Flexural characteristics of a polypropylene fibre concrete topping on a precast concrete slab

Abstract

Concrete ductility and other technical qualities, such as toughness and load-bearing capacity after cracking, are known to benefit from the presence of different kinds of fibres. Recent years have seen a rise in the application of polypropylene fiber-reinforced concrete (PFRC) to a variety of structural elements. The incorporation of polypropylene fibres into concrete to increase the load-bearing capacity of existing structural elements has garnered significant attention. A technique known as "cement-base bonded overlay" has been used recently to increase the flexural capacity of concrete slabs by covering an existing slab with a light covering of PFRC. The aim of this study is to examine the flexural behaviour of a precast concrete slab that has a concrete topping made of Polypropylene fibre (PF). Experiments revealed that the addition of polypropylene fibres to the topping influenced the flexural performance. Despite this, the results indicated that the PFRC covers slab's ductility factor and deflection were better than those of a regular concrete topping slab.