Experimental Studies on Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Concrete Utilizing Polypropylene Fiber and Natural Fiber

Abstract

The construction industry is responsible for the depletion of large amounts of non-renewable resources. This activity generates not only millions of tons of mineral wastes but also carbon dioxide gas emissions. More building materials based on renewable resources such as natural fibers are needed. This chapter discusses the utilization of natural fibers for concrete reinforcement. It covers the compatibility between the fibers and the cement matrix and also how the fibers influence cement properties. It also includes the properties and durability performance of concrete reinforced with natural fibers. This paper presents an overview of the effect of polypropylene (PP) fibers on various properties of concrete in fresh and hardened state such as compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, workability, bond strength, fracture properties, creep strain, impact and chloride penetration. The role of fibers in crack prevention has also been discussed.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

One of the popular materials utilized in the construction is concrete. Concrete is generally considered to be the material which resists the compressive stress and it becomes weak under tensile stress. The concrete tends to crack even at minimal loads when the concrete member gets loaded due to the low tensile strength. The occurrence of failure gets triggered due to the widening of cracks under further dynamic loading. The property of ductility gets affected due to the widening of cracks in the concrete structural member. By the incorporation of single type of fiber in the concrete, the characteristic of being ductile and weak due to the tensile stress and impact loads can be avoided. Thus, the concrete made of fiber is called Fiber Reinforced Concrete. By providing fiber as the secondary reinforcement adds less value to the concrete and does not fulfil the purpose completely. The fibers in the concrete not only enhances the desired engineering properties but also enables the concrete to be used as the most suitable material for wide varieties of application.

II. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY

A. Materials 

The materials used in the preparation of HFRC are cement, sand, aggregate, water, polypropylene fiber, sisal fiber, banana fiber and superplasticizer (naphthalene sulphonate). The superplasticizer dosage used was 0.5% weight of cement throughout the experimental study.

B. Mix Proportions And Casting Procedure

Mix proportion for CC of M30 grade was 1:0.75:1.5 (cement: sand: aggregate). For making HFRC different fiber contents were added in 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2% by weight of concrete. A constant water cement ratio of 0.43 is used. For preparing specimen ingredients are mixed in various proportions and Specimen are designated as follows:

CC         - Conventional Concrete

HFRC 1 - Concrete with 1% Polypropylene fiber and 1% Sisal fiber

HFRC 2 - Concrete with 0.5% Polypropylene fiber and 1.5% Sisal fiber

HFRC 3 - Concrete with 1.5% Polypropylene fiber and 0.5% Sisal fiber

HFRC 4 - Concrete with 2% Sisal fiber only

HFRC 5 - Concrete with 2% Polypropylene fiber only

HFRC 6 - Concrete with 0.5% Polypropylene fiber and 1.5% Banana fiber

HFRC 7 - Concrete with 1.5% Polypropylene fiber and 0.5% Banana fiber

HFRC 8 - Concrete with 1% Polypropylene fiber and 1% Banana fiber

HFRC 9 - Concrete with 2% Banana fiber

Table 2.1 Mix Proportion

Before mixing all ingredients should be weighed in required proportions. Firstly, dry mixing is done by mixing cement, sand, aggregate and fibers. Now adding Super Plasticizer to dry mix prepared and mixed thoroughly until the colour of concrete mixture becomes uniform. To this mixture water should be added in proportion and mixed to get uniform colour. The cube of size 150*150*150 mm, cylinder of size 150*300 and beam of size 100*100*500 mm were casted for M30 grade HFRC. Before casting, mould should be cleaned and oiled properly. The fresh concrete is being placed in mould in 3 layers having equal depth. Make sure that tempering should be done at least 25 times for each layer. Casting of the cube is achieved by smoothing the to surface with trowel gauge. The specimens were kept in the mould for 24 hours at suitable condition.

III. TESTING METHODS OF HYBRID FIBER REINFORCED CONCRETE

The main focus of this research is to utilize the fibers such as banana fiber, sisal fiber and polypropylene fibers for making of high strength performance concrete. The fresh concrete is prepared and its workability is found out using the slump cone test and the compaction factor. The standard test specimens are casted and various modulus tests have been carried out with respect to Indian Standards.

Conclusion

Result shows using of natural fibers and polypropylene fiber in hybrid fiber reinforced concrete can fulfil the almost every aspect of concrete properties. Result analysis of this experimental study are: 1) Compressive strength of HFRC3 with 1.5% polypropylene fibers and 0.5% of sisal fibers is greater than conventional concrete in 7 days and also in 28 days. 2) Split tensile strength of HFRC3 with 1.5% polypropylene fibers and 0.5% of sisal fibers is greater than conventional concrete in 7 days and also in 28 days. 3) Flexural strength of HFRC3 with 1.5% polypropylene fibers and 0.5% of sisal fibers is greater than conventional concrete in 7 days and 28 days 4) Structural behavior like first crack load and ultimate load carrying capacity of all the HFRC (1-9) shows better result than conventional concrete. In mode of failure test of HFRC3 and CC, it is found that the cracking of conventional beam is wider compared to the HFRC3.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2023 Ms. Urwashi Chandrakar, Ms. Nayanika Dasgupta, Dr. Vaishali Pendse, Dr. D. Mukhopadhyay. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.