Experimental Study on Direct Shear Strength of Fiber Reinforced Self Compacting Concrete under Acid and Sulfate Attack

Abstract

This study primary is to investigate the shear strength of self-compacting concrete (SCC) reinforced by steel-fiber (SF) and polypropylene-fiber (PPF) in different environmental conditions: the air, sulfate (MgSO4 with a concentration of 5%) and acid (H2SO4 with a concentration of 5%). The study also examines the effect of fiber volume fraction on the workability, shear strength, compressive strength, and splitting tensile strength of fiber reinforced SCC. The article aims to determine the durability effects of both fibers and their resistance to aggressive environmental conditions. The contribution of this article is an experimental investigation on the shear strength of SCC reinforced by SF as well as PPF in 3 different environmental conditions after 30 days of exposure. The study also investigated the fresh and mechanical properties of 5 different mixtures of SCC with/out 0.1% and 0.2% fibers. The study also concluded that PPF decreased the workability of SCC badly, and special care must be taken when selecting its volume fraction. Also, it was found that generally shear strength of SCC mixes enhanced with increasing SF and PPF volume fraction. Moreover, it was found that both fibers have good durability effects, and resist aggressive environmental conditions, with the best results obtained from samples containing 0.2% SF. In the air condition, while the compressive strength, shear strength and tensile strength results were 52.6MPa, 6.43MPa and 3.91MPa, in the sulfate condition those were 46.37MPa, 6.55MPa and 3.59MPa, and in the acid condition those were 34.4MPa, 5.5MPa and 3.46MPa, respectively.