Ductility of Polypropylene Reinforced Cement Composites with Carbon Black

Abstract

As the demand for monitoring the structural health of concrete structures continues to rise, one particular area of interest lies in sensors based on cement composites. These sensors are integrated into the structure and serve the purpose of lifelong monitoring. Cement composites inherently possess low ductility, which can be enhanced through the incorporation of polypropylene fiber (PPF). To investigate this enhancement, tensile tests were conducted on dog-bone specimens with varying weight percentages of PPF (0%, 0.4%, and 0.8%). The outcomes of these tests reveal a noteworthy trend: an increase in the percentage of PPF corresponds to an augmentation in the ductility of cement composites containing carbon black (CB). The highest tensile strength was observed when the PPF percentage reached 0.8%, indicating a substantial 46.51% increase in tensile strength compared to the absence of PPF. Furthermore, CB, at a concentration of 7.5% by weight as a cement replacement, was also assessed. Remarkably, this replacement had no significant impact on ductility.