Bending Resistance and Failure Type Evaluation of Basalt Fiber RPC Beam Affected by Notch and Interfacial Damage Using Acoustic Emission

Hanbing Liu,Guobao Luo,Yuwei Zhang,Wenjun Li,Xiang Lyu

doi:10.3390/app10031138

Abstract

Generally, reactive powder concrete (RPC) contains steel fibers often exposed to aggressive environments. Steel fibers in such RPCs are subjected to corrosion in-service, which can significantly change the mechanical properties of the structural components. In this paper, basalt fibers were used to replace steel fibers for preparing a new basalt fiber modified reactive powder concrete (BFRPC). The bending resistance of BFRPC beams was studied, and the crack propagation and failure type of BFRPC beam were monitored by acoustic emission (AE). During the bending test, the failure type of BFRPC was evaluated by AE. Besides, the effects of notch and interfacial damage on the bending resistance and failure type were also studied. During the test, ordinary Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) without basalt fibers was used as a reference. Results revealed that failure type of the RPC beam and BFRPC beam was mainly caused by shear failure. The notch increased the number of tensile cracks in the beam failure crack, resulting in a decrease in the bending resistance of RPC beam and BFRPC beam. Besides, basalt fiber could improve the toughness and bending resistance of BFRPC beam and increase resistance of the BFRPC beam to notch and interface damage.

Highlights

Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) is a new and advanced type of ultra-high-performance concrete that appeared in the 1990s [1].In RPC material, coarse aggregate is replaced with fine quartz sand compared with ordinary concrete, which makes for RPC with excellent mechanical properties
The results show that both notch and interfacial damage can reduce the bending resistance of RPC and basalt fiber modified reactive powder concrete (BFRPC) beam, and the interfacial damage has a greater impact on the bending resistance
The failure load of the BFRPC beam was greater than that of the RPC beam under the corresponding conditions, which indicates that Basalt Fiber (BF) can increase the failure load of RPC and reduce the adverse effects of the notch and interfacial damage on the failure load

Summary

Introduction

RPC is a new and advanced type of ultra-high-performance concrete that appeared in the 1990s [1].In RPC material, coarse aggregate is replaced with fine quartz sand compared with ordinary concrete, which makes for RPC with excellent mechanical properties. RPC is a new and advanced type of ultra-high-performance concrete that appeared in the 1990s [1]. RPC is considered to be a new cement-based material with excellent properties that could effectively improve the compactness of concrete material [2,3]. RPC is prone to brittle failure without fiber [5,6]. Basalt Fiber (BF) is a new type of inorganic fiber with natural compatibility and excellent mechanical properties. It is made of pure natural basalt ore and molded by the melt drawing process; there is no wastewater, waste gas, and other industrial waste during its production process. Previous studies [10,11,12,13,14,15]

Methods

Results

Conclusion