Investigating the performance of PVA and basalt fibre reinforced beams subjected to flexural action

Abstract

This paper presents the flexural test results of 21 fibre reinforced concrete (FRC) beams containing PVA and basalt fibres (1–3% by volume). Fibre reinforced concrete was made of three different binders; the first binder type was 100% cement, the other two types were blended cement system containing a part of 10% silica fume or metakaolin with 90% cement. For each the three binder system; 7 beams of the size 100×200×1500mm were cast, the first beam known as control beam contained no fibres. The remaining 6 beams were cast using FRC containing a volume fraction of 1%, 2% and 3% PVA and basalt fibres, respectively. All 21 beams were tested to failure under three-point flexural loading. Experimental results showed that the addition of PVA fibres significantly improved the post-cracking flexural response compared to that of the basalt fibres. Beams with 3% PVA fibre volume showed deflection-hardening behaviour with an improvement in post-cracking flexural strength. It means that the addition of high volume content of PVA fibres made the beams more tough and ductile. Whereas, deflection-softening behaviour was observed in case of beams containing higher volume of basalt fibres.