The influence of blended polypropylene and polyethylene fibres on mechanical and durability properties of concrete

Abstract

Steel fibers are always known to have been found to be an integral part of the concrete matrix. Since long, fibers of various materials have been used to prepare the mix and cast the structural components. The work presented in this paper is about the influence of polypropylene and polyethylene blended fibers on the initial strength gained and the concrete characteristics. The mixes of different proportions of fibers such as 1.8 kg/m3, 3 kg/m3, and 4.5 kg/m3 along with partially replaced quantity of cement with Ground Granulated Blast-furnace Slag (GGBS) were experimented. Twelve sample each with varied proportions of GGBS and fibers have been prepared and were tested. The results indicate that the specimens made out of GGBS with 15% replacement of cement and 3 kg/m3 fibers have shown the higher values of initial strength in compression, strength against splitting and strength in flexure to extent of 25%, 25% and 27.5% respectively. The durability properties were significantly improved when the GGBS was introduced to the extent of 30% of cement at both 28 and 56 days.