Carbon Fiber Reinforced Cement and Mortar

Abstract

AbstractAlthough carbon fibers have high tensile strengths and are chemically inert, their application in cementitious composites is limited due to their brittleness. An image analysis technique employed to determine the length distribution of the reinforcing fibers before and after mixing in cement paste and mortar matrices indicates that substantial fiber breakage occurs during mixing. In paste mixtures, the average fiber length after mixing remains above the critical fiber length, but in mortar mixes the average fiber length falls below the critical fiber length resulting in no significant enhancement of composite flexural properties.