Alkali-resistant Glass Fibers Research Articles

Sustainable mineral coating of alkali-resistant glass fibres in textile-reinforced mortar composites for structural purposes

The mechanical performance of a silica-based mineral nano-coating applied to alkali-resistant glass textile-reinforced composite materials aimed at structural strengthening is investigated experimentally. The silica nano-film is directly applied to the alkali-resistant glass fabric by sol–gel deposition. Two lime mortars are adopted as embedding matrix, which differ by the ultimate compressive strength and elongation. Uni-axial tensile tests of prismatic coupons are carried out according to the ICC AC434 guidelines. Remarkable strength and ductility enhancements could be observed in the silica-coated group, as compared to the uncoated group, for both mortar types. Digital image correlation, electron scanning and optical microscopy provide evidence of improved interphase strength. X-ray diffraction of the anhydrous mortars brings out the role of the mineralogical composition of the embedding media on the overall bonding properties of the composites. Consideration of design limits and energy dissipation capabilities reveals the crucial role of matrix ductility in bringing the contribution of interphase enhancement to full effect. We conclude that best performance requires optimizing the pairing between fabric-to-matrix adhesion and matrix ductility.

Comparative Study on the Effect of Organic and Inorganic Fiber on the Anti-wheel Impact Performance of Airport Pavement Concrete under Freeze-thaw Environment

Abstract In this paper, the poly-acrylonitrile synthetic fiber concrete (PSC) (the representative of organic fiber concrete) and alkali resistant glass fiber concrete (ARGC) (the representative of inorganic fiber concrete) were studied and compared. The test were carried out by the IMYD-X single side freeze-thaw machine of concrete and the modified wheel impact test machine which was pressurized and accelerated. The dynamic deformation and toughness performance of fiber concrete have been comparatively analyzed, and the effect of fiber on the performance of concrete has been investigated. Three concrete performance indexes were selected to evaluate the anti-wheel impact performance of the airport pavement concrete in freeze-thaw environment, namely relative mass ratio, relative compressive strength ratio, and relative dynamic modulus ratio. The results showed that adding fiber in the concrete can significantly improve these indexes. Four indexes of concretes decreased when the test durations increased, and the relationship between various indexes and test durations can be described as an exponential function. Moreover, all the indexes of fiber concrete increase with the increasing fiber volume content. The optimal content of both organic fiber concrete and inorganic fiber concrete were 1.6 kg/m3. From the overall trend, the relationship among fiber concretes by the anti-wheel impact performance in freeze-thaw environment can be listed as follow: ordinary concrete

Impact Mechanical Properties of Fiber Reinforced Concrete Slab with Alkali-Resistant Glass Fiber of High Zirconium

This paper studied the impact resistance of high zirconium alkali-resistant glass fiber reinforced full-scale concrete slabs from the perspective of dynamics by the drop hammer test, and compared with macro-polypropylene and steel fiber. The effects of fiber type and fiber volume fractions on the impact resistance of concrete slabs were investigated, the concrete slab acceleration and the support reaction force time-history curve were measured, and the dynamic test results and failure mode of specimens were comparative analysis. All fiber reinforced concrete slabs show ductility failure, as the increase in fiber volume fractions, the impact resistance of specimens was improved more significantly, and the impact resistance of slabs exhibits secondary strengthening properties and experienced elastic-plastic phase. When the volume fraction was 0.45%, the first impact resistance of macro-polypropylene fiber and glass fiber reinforced concrete slab was similar, while when the volume fraction was 0.75%, the impact resistance of macro-polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete slab was better. With the same volume fraction, the second impact resistance of macro-polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete slab was better than that of glass fiber. Although the impact toughness and energy dissipation performance of high zirconium alkali-resistant glass fiber reinforced concrete compared with other fiber is not outstanding, but the comprehensive analysis shows that it has advantages in the use of the corrosion environment.

Effect of Aggregates on the Technological and Mechanical Properties of Glass and Basalt Fibres Reinforced Concrete

Reinforcement of high performance concrete (HPC) with glass and basalt fibres is becoming more widely used due to their high mechanical properties, sustainable manufacturing process and wide range of application in architectural and urban design. Properties of HPC composites are mainly determined by matrix composition, fibre type, volume and distribution in the concrete matrix. Granulometry and shape of aggregates has a major impact on the technological properties of concrete mix, such as water bleeding and slump size. Current study is focused on investigation of HPC reinforced by glass and basalt fibres with aggregates of different types. Quartz sand and crushed granite were used as aggregates. Two matrix compositions were used, both having proportion 1:1 of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and total amount of aggregate. In the first case, the whole aggregate was quartz sand, and for the second it was 50% quartz sand and 50% crushed granite. For matrix reinforcement, 3% of alkali resistant glass fibres and 1.5% chopped basalt from total weight of dry materials were used. 1% from cement mass of polycarboxylate ether-based superplasticizer was used to increase workability of concrete mix. The consistency of mixtures decreased, but flexural strength increased approximately by 13% when 50% of quartz sand was replaced with crushed granite for concrete with both types of fibres.

Influence of different fibers on properties of thermal insulation composites based on geopolymer blended with glazed hollow bead

In this work, fly ash and slag were used as aluminosilicate raw materials to prepare geopolymer paste, and different fibers and glazed hollow beads (GHB) were incorporated into the paste to produce various series of fiber reinforced geopolymer composites. The preparation process of geopolymer composites was explored and the optimum preparation conditions was obtained. Compressive strength, flexural strength, water absorption, porosity, thermal conductivity, linear shrinkage rate, microstructure and morphology have been characterized and assessed. Polypropylene fiber, alkali resistant glass fiber and lignin fibers were added to improve the cracking resistance and to enhance the strength. The results show that the optimal strength of fiber reinforced GHB blended geopolymer is obtained with 15% GHB addition, 0.75% fiber addition and liquid-solid ratio of 1.1. The improving effect of fibers on enhancing and anti-shrinkage follows the following sequence: PP fiber, alkali resistant glass fiber and lignin fiber. It is also observed that the fiber not only prevents the separation of the GHB and geopolymer matrix, but also inhibits the generation and expansion of the cracks, and finally improves the strength regardless of hybrid fibers or single fiber.

Mechanical behavior of high strength concrete reinforced with glass fiber

Effects of alkali resistant glass fiber (AR-GF) with various contents on the mechanical behavior of high strength concrete (HSC) were investigated on this study. Concrete mixtures were prepared with various contents of AR-GF typically 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, and 1.2 by weight of cement. The mixtures were cast and tested for compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strengths in accordance to ASTM standards. The experimental results showed that the strengths increase as fiber percentage increases until a threshold the compressive strength increased from 57.85 to 66.6 MPa when fiber percentage increased from 0.0 to 1.2 respectively, the splitting tensile strength increased from 3.06 to 4.92 MPa when fiber percentage increased from 0.0 to 1.2 respectively, and the flexural strength increased from 4.84 to 7.27 MPa when fiber percentage increased from 0.0 to 1.2 respectively. In comparison with plain HSC control specimens that showed destructive sudden failure, the formation of cracks that led to failure in the specimens with AR-GF was gradual as the fiber percentage increases. Hence it can be concluded that the presence of fibers in HSC matrix has contributed towards controlling sudden crack formation and thus enhancing concrete ductility.

Study on the flexure performance of fine concrete sheets reinforced with textile and short fiber composites

In order to study the influences of the contents of short fiber on the mechanical properties of concrete matrix, the properties of compressive, flexure and splitting of concrete matrix reinforced by alkali resistant glass fiber and calcium carbonate whisker were tested. To study the reinforced effect of different scale fibers on the flexure behavior of fine concrete sheets, the flexural tests of concrete sheet of fine concrete reinforced with basalt fiber mesh and short fiber composites were carried out. The results show that the properties of the compressive, flexure and splitting of fine concrete reinforced with appropriate amount of alkali resistant glass fiber and carbonate whisker are improved compared with that of concrete reinforced by one type of fiber. The flexure properties of the concrete sheets are improved obviously when continuous fiber textile and short fiber composite are adopted to reinforce.

The influence of alkali-resistant glass fibres on properties of fine-aggregate concretes

The aim of this paper is to assess the effect of modification of fine-aggregate concrete properties with zirconia alkali-resistant glass fibres. Three types of fine-aggregate composites were subject to tests: normal-weight concretes made of natural sand, non-foamed and foamed lightweight concretes made of expanded glass aggregate. The concretes were modified with the glass fibres mainly in quantities ranged from 1.0 to 5.0 kg/m3. Even such low contents resulted in the increase of both flexural and compressive strength, by up to 45 % and 26 %, respectively. In the case of normal-weight fine-aggregate concretes the applied glass fibres turned out to be especially effective in improvement of the properties in early ages. At the age of 28 days both types of concretes revealed similar percentage strength increase. In comparison to HP 12 mm the application of longer fibres (HP 24 mm) led to slightly higher results of flexural strength tests. On the other hand, the shorter fibres were definitely more effective in the improvement of compressive strength due to their greater number and more uniform dispersion in concrete volume. The used contents of alkali-resistant glass fibres did affect neither density nor water absorption of the hardened concretes.

Regression modeling of the strength properties of concrete reinforced with polypropylene fiber and alkali resistant glass fibre

This paper presents the result of the regression modeling of the strength properties of hybrid fiber reinforced concrete made with polypropylene fiber (PPF) and alkali resistant glass fibre (ARGF). The fibres were added to grade 25 concrete at different proportion of 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% of volume of concrete. A total of sixty three cubes samples were tested for compressive strength, twenty four cylindrical samples for split tensile strength and twenty four beam samples for flexural strength. Maximum compressive strength was attained at 1.5% fibre volume with hybrid fibre ratio of 80% ARGF and 20% PPF, maximum split tensile strength was attained at 1.0% fibre volume with hybrid fibre ratio of 80% ARGF and 20% PPF. The beam samples attained its maximum flexural strength at 1.0% fibre volume with hybrid fibre ratio of 60% ARGF and 40% PPF. Empirical expressions were established by using multiple regression analysis to predict the compressive, split tensile and flexural strengths of the hybrid fibre reinforced concrete made with PPF and ARGF. The predicted values compared favourably with the experimental results from all specimens. Keywords: alkali resistant glass fibre, compressive strength, flexural strength, hybrid fibre concrete, polypropylene fibre, regression modeling. reinforced concrete, split tensile strength

Flexural Performance Evaluation of Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Incorporating Multiple Macro-Synthetic Fibers

Fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) is a promising construction material mainly because of the crack-controlling mechanisms that discrete fibers can impart to inherently brittle concrete. Macrofibers, in particular, have been proven effective for providing post-crack ductility and toughness, while synthetic fibers are a promising solution to avoid corrosion-related durability issues. To assess the performance enhancement provided by macro-synthetic concrete fibers, this study performs flexural tests on FRC beams containing three different types of macro-synthetic fibers. The selected fibers include polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and alkali-resistant glass (ARG) macrofibers mixed at volume fractions of 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5%. Static and dynamic fresh properties are monitored using the vibrating Kelly ball (VKelly) test. Beam specimens are then placed under a third point bending configuration, as per ASTM C1609 Standard, to measure load versus mid-span deflection. Strength and toughness parameters are derived from the load–deflection data to assess the flexural performance of the FRC composite systems under consideration. The parameters of interest include first peak strength (pre-crack flexural strength) and post-crack residual strength and toughness provided by fiber addition. Of the mixtures tested, ARG fiber mixtures show the highest residual strength and toughness values, followed by PP and PVA fiber mixtures. ARG fibers produce the most workable mixtures at all fiber volumes, while PVA fibers show a tendency to encounter dispersion issues at higher volume doses. The outcome of this study is expected to facilitate the selection of fibers by giving insight into their relative contribution to fresh and hardened flexural properties of FRC.

Experimental and analytical study of the thermo-mechanical behaviour of textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) at elevated temperatures: Role of discontinuous short glass fibres

During the last few decades, textile-reinforced concrete materials are being increasingly used to repair and/or reinforce civil engineering structures, owing to their many advantages (nontoxicity, availability of raw materials, recyclability, simplicity of implementation, etc.). However, the elevated temperature resistance of these materials has not been studied to a great extent. The present work was aimed at studying the tensile behaviour of two types of such composite materials (3GRI and 3GRI.SF), under combined thermal and mechanical loading. 3GRI was composed of a cement matrix, and alkali-resistant (AR) grid glass textile. 3GRI.SF was also composed of the same matrix and textile reinforcement (as 3GRI), but with discontinuous, short AR glass fibres. Using an original experimental approach, the thermo-mechanical behaviour of these two types of composite materials could be identified at various temperatures (from 20 °C to 600 °C), and the role and efficiency of the addition of discontinuous short fibres were investigated. The experimental study was followed by analytical modelling, which helped calibrate other existing analytical models (Gibson and Bisby). Based on these models, and on the experimental results, the parameters of suitable models for the textile-reinforced concrete composites (3GRI and 3GRI.SF) were identified and commented on. This paper shows that the addition of short glass fibres had a positive effect on the tensile strength, stiffness and resistance to crack. The calibrated analytical models allowed predicting the thermomechanical proprieties of glass TRC with a minimum of experimental tests. The calibrated analytical models can be applied for the prediction of the thermomechanical proprieties of similar TRC.

Pemanfaatan Fly Ash dan Alkali Resistant Glass Fibre (ARG) dalam Pembuatan Paving Block

The paving block is an alternative to the use of pavement layer that is safe, strong and easy to installation and maintenance. Pavement paving block also can be produced both mechanically and manually. The added fly ash was a waste material from coal combustion in the steam power plant furnace in the form of fine, round, pozzolanic and fibre-resistant. Alkali Resistant Glass Fibre (ARG) which is shaped like a rope 18-36 mm long was added into the paving block with mixed compositions 1 Pc:10 Ps that aims to strengthen the compressive strength and flexibility of the paving block. This research was used 15 samples with mixture variation of fly ash 19% and fiber 0,25%, 0,5%, 0,75% and 1%. Based on the results of laboratory analysis, paving block (1 Pc: 10 Ps) with the addition of fly ash 19% and ARG 0.6% yielding a maximum compressive strength of 18.35 MPa. The addition of fibres with fly ash mixture was also able to increase the compressive strength of the paving block.

Degradation of composites containing alkali-resistant glass fibres by ammonium nitrate solutions

The aim of the research program was a degradation of composites containing alkali-resistant glass fibres (ARGF) by ammonium nitrate solutions. The effect of 3 and 5% ammonium nitrate solutions and storage long time on physical properties and structure of cement composites is presented. Application of glass fibre had a positive effect on the properties of cement pastes, most notably, this was reflected on the compressive strength and transverse tensile strength. Despite the positive effects but also the application of fiberglass there was a significant loss of strength cement mortars exposed to prolonged exposure to ammonium nitrate solutions.

Research on the Application of GRC Material in Exhibition Decoration Engineering

Glass fiber reinforced cement (GRC) is a kind of new building material which is based on cement and take the alkali resistant glass fiber as reinforcing material. It is mainly used in building decoration project and it has many advantages like environmental protection, economical, practical modeling and others. This paper mainly studies the concrete application of GRC material in exhibition building decoration project.

Durability of Alkali-Resistant Glass Fibers Reinforced Cement Composite: Microstructural Observations of Degradation

Usually, glass fibers in concrete permit the increase of the flexural strength. But the fibers in contact with cement are quickly degraded by alkali reactions due to the presence of portlandite. This article presents the results of investigations carried out to study the influence of curing conditions on the durability of alkali-resistant glass fibers in a cement matrix. Test results showed that alkali resistant fibers treated with zirconium oxide, present the same degradation phenomenon. The used cement nature has a large influence on the protection of the fibers. In addition, the degradation is weakened when silica fumes are added, owing to the pozzolanic effect that decreases the portlandite quantity. In spite of those different ameliorations, the use of such materials in humid environment is proving to be risky. The used techniques to study those phenomena are SEM equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDX) to observe the attack microstructures of the fibers and X-ray diffraction to quantify the portlandite and other phase development.

Alkali-resistant glass fiber reinforced high strength concrete in simulated aggressive environment

The durability of the alkali-resistant (AR) glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) in three simulated aggresive environments, namely tropical climate, cyclic air and seawater and seawater immersion was investigated. Durability examinations include chloride diffusion, gas permeability, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy examination (SEM). The fiber content is in the range of 0.6 % to 2.4 %. Results reveal that the specimen containing highest AR glass fiber content suffered severe strength loss in seawater environment and relatively milder strength loss under cyclic conditions. The permeability property was found to be more inferior with the increase in the fiber content of the concrete. This suggests that the AR glass fiber is not suitable for use as the fiber reinforcement in concrete is exposed to seawater. However, in both the tropical climate and cyclic wetting and drying, the incorporation of AR glass fiber prevents a drastic increase in permeability.

Experimental and mechanical performance of shotcrete made with nanomaterials and fiber reinforcement

Studying the application of nanomaterial in cement matrixes is a new subject which has attracted the attention of researchers. Development of engineered cementitious composite has produced a solution to numerous shotcrete application challenges. In this study, mechanical tests were conducted to evaluate the strength of the concrete modified by fibers and nanomaterials in terms of comparison with conventional concrete and shotcrete.It is included in the application of Nano-Al2O3 and Nano-SiO2, which are some of the cement constituent. With proper homogenization, Nano-Al2O3 acts as filler for improving the pozzolanic reaction in the concrete. Nano-SiO2 particles also prevent the diffusion of external destructive factors into the concrete, thus improving the durability and stability of concrete. On the other hand, application of Alkali Resistant (AR) glass fibers improves the tensile and compressive strengths as well as concrete continuity and also resolves the changes created in mechanical properties of the fibers caused by alkaline concrete environment. Test results revealed that the maximum increase in compression and flexural strengths of modified concrete were 20.6 and 52%, respectively of its optimum compounds for 0.7% glass fiber with 1% Nano-Al2O3 and 1.5% Nano-SiO2, while in the modified shotcrete, these values were increased by 22.9 and 75%, respectively. In addition, application of the mentioned materials led to decrease of penetration depth and water absorption of the modified concrete by 46.78 and 2.5%, respectively, in relation to the conventional concrete. Also, addition of fibers and nanomaterials in shotcrete reduced the effect of cracking due to shrinkage and the modified shotcrete material rebound.

Flexural Behavior of Hybrid PVA Fiber and AR-Glass Textile Reinforced Geopolymer Composites

Textile reinforced mortar or concrete, a thin cementitious composite reinforced by non-corrosive polymer textile fabric, was developed and has been researched for its role on repair and strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Due to embedment of polymeric textile fabric inside the cementitious matrix, many researchers argued the superiority of this technology than the externally bonded fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) sheet in RC in terms of prevention of debonding of FRP and durability in fire. However, due to use of cement rich matrix the existing development of textile reinforced concrete (TRC) need to be more environmental friendly by replacing cement based binder with geopolymeric binder. This paper presents a first study on the flexural behavior of alkali resistant glass fiber textile reinforced geopolymer (TRG). In this study, two types of geopolymer binder is considered. One is fly ash based heat cured geopolymer and the other is fly ash/slag blended ambient air cured geopolymer binder. Both geopolymer types are considered in the TRG and the results are benchmarked with the current cement based TRC. The effect of short polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber as hybrid reinforced with alkali-resistant (AR) glass fiber textile on the flexural behavior of above TRC and TRGs is also studied. Results show deflection hardening behavior of both TRGs with higher flexural strength in heat cured TRG and higher deflection capacity at peak load in ambient air cured TRG. The increase in PVA fiber volume fraction from 1% to 1.5% did not show any improvement in flexural strength of both TRGs although TRC showed good improvement. In the case of deflection at peak load, an opposite phenomenon is observed where the deflection at peak load in both TRGs is increased due to increase in PVA fiber volume fractions.

Fabrication and Properties of Glass Fibre Reinforced Fly Ash-Cement Roofing Tiles

In this study Glass fibre reinforced fly ash -cement roofing tiles were fabricated using three different forms of coal fly ash (CFA) such as CFA as it is, CFA particle sizes below 75μm and below 45μm.The separated CFA was used to replace cement 30% by the weight and those matrices were reinforced by Alkali Resistant (AR) glass fibres adding 1% and 2% by weight.The corrugated roof tiles have dimensions of 490×250×8mm and they were hand cast using ordinary vibration. Physical and mechanical tests were performed after 28 days of aging. The tiles were tested in accordance with SLS 1189. Transverse strength increased with increasing fibre percentage. Further, the transverse strength decreased with decreasing CFA particle size. Highest characteristic transverse strength was observed in the CFA as it is sample which is 1650N and the lowest from CFA below 45µm particle size sample which is 1240N. However, all the samples satisfy the strength requirement which is 230N. High water absorption was observed in all the samples which is around 20%.The dry density was ranged in between 1.62-1.68g/cm3 .The lowest average dry density was observed in CFA as it is samples whereas CFA below 75μm particle size and CFA below 45μm particle size samples showed similar density values. The dry density of tile samples is in comparable with the dry density of asbestos cement sheets (≈1.63g/cm3) and the characteristic transverse strength is in comparable with Calicut clay tiles (1000-2000N) in Sri Lanka. Therefore, glass fibre reinforced fly ash-cement roofing tiles are promising substitute for asbestos roofing sheets.

Mechanical Behavior of High Strength Concrete Reinforced with Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer

Effects of alkali resistant glass fiber reinforced polymer (AR-GFRP) with various proportions on the mechanical behavior of high strength concrete (HSC) were investigated on this study. Concrete mixtures were prepared with various proportions of AR-GFRP typically 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, and 1.2 by weight of cement. The mixtures were cast and tested for compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strengths in accordance to ASTM standards. The experimental results showed that the strengths increase as fiber percentage increases; the compressive strength increased from 57.85 to 66.6 MPa, the splitting tensile strength increased from 3.06 to 4.92 MPa, and the flexural strength increased from 4.84 to 7.27 MPa when fiber percentage increased from 0.0 to 1.2 respectively. In comparison with plain HSC control specimens that showed destructive sudden failure, the formation of cracks that led to failure in the specimens with AR-GFRP was gradual as the fiber percentage increases. Hence it can be concluded that the presence of fibers in the matrix has contributed towards prevent sudden crack formation and thus enhancing concrete ductility.