Compressive Strength Index of Crimped Polypropylene Fibres in High Strength Cementitious Matrix

Submitted: Jul 2, 2013; Accepted: Aug 18, 2013; Published: Aug 29, 2013 Abstract: Experimental Studies were conducted to analyse the influence of crimped polypropylene fibres in cementitious matrix. The compressive strength of concrete with the addition crimped polypropylene fibres for relative volume fractions of 0.1% and 0.3% were evaluated in concrete with water cement ratio as low as 0.3. High compressive strength of 56.4 MPa was observed for 0.3% of polypropylene fibres with HRWR (high range superplasticizer based polymer admixtures) and showed an increase in strength up to 14.6% compared to plain concrete. The polypropylene fibre addition showed initial reduction in the workability of concrete composite containing fly ash and HRWR admixtures. The experimental results showed that increase in compressive strength absorbed for polymer modified fibre concrete under the 6 days water curing followed by 22 days dry air room temperature compared to 28 days water curing regime. It is mainly due to HRWR admixtures and their excellent water retention inside the concrete due to polymer film formation around the cement grains. The compressive strength of Polymer modified fibre concretes shows reduction in strength under wet curing compared to dry curing regime.