Effect of Fibre Hybridisation on Mechanical Properties of Cementitious Composites

Abstract

Conventional cement based composites have constituent materials such as Portland cement, supplementary cementitious materials, fine sand, super-plasticizer and water. To achieve high performance, these composites needs high cement content in it which will cause high cost of production. Addition of supplementary cementitious materials as partial substitutes for cement will help in reducing the cost. In this study, a pre-characterized mix proportion of cementitious composite, in which 30% of cement was substituted with lime powder. To enhance the ductility of the composite, the matrix is reinforced with 2% (by volume of composite) of crimped steel fibres. Further, hybridisation of metallic and non-metallic fibres is done in this study to bring the self-weight of the mix down and to reduce the chances of degradation due to the corrosion of fibres. Fibre hybridisation was done by replacing 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% by volume of steel fibres with poly propylene (PP) fibres. The characterisation of the fibre reinforced composites was done by assessing their workability by conducting flow test, compressive strength test, split tensile strength test, flexure test and low velocity impact test. It was observed that, the mix with 100% of steel fibres replaced with PP fibres exhibited better workability. It was also observed that, compressive strength, split tensile strength, modulus of rupture and impact resistance were maximum for the mix reinforced with steel fibre alone and the strengths got reduced gradually due to hybridisation of fibres. Based on the requirement of strength, a combination of steel and PP fibres can be used for reinforcing the matrix, which will help in improving ductility, reducing self-weight. By this, the matrix can be made more resistant to corrosion and can be used in structures especially in the marine environment.