Mechanical properties of Hybrid steel/PVA fibers reinforced high strength concrete

Abstract

The high strength concrete exhibits improved compressive strength with drawback of brittle failure due to lack of tensile strength which can be catered by the addition of fibers. The efficient use of fibers with hybridization at macro and micro level can improve mechanical properties of high strength concrete. The effect of hybridization of hooked end steel macro fibers (60 mm) and PVA micro fibers (12 mm) with different dosages was investigated in this research work. The different percentage of steel and PVA were hybridized to find out the best combination of hybridized fibers in high strength concrete. The compressive and flexural properties of high strength concrete along with complete load vs deflection behaviour of hybrid fiber reinforced concrete were investigated. The results revealed that hybridization of macro and micro fibers provided better improvement in flexural performance. It was observed from the results that the hybrid combination of fibers of 1% macro steel fiber and 0.15% micro PVA fibers proved to be the best for enhancement in flexural performance of high strength concrete.