STRENGTH PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE REINFORCED WITH POP FIBERS

Abstract

The study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of pop fibers on strength properties of concrete.Pop fiber was added to the concrete in a stepped increase of 2.5% to 10% by weight of theconcrete. Tests were conducted to evaluate the strength properties of the concrete reinforced withpop fiber. These tests include: sieve analysis test, specific gravity test, slump test, flexuralstrength test, split tensile strength test and compressive strength test. Results obtained from sieveanalysis test classified the sand and granite as A-2-4 and A-1-b according to AASHTO SoilClassification System, GC (gravel mixed with sand) and SM (sand mixed with clay) according toUnified Soil Classification System. Slump test results revealed that the slump of the concretedecreased from 35mm to 15mm after 10% addition of pop fibers to the concrete, the split tensilestrength of the concrete increased from 0% addition of pop fiber to 2.5% addition of pop fiber tothe concrete, the flexural strength of the concrete increased from 0% addition of pop fiber to 5%addition of pop fiber to the concrete, the hardened density and compressive strength increasedfrom 0% addition of pop fiber to 5% addition of pop fiber to the concrete. Evaluation of failuremode of both the plain and pop fiber reinforced concrete revealed that failure of the plainconcrete occurred due to formation of single cracks while the pop fiber reinforced concreteexhibited more ductile failure mode with greater toughness and residual strength. This studytherefore discourage the use of pop fiber beyond 5% in the production of concrete as beyond 5%pop fiber content, reduction in compressive strength of the concrete was observed.