iron or steel rods, began to be used to increase the tensile strength of concrete.

Steel bars are used as common reinforcing material. Usually steel bars have over 100 times the tensile strength of concrete; but the cost is higher than concrete. Therefore, it is most economical that concrete resists compression and steel provides tensile strength. Today concrete molds are used to make decorative garden features with cement.