The effect of using polyolefin fiber on some properties of slurry-infiltrated fibrous concrete

Abstract

Abstract Slurry-infiltrated fibrous concrete (SIFCON) is a special type of concrete that has great strength, as well as high ductility. However, the unit weight is high, which exceeds the unit weight of fiber-reinforced concrete, because of the high fiber content. This research aims to verify the compressive and flexural strength, as well as the density of SIFCON when using two different fibers (steel and polyolefin). Sometimes mono type of fiber steel or polyolefin, sometimes by hybridizing two types of fiber steel + polyplefin. Volume fraction (6% for all species) was used. Hook-end steel fiber and polyolefin fiber are used. With hybridization, a total volume fraction of 6% was used, which is 2/3 steel fibers with 1/3 polyolefin and vice versa. In addition, silica fume replaced 10% of the weight of cement. After checking all the results, the highest compressive strength was achieved in the SNS (symbol of mix SIFCON with 6% steel fiber) series by 81 MPa, as well as the highest flexural strength by 23 MPa, but it was the highest density of 2,490 kg/m3. The series contained 2/3 polyolefin and 1/3 steel fibers, which are ideal as they significantly reduced the density of the steel fiber series 2,490–2,210 kg/m3, as well as there was no significant reduction in strength as it achieved 67 MPa in the compressive strength and 19 MPa in the flexural strength, which are values suitable for high SIFCON applications.