The Effect of Different Curing Methods on the Properties of Reactive Powder Concrete Reinforced with Various Fibers

Abstract

The current study explores the effects of four curing methods on the strength of Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) reinforced with different fibers. Four mixtures of RPC, reference (RM-RPC), wavy fiber reinforced (WF-RPC), carbon fiber reinforced (CF-RPC), and micro steel fiber reinforced (MF-RPC) mixes were prepared and cured following four curing methods (normal, autogenous, coating, and warm water). The results revealed that warm water curing achieved the highest values of compressive, flexural, and splitting strength, attaining 138.9 MPa 22.4 MPa, and 20.89 MPa, respectively. The results of using different fiber reinforcement displayed that the compressive strength of fiber-reinforced RPC mixes was notably higher than that of the RM-RPC. The compressive strength increase results were 9.04% for WF-RPC, 24% for CF-RPC, and 27.96% for MF-RPC regardless of the curing method adopted. Flexural strength increased by 21.2%, 38.47%, and 55.86% for WF-RPC, CF-RPC, and MF-RPC, accordingly in autogenous curing, whereas the change in flexural strength was 30.65%, 39.14%, and 36.59%, correspondingly in coating curing and 21.27%, 29.22%, and 39.55%, respectively, for warm water curing. The optimum flexural values were mainly obtained for MF-RPC regardless of the kind of curing used. CF-RPC almost achieved the same results as MF-RPC with slightly lower values. It can be concluded that fiber reinforcement had a more positive influence on the flexural and splitting strength of RPC than on the compressive strength.