Physical and mechanical behaviour of a roller compacted concrete reinforced with polypropylene fiber

Abstract

In order to study the behaviour of a roller compacted concrete (RCC) reinforced with polypropylene fiber, six types of RCC were made with different content of fibers (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 Kg/m³). The physical parameters are the density, the workability, the shrinkage and the water absorption. For the mechanical parameters; the performances such as the compressive strength and the tensile strength (3 point bending and splitting) has been studied. The results show that the RCC reinforced with fibers present the better performances in terms of strength and physical behaviour. The results obtained show the positive effect of the polypropylene fiber addition on the mechanical strength, which increases about 23% for the mixture with 1 Kg/m³. For the physical properties, there is a decrease in the density and workability and an improvement in the water absorption proportional with the addition of polypropylene fiber. In addition, we conclude the positive effect of polypropylene fiber on the kinetics and development of the shrinkage. In this study, the best physical and mechanical performance was being observed in the mixture with 1 Kg/m³ of polypropylene.

Keywords: Roller compacted concrete, polypropylene fiber, workability, mechanical strength, shrinkage