EVALUATION OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF HIGH PERFORMANCE SELF-CONSOLIDATED CONCRETE ENHANCED BY DISCRETE STEEL AND POLYPROPYLENE FIBERS

Abstract

High performance self-consolidating concrete HP-SCC is one of the most complex types of concrete which have the capacity to consolidated under its own weight, have excellent homogeneity and high durability. This study aims to focus on the possibility of using industrial by-products like Silica fumes SF in the preparation of HP-SCC enhanced with discrete steel fibers (DSF) and monofilament polypropylene fibers (PPF). From experimental results, it was found that using DSF with volume fraction of 0.50 %; a highly improvements were gained in the mechanical properties of HP-SCC. The compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength and elastic modulus improved about 65.7 %, 70.5 %, 41.7 % and 80.3 % at 28 days age, respectively with retaining the main properties of HP-SCC. Furthermore, using PPF with volume fraction up to 0.10 %; an enhancement in the compressive and elastic modulus of HP-SCC about 47.4 % and 31 % was obtained at age of 28 days, respectively. Moreover, using PPF with volume fraction of 0.15 %, the splitting tensile strength and flexural strength of HP-SCC improved about 44.5 % and 20.3 %, respectively.