Effect of mixing fiber cocktail on flexural strength of concrete

Steel fibre is used to improve the mechanical properties of concrete, especially the postcracking tensile resistant. Moreover, it has recently been used as an alternative engineering material instead of steel bars/steel stirrups in short Steel fibres reinforced concrete (SFRC) construction is more economical than conventional construction. In addition to cost reduction, SFRC has other beneficial properties such as higher stiffness, higher ductility, lightweight, low repair costs, and better post-cracking and dynamic behavior. An experimental investigation on the behavior of concrete specimens reinforced with steel fibres and polypropelene fibres subjected to compressive and flexural loading is presented. Tests were conducted on specimens with four different fibre volume fractions. With the combinations of varying percentage of steel and polypropylene fibres various SPFRC mixes with hooked end fibre and crimped steel fibres were prepared. The results present that flexural and compressive strength characteristics influenced by steel and polypropylene fibres. Use steel fibres are found to be more effective for the enhancement of flexural strength characteristics. The crimped steel fibre is more effective than the hooked end steel fibre. The workability is also affected by the addition of steel fibres. Workability is more affected by the crimped steel fibres than hooked steel fibres. It was observed that SPFRC specimens showed enhanced properties compared to that of normal specimen.