Effect of fiber ratio on the impact behavior of polypropylene fiber reinforced samples

This study investigated the effect of fiber ratio on the impact behavior of polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete cube and beam samples. Plain concrete mixtures for control samples and polypropylene fiber-reinforced concrete mixtures with fiber ratios of %0.22, %0.44, and %0.66 by volume were prepared. An instrumented drop-weight impact system was used for the dynamic tests. Static compression tests, three-point bending tests, and impact tests were performed on beam samples (with the dimension of 100×100×500 mm). Static compression and impact tests were performed on cube samples (with the size of 100 mm). It was observed that the fracture properties of polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete for both cube and beam samples were better than the control samples under impact. The crack width in the beams under the impact decreased with the increase in polypropylene fiber ratio. The cube and beam concrete samples reinforced with polypropylene fibers absorbed the impact energy better than the control samples.

Improved Early-Age Cohesive Stress Response from Hybrid Blends of Micro and Macro Fibers

The fracture response of macro polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete (PPFRC) and hybrid blend of macro and micro polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete (HyFRC) are evaluated at 1, 3, 7 and 28 days. There is an improvement in the early-age fracture response of HyFRC compared to PPFRC. The changing cohesive stress-crack separation relationship produced by ageing of the concrete matrix is determined from the fracture test responses. An improved early-age cohesive stress response is obtained from the hybrid blend containing micro and macro fibers. The hybrid fiber blend also has a higher tensile strength at early age when compared to an identical volume fraction of macro polypropylene fibers.

Flexural Performance of a New Hybrid Basalt-Polypropylene Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Oriented to Concrete Pipelines

The bending performance of a basalt-polypropylene fiber-reinforced concrete (HBPFRC) was characterized by testing 24,400 × 100 × 100 mm3 prismatic specimens in a four-point bending test JSCE-SF4 configuration. The type and content of both fibers were varied in order to guarantee different target levels of post-cracking flexural performance. The results evidenced that mono-micro basalt fiber reinforced concrete (BFRC) allows the increase of the flexural strength (pre-cracking stage), while macro polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete (PPFRC) can effectively improve both bearing capacity and ductility of the composite for a wide crack width range. Compared with the plain concrete specimens, flexural toughness and equivalent flexural strength of macro PPFRC and the hybrid fiber-reinforced concrete (HFRC) increased by 3.7–7.1 times and 10–42.5%, respectively. From both technical and economic points of view, the optimal mass ratio of basalt fiber (BF) to polypropylene fiber (PPF) resulted in being 1:2, with a total content of 6 kg/m3. This HFRC is seen as a suitable material to be used in sewerage pipes where cracking control (crack formation and crack width control) is of paramount importance to guarantee the durability and functionality of the pipeline as well as the ductility of the system in case of local failures.