Abstract
This paper presents the results of an experimental program carried out to investigate the effects of Basalt Fibre Reinforced Polymers (BFRP) on some fundamental mechanical properties of concrete. Basalt fibres are formed by heating crushed basalt rocks and funnelling the molten basalt through a spinneret to form basalt filaments. This type of fibres have not been widely used till recently. Two commercially available chopped basalt fibres products with different aspect ratios were investigated, which are dry basalt (GeoTech Fibre) and basalt pre-soaked in an epoxy resin (GeoTech Matrix) .The experimental work included compression tests on 96 cylinders made of multiple batches of concrete with varying amounts of basalt fibre additives of the two mentioned types, along with control batches containing no fibres. Furthermore, flexural tests on 24 prisms were carries out to measure the modulus of rupture, in addition to 30 prisms for average residual strength test. Results of the research indicated that use of basalt fibres has insignificant effects on compressive strength of plain concrete, where the increase in strength did not exceed about 5%. On the other hand, results suggest that the use of basalt fibres may increase the compressive strength of concrete containing fly as up top 40%. The rupture strength was increased also by 8% to 28% depending on mix and fibre types and contents. Finally, there was no clear correlation between the average residual strength and ratios of basalt fibres mixed with the different concrete batches.
Highlights
Fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC) has been produced using steel, carbon and glass fibres for several years
An initial assessment of the results indicates the use of GeoTech matrix and GeoTech fibres did not affect the compressive strength of the concrete of mix A
Results indicated that the use of basalt fibre additives has insignificant effects on the compressive strength
Summary
Fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC) has been produced using steel, carbon and glass fibres for several years. This research concluded that adding basalt fibres to concrete can increase the compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strengths of plain concrete. This research suggested that concrete with a basalt fibre volume content between 0.3% and 0.5% resulted in the highest measured strength increases [4]. Another experimental program investigated the mechanical properties of concrete with the addition of basalt fibres that were pre-soaked in epoxy [5]. This study concluded that adding 30 mm basalt fibres at a dosage range of 3 kg/m3 to 5 kg/m3 resulted in improved mechanical properties and acceptable workability
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