Ultimate Compressive Strains and Reserves of Bearing Capacity of Short RC Columns with Basalt Fiber

Abstract

Increasing the bearing capacity of reinforced concrete structures, reducing material consumption, and ensuring quality are critical in modern construction. The article presents an experimental study of the ultimate compressive strains of short fiber basalt reinforced concrete columns and provides recommendations for increasing the bearing capacity using steel reinforcement bars with greater strength. The columns were tested in an upright position using a hydraulic press. Strains were measured with dial indicators and a strain gauge station. It was shown that the addition of 10% coarse basalt fiber increased the ultimate compressibility of concrete on ordinary crushed stone by 19.8%, and expanded clay concrete by 26.1%, which led to the strain hardening of concrete under compression by 9.0% and 12%, respectively. Ultimate compressive strains in fiber-reinforced concrete short columns with combined reinforcement increased 1.42 times in columns on a lightweight aggregate and 1.19 times on heavy aggregate. An increase in the ultimate compressibility of concrete makes it possible to use steel reinforcement with greater strength in compressed elements as the concrete crushing during compression occurs primarily due to the reaching of critical values by tensile stresses in the transverse direction. This makes it possible to manufacture structures with a higher load-bearing capacity and less material consumption. A practical example of the application of the proposed approach is given.

Environmental Efficiency Aspects of Basalt Fibers Reinforcement in Concrete Mixtures

“…Similar findings provided by Dong et al [13] pointed to substantial environmental impact of applied epoxy resin and lubricating agents. The obtained values are in agreement with the presumptions of various authors, who attributed reduced environmental impact to BF production, in comparison to steel or glass fibers [22,34]. As observed in the work of Akbar et al [16], almost all currently used types of fiber reinforcement are linked to a similar impact on aquatic organisms by acidification.…”

“…Unlike carbon or steel fibers, reliable datasets describing the environmental load associated with basalt fiber application are lacking in the available literature, and only a few pioneer works can be identified. Therefore, an understanding of the environmental impact associated with basalt fiber reinforcement needs to be provided in order to allow advanced comparison and responsible selection of individual concrete mixture constituents [22][23][24].…”

Analysis on different materials for enhancing axial compression capacity of reinforced concrete

“…In another experiment executed by Shilov et al [2], the differences between basalt fiber reinforced concrete and common concrete under compression are also analyzed. The results of testing ten simples revealed that 10% increase in coarse basalt fiber content increased the maximum compressibility of different kinds of concrete by around 20%.…”