Many new raw materials have been discovered and many ground-breaking composite have been developed, of which not all but some have proved to be a phenomenal success. Carbon fiber is one of these materials, which is usually used in combination with other materials to form a composite structure. The properties of carbon fiber, such as high stiffness, high tensile strength, low weight, high chemical resistance, high temperature tolerance and low thermal expansion makes them one of the most popular material in civil engineering possessing strength up to five times that of steel and being one-third its weight, we might as well call it ‘the superhero’ of the material world. Carbon fibers are a type of highperformance fiber available for civil engineering application. It is also called graphite fiber or carbon graphite, carbon fiber consists of very thin strands of the element carbon. Carbon fibers have high tensile strength and are very strong for their size. Due to the rigidity and chemical inertness of carbon fibers, the increase of carbon fiber fraction leads to both conductivity enhancement and mechanical performance reduction. As a result, it is an urgent need to find a balance between the mechanical property and the electrical conductivity. In this paper, a study has been made how carbon fiber is used in civil structure.
