Title: Tensile and Compressive Strengths of Polypropylene Fiber Reinforced Concrete

Author(s): M. Tavakoli

Publication: Symposium Paper

Volume: 142

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 61-72

Keywords: 1 compressive strength; ductility; fiber reinforced concretes; modulus of elasticity; polypropylene fibers; strength; tensile strength; tests; Materials Research

DOI: 10.14359/1181

Date: 1/1/1994

Abstract:
Experiments were performed on concrete specimens reinforced randomly with polypropylene fibers. To obtain the true properties of the fibers, their tensile stress-strain diagram was obtained through tests. The fibers used had a tensile strength of 2800 kgf/cm 2 (40,000 psi), a failure strain of about 11 percent, and a modulus of elasticity of 2.55 X 10 5 kgf/cm 2 (3,642,857 psi). Then, the 7- and 28-day polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete (PFRC) samples with 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 percent by volume of fibers were tested in splitting tensile and compressive strength tests, and the tensile strength, maximum tensile strain, and compressive strength versus percentage by volume of fibers diagrams were plotted. The results show that compressive strength did not change significantly, but tensile strength had an increase of about 80 percent. Significant improvement in ductility was also achieved. The tests also showed that the best improvement was obtained at an optimum percentage by volume of fibers of about 1.5 percent.