The Effects of Fiber Length and Volume on Material Properties and Crack Resistance of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Concrete (BFRC)

Abstract

Basalt fiber reinforced concrete (BFRC) has been widely utilized in various constructions such as buildings, large industrial floors, and highways, due to its excellent physical and mechanical properties, as well as low production cost. In order to address the influence of basic parameters such as fiber volume fraction (0.05∼0.40%), fiber length (12∼36 mm) of BF, and compressive strength (30, 40, and 50 MPa) of concrete on both physical and mechanical properties of BFRC including compressive strength, tensile and flexural strength, workability, and anti-dry-shrinkage cracking properties, a series of standard material tests were conducted. Experimental results indicated that clumping of fibers may occur at relatively higher fiber volume fraction resulting in mixing and casting problems. Based on experimental values of mechanical properties and anti-dry-shrinkage cracking resistance of BFRC, the reasonable basalt fiber length and fiber volume fractions are identified. The addition of a small amount of short basalt fibers can result in a considerable increase in both compressive strength and modulus of rupture (MoR) of BFRC and that the proposed fiber length and content are 12.0 mm and 0.10%∼0.15%, respectively. As the length of basalt fibers increases, the development of early shrinkage cracks decreases initially and then increases slowly and the optimal fiber length is 18.0 mm. Results of the study also indicated that early shrinkage cracks decrease with the increase of fiber volume fraction, and when the volume fraction of 0.20% is used, no cracks were observed. All the findings of the present study may provide reference for the material proportion design of BFRC.

Efficiency of basalt fiber length and content on mechanical and microstructural properties of hybrid fiber concrete

“…The decreased was observed for concrete with longer length BF than those of shorter length BF. This might be due to the fiber clumping that caused matrix defects such as voids and microcracks 52 . The FPZ exists at the tip of a notch in the beam, and values of Δ ac are shown in Table 4.…”

“…The reduced values were due to longer length of BF that caused fiber clumping which resulted in microcracks and voids between fibers and matrix. The longer length of BFs at higher content resulted in fiber clumping during mixing ultimately reduced the mechanical properties 52 . In addition, the inclusion of higher BF content in concrete caused fiber agglomeration and could be the source of weak interfaces and voids led to declination of 40 .…”

Fractal Dimension of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Concrete (BFRC) and Its Correlations to Pore Structure, Strength and Shrinkage

“…Owing to its apparent advantages, such as environmental friendliness, cost effectiveness, light weight, high modulus, and excellent thermal and chemical stability [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ], basalt fiber has recently been considered an alternative to other fibers. Previous studies on basalt fiber reinforced concrete (BFRC) paved a solid foundation in understanding the effect of basalt fiber length and dosage on the strength [ 13 ], fracture properties [ 14 , 15 ] and shrinkage performance [ 16 , 17 ] of concrete. It has been acknowledged from the aforementioned investigations that basalt fiber distinctly improved the anti-cracking and load-bearing ability of concrete.…”

Experimental Study of High‐Strength Steel Fiber Lightweight Aggregate Concrete on Mechanical Properties and Toughness Index

“…Various short fibers are often used to reduce the brittleness of concrete [9]. Some researchers have proved that steel fibers impart good strengthening, toughening, and crack resistance to both NC and LAC materials, and such steel fiber reinforced concrete would have a direct effect on the deformation and seismic performance of the whole structure [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. In practical application, with the increase of fiber content, the dispersion of steel fiber will become more and more difficult, increasing the bulk density of materials.…”