Performance evaluation of dispersed basalt fiber on strength of lightweight expanded clay concrete

This paper conducted an experimental investigation on the effects of dispersed basalt fiber (BF) on lightweight expanded clay concrete (LWECC). The objective is to evaluate the strength, density of LWECC containing dispersed BF with comparison on the strength derived from research of similar work. Experiments were performed on LWECC 100 x 100 x 400 mm prism for flexure and 100 x 100 x 100 mm cube for compression and split tensile tests. Additives were added to enhance the concrete strength. The compressive strength (f(c)) , density (rho) , flexural strength (f(f)) , split tensile strength (f(st)) were obtained from LWECC containing 0%, 0.9%, and 1.6% BF, respectively. The experimental results on day 28 show that f(C) recorded the highest at 1.6% BF content, and lowest at 0% BF content while with incorporation of 0.9%BF, the f(C) of ECC increased by 121.82%, with incorporation of 1.6% BF the f(C) of ECC increased by 162.79% and ECC containing 1.6% BF showed rho of 1410 Kg/m(3) while the f(f) is highest with 1.6% BF at 6.54 MPa followed by 0.9% BF at 4.01 MPa and lowest at 0% BF at 3.72 MPa. The f(st) is higher with 1.6 BF at 5.41 MPa. Incorporation of BF in ECC proved to have positive effect of ECC.