Improving the Creep Resistance of Hardened Cement Paste through the Addition of Wollastonite Microfibers: Evaluation Using the Micro-Indentation Technique

Abstract

This paper evaluates the creep behavior of wollastonite-microfiber-reinforced hardened cement paste. A parametric study was performed for cementitious mixtures with partial replacement of cement using wollastonite. The samples were subjected to uniaxial compression and microindentation experiments. The compressive strength significantly improved by up to 30% for the mixture containing 10% wollastonite fiber. Microindentation experiments were performed to evaluate the creep response and time-dependent performance of both the control and the wollastonite-fiber-reinforced samples. Approximately 36% increase in creep modulus was observed with 10% wollastonite fiber content. This indicates a significant improvement in creep behavior, which can be attributed to the micro-reinforcing effect of the fibers. No significant impact was observed for time characteristic of creep with the incorporation of wollastonite fibers. Overall, the study establishes a cost-effective, sustainable, and efficient route to enhance the creep behavior of hardened cement paste for a wide range of infrastructural applications.