Impact resistance of micro and macro crimped steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete with SCM

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the impact resistance of micro and macro crimped steel fibre-reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFRSCC) with the volume fractions of 0.25%, 0.50%, and 0.75%. A total of seven mixtures were investigated with different volume fractions of steel fibres considering in terms of fresh, mechanical properties and impact resistance. The total binder contains 60% cement and 40% supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) with a combination of 30% fly ash and 10% silica fume. The addition of steel fibre decreases the workability of SCC. However, the inclusion of SCM compensates and increases its workability. Mechanical behaviour of micro and macro steel fibre reinforced SCC outperforms the conventional SCC in terms of compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength. The impact resistance of SFRSCC is determined through a modified testing procedure derived from the guidelines provided by ACI 544.2 R. It is observed that the volume fraction of both 0.75% micro and macro steel fibre has improved impact resistance with increase percentage of energy absorption of 180% and 240%. The relationship between UPV and impact test results found that the number of blows can be predicted using the UPV values from the regression equations. The results of the Weibull distribution (WD) and reliability analysis indicate that 80% (τ = 0.8) of the SFRSCC samples are reliable enough to survive 14 blows at first crack and 20 blows at failure crack. The incorporation of crimped steel fibres into the concrete matrix led to the even distribution of impact loading throughout the concrete specimen with the help of steel fibres, thereby improving the impact resistance of SCC.