Fracture studies on fiber-reinforced rubcrete
- Vol.95(6), June
- Thane ACC LTD 2021
- 37-46p.
This paper presents the details of studies carried out to investigate the fracture energy of fiber-reinforced rubcrete with an aim to assess the improvement in ductility. A three-point bend beam test was carried out using 18 mixes with compressive strength of 20 N/mm2 as per RILEM TC-50 FMC. Experiments were carried out on four rubcrete mixes (with 5, 10, and 15% replacement of fine aggregates with crumb rubber), three polypropylene fiber-reinforced concrete mixes (with 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3% of polypropylene fibers occupying the total volume of concrete), and four steel fiber mixes (with 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1% of steel fibers occupying the total volume of concrete). The fiberreinforced rubcrete mixes included rubcrete mixes with 15% of fine aggregate replacement with crumb rubber. Fracture energy obtained using the work of fracture method provides an insight into the ductility and toughness of concrete. The results of the study indicated that for rubcrete beams, the fracture energy was increased by 14% for rubcrete with 15% crumb rubber. The fracture energy of steel fiber-reinforced concrete beam with 1% steel fiber content was 56% higher than the fracture energy of ordinary concrete. The fracture energy of steel fiber-reinforced rubcrete beam with 1% steel fiber content and 15% crumb rubber content was 92% more than the fracture energy of the ordinary concrete beam. For polypropylene fiber-reinforced concrete beam with 0.3% polypropylene fiber content, the fracture energy was improved by 27%. In the polypropylene fiber-reinforced rubcrete beam with 15% crumb rubber content and 0.3% polypropylene fibers, the enhancement in fracture energy was 57%. Significant improvement in ductility was achieved using steel fiber-reinforced rubcrete mix with 1% steel fibers and 15% crumb rubber when compared to concrete.