Investigations on mechanical and durability properties for pavement quality concrete using hybrid fibres

Abstract

Hybrid fiber reinforced concrete was used to develop pavement quality concrete (PQC) to overcome the disadvantages associated with rigid pavements prepared with plain cement concrete. Hooked-end steel (ST) fiber of 60 mm in length and polypropylene (PP) fiber with a length of 36 mm were used as reinforcement for the hybrid fiber concrete mix. The proportion of ST and PP fibers used was upto 1% with which PP fibers varied from 0 to 0.45% at a 0.15% increment in the total mix. This study aims to assess the various strength workability and durability issues of the concrete mixes. Significant improvement in the properties of mechanical and durability characteristics was observed in the results with the addition of these fibers as compared to control cement concrete. Among all the mix proportions, the overall performance of the mixture by adding steel fiber at 0.85% and polypropylene fiber at 0.15% contents was found to be the best. However, a slight increase in water absorption value was observed by the incorporation of fibers into concrete due to increased thickness in the transition zone and porosity.