Advances in sprayed concrete (shotcrete)

It has been often believed that shotcrete is just another concrete. However, research has demonstrated that when produced either by the dry-process or the wet-process, shotcrete is very different from concrete. Our conventional wisdom developed through years of research in concrete, therefore, may not be applied verbatim to shotcrete. This paper describes our current understanding of shotcrete and demonstrates how shotcrete is different from conventional concrete. Particular emphasis is placed on fiber-reinforced shotcrete, as fibers are becoming a mainstream reinforcement in shotcrete. The paper also describes applications of shotcrete for slope stabilization and repair but argues that its use for seismic strengthening of structures is indeed very promising.