Prediction the Strength of Fibered Reinforced Concrete Pavement Using Response Surface Methodology: Parametric Study

Abstract

Due to the pattern of load distribution in terms of load-carrying capacity, strength considered the major factor in design of pavement. For design the thickness of the rigid pavement, modulus of rupture (flexural strength) values used in the design procedure. The main purpose of the present study is to design optimum Eco-friendly concrete mixtures containing different amount of Fibers used in rigid pavement matching Iraqi requirements by using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The experiments were designed using a thirty mixtures with four factors, namely, the cement content 300,400 and 500 kg/m3, Steel fiber (0,0.075, and 0.15 Vol.%), three different volume of Polypropylene fiber (0,0.35 and 0.7 Vol.%), and 0, 5, and 10% Silica fume by weight of cement. The results stated that cement amount and steel fiber volume are the higher factors affecting the mechanical properties flowed by pp fiber and silica. Furthermore, a good correlation between the adopted variables and mechanical properties (compressive and flexural strength) was found through statistical models, where the correlation coefficients (R2) for all models were greater than 0.90. Optimal components to design concrete mixtures used in pavement that having compressive strength of (>30 Mpa) and flexural; strength of (> 4.1 Mpa) are cement 375 kg/m3, silica fume 0.002%, steel fiber 1.44e-005 (Vol.%), and PP fiber 4.53e-006(Vol.%).