Effect of Fiber Type, Shape and Volume Fraction on Mechanical and Flexural Properties of Concrete

Abstract

An experimental study was herein presented focusing the effect of different type, shape and volume fraction of fibers on the hardened properties of concrete including compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strengths at 7 and 28 curing days. A control concrete mixture with no fiber was prepared and six fiber reinforced concrete mixtures were designed by using two different types of fibers which were steel fibers with different shapes (short straight and hooked end) and polypropylene fiber with the volume fraction of 0.4% and 0.8%. The load-deflection curves and toughness of the specimens were analyzed based on ASTM C1609. The results showed that the utilization of short straight steel fibers with 0.8% volume fraction was most efficient at improving the compressive strength while the use of 0.8% long hooked end steel fibers provided better splitting tensile and flexural strengths. Besides, the long hooked end steel fibers with the volume fraction of 0.8% contributed to an excellent deflection hardening behavior resulting in higher load deflection capacity and toughness at peak load, L/600 and L/150. On the other hand, with incorporation of polypropylene fiber, all strength values were decreased regardless of the volume fraction and curing days.