Strength, Frost Resistance and Resistance to Acid Attacks on Fiber-Reinforced Concrete for Industrial Floors and Road Pavements with Steel and Polypropylene Fibers

Abstract

A comparison of the effect of steel and polypropylene fibers on the strength, frost resistance, abrasion, and corrosion resistance in an acidic environment of fiber-reinforced concrete for industrial floors and road pavements was carried out. Steel fibers with a length of 50 mm and a diameter of 1 mm and polypropylene fibers with a length of 36 mm and a diameter of 0.68 mm were used. The amount of steel fiber varied from 15 to 25 kg/m3, and the amount of polypropylene fiber varied from 2 to 3 kg/m3. It has been established that steel fiber more significantly increases the concrete compressive strength, and both types of dispersed reinforcement increase the flexural strength equally by 27–34%. Also, dispersed reinforcement reduces the concrete abrasion resistance by 15–35% and increases its frost resistance by 50 cycles, which helps to improve the durability of industrial floors and road pavements. The use of steel fiber in an amount of 20 kg/m3 and polypropylene fiber in an amount of 2.5 kg/m3 also increases the concrete corrosion resistance in an acidic environment. In general, dispersed reinforcement with both fiber types has approximately the same technological effect concerning the mentioned applications. However, the use of polypropylene fibers is economically more profitable since an increase in the cost of 1 m3 of concrete with steel fiber reinforcement is from $22.5 to $37.5, and an increase in cost with polypropylene fiber is from $10 to $15.