Experimental study of mechanical properties of high- performance concrete containing steel fibers and polypropylene separately and simultaneously

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Hamid Naraki ¹

Seyed Fathollah Sajedi ¹

Masoud Paknahad ²

¹ Department of Civil Engineering, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran.

² Faculty of Engineering, Mahallat Institute of Higher Education, Mahallat, Iran.

10.22067/jfcei.2025.82494.1231

Abstract

This article has studied the separate and simultaneous effect of steel fibers with different shapes and polypropylene (PP) fibers on some mechanical properties of high- performance concrete (HPC). To improve the quality of the cement structure, silica-based aggregates with a maximum size of 9 mm were used instead of natural aggregates. In order to reinforce and investigate the effect of the type, shape and amount of steel fibers on the mechanical properties of HPC, steel fibers in smooth and wavy forms of 30 mm length in 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% were added to the concrete in separate plans. Beside the mentioned steel fibers, PP fibers were added by 1% and the corresponding changes in the mechanical properties were studied. A total of 34 mixing designs were made in the form of 306 cubic, cylindrical and prismatic speceimens, and the compressive, tensile, and bending strengths of each design were investigated at the age of 28 days. The results showed that adding 1% of PP fibers to concrete containing smooth and corrugated steel fibers by (7-8)% leads to the growth of compressive strength up to 113.1 MPa. By adding 1% of PP fibers to concrete containing 3% of corrugated steel fibers, the highest tensile strength of 13.7 MPa was obtained. It was also concluded that changing the shape of fibers from straight to wavy does not show a noticeable effect on compressive strength, while this change showed an average increase of 22% in tensile strength and 34% in bending strength.

Keywords

High performance concrete (HPC)

Mechanical properties

Steel fibers

Polypropylene fibers (PP)

Microsilica (SF)

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