Investigations on mechanical and durability properties for pavement quality concrete using hybrid fibres

Abstract

Hybrid fibre reinforced concrete was used to develop pavement quality concrete (PQC) to overcome the disadvantages associated with rigid pavements prepared with plain cement concrete. Hooked-end steel (ST) fibre of 60 mm in length and polypropylene (PP) fibre with a length of 36 mm were used as reinforcement for hybrid fibre concrete mix. The proportion of ST and PP fibres used were upto 1% in which PP fibres varied from 0 to 0.45% at 0.15% increment in the total mix. This study aims to assess the various strength workability and durability issue of the concrete mixes. Significant improvement in the properties of mechanical and durability characteristics was observed in the results with the addition of these fibres as compared to control cement concrete. Among all the mix proportions, the overall performance of the mixture by adding steel fibre at 0.85% and polypropylene fibre at 0.15 % contents was found to be the best. However, a slight increase in water absorption value was observed by the incorporation of fibres into concrete due to increased thickness in transition zone and porosity.