Enhancement of Strength Properties and Durability in High-Performance Concrete Using Polymer and Steel Fibers

Jiri Nemec; Jan Jerabek; Radoslav Gandel; Oldrich Sucharda

doi:10.2478/cee-2026-0071

Abstract

Fiber-reinforced and high-performance concretes are elemental pillars of modern material engineering. Fibres are commonly used in combination with high-performance concrete. Important factor is to determine correct amount and type of fibres. This paper’s focus is on high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete using polymer and steel varieties of fibres. For the experiment was determined main volume of fibres which was subsequently doubled in modified mixture to observe influence of highly increased number of fibres. Presented research introduces in total 4 mixtures of two different material types of fibres and two different dosages which were subjected to series of mechanical and durability tests including compressive, flexural and tensile-splitting strength, resistance against frost and defrosting chemicals and in the end were manufactured series of steel reinforced concrete beams without sheer reinforcement.

The test showed a lot of mixed results, but it was determined that higher amount of steel fibres is usually beneficial for almost all measured characteristics, like compressive strength (137.3 MPa for prism fragments), mass loss after 400 cycles of resistance to frost and chemical de-icing agents (104.4 g/m²) and load tests of steel reinforced beams (125.13 kN). On the other hand, usage of polymer fibres especially in higher volume caused in some cases significant drawbacks like in the case of mass loss after 400 cycles of resistance to frost and chemical de-icing agents (116.9 g/m²) and load tests of steel reinforced beams (84.32 kN). Higher dosage of both types of fibres also influenced tensile-splitting strength in negative way.

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Enhancement of Strength Properties and Durability in High-Performance Concrete Using Polymer and Steel Fibers

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