Abstract
The interfacial transition zone (ITZ) is well known to be a zone of high porosity and lesser strength and is the weak zone in the fiber-reinforced matrix. This study aims to evaluate the improvement in the bonding between engineered polypropylene fibers and the surrounding mortar matrix. The improvement was implemented by modifying the ITZ, which develops between the fibers and the cementitious matrix. Two commercially available repair materials have been used in this study, Mix M and Mix P. Mix M served as the base material for the prepared fibers, whereas Mix P is a fiber-reinforced repair mortar and provides a comparison. A total of six types of mixes have been investigated. The improved bonding is tested by coating the polypropylene fibers with supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) using an innovative patented concept. In this study, silica fume and metakaolin are used as the SCM because of their fine size and pozzolanic capacity. The study involves multiple items of investigation, including mechanical tests such as compressive strength, direct tensile strength, and three-point bending tests. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) of the different mixes helped in evaluating and analyzing the ITZ between the fiber and matrix.
Highlights
Fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) is increasingly being used in the field due to its high toughness and energy absorption capacity
The Cressington 208C was used to carbon coat the Figure 9 shows the results of the compressive tests done for all the mixes measured at both 14samples to allow scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging on the nonconductive samples
Average compressive strength is presented for various mixes with error bars
Summary
Fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) is increasingly being used in the field due to its high toughness and energy absorption capacity. Steel FRC possesses a long history of successful application [2], whereas recent research shows a growing interest in synthetic fibers. Synthetic fibers, such as polypropylene (PP), polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and many others [3], have some substantial advantages over metallic ones. The typical characteristics of synthetic fibers include chemical stability in aggressive environments, exemption from oxidation, lightness, easy stocking and handling, and electromagnetic transparency. As a result, they have been used in a variety of places including road pavements [4], storm sewers, water drains [5], etc
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