Improving Mechanical Properties of Polymer Modified Concrete Using Micro-Steel Fiber and Silica Fume

Abstract

The use of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) is to improve the structural behavior such as increasing the resistance to cracking and crack propagation. This work has been made to study the properties of polymer modified concrete when micro-steel fiber is incorporated at different volumetric percentages from 0.1 % to 2 %. Two mixes (1:1.5:2 and 1:2:4) have been used and modified with styrene butadiene rubber resin (SBR) and silica fume with maintaining water cement ratio at 0.45. It has been found that increasing steel fiber content in concrete has a significant influence on the increase compressive, tensile, flexural strength, modulus of elasticity and stress- strain relationship. Flexural strength increases from 4.14 MPa (for 0% steel fiber) to 11.83 MPa (for 2% steel fiber). Whereas, the modulus of elasticity is improved by about 77% (for 1:1.5:2 mixes) and 91% (for 1:2:4 mixes).