Glass fiber for improved behavior of light expanded clay aggregate concrete beams: an experimental study

Abstract

Concrete developed from light expanded clay aggregate (LECA) and glass fiber has good performance, durability, and sustainability. Towards this, the experimental investigation was designed to study cubes, cylinders, and simply supported beams. Four mixtures had LECA volume of 0%, 75%, 85%, and 95% as coarse aggregate replacement and glass fiber content volume of 2% (N, L75, L85, and L95), and the other two mixtures had 75% LECA and glass fiber content of 1% and 1.5% (L75-F1 and L75-F1.5). Results compared to normal concrete showed the weight reduction of samples while adding more glass fiber caused slump reduction in contrast to LECA. Increasing glass fiber volume in the mixture had a negative influence on tensile strength while causing compressive strength enhancement. Moment resistance and energy absorption capacity of L85 were enhanced by 7.5% and 10.3%, respectively. For L75-F1 specimens, the beam stiffness and ductility were enhanced by 14.8% and 14.3%, respectively. Finally, using more glass fibers did not necessarily result in improved mechanical properties. More ideal properties can be obtained by controlling the LECA content and glass fibers ratio. After conducting tests, narrowing down the glass fiber content range up to 2%, along with LECA content of 75% and 85%, is highly recommended for obtaining the best behavior of glass fiber-reinforced LECA concrete.

Keywords

• energy absorption
• glass fiber
• leca
• lwc
• mechanical properties
• strength