Construction and Building Materials 94 (2015) 73–82

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Mechanical and durability properties of high-strength concrete

containing steel and polypropylene fibers
Vahid Afroughsabet a, Togay Ozbakkaloglu b,⇑
a
Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
b
School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, University of Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia

h i g h l i g h t s

 Steel and PP fibers were used individually and in combination at 1.0% fiber content.
 Introducing silica fume improved mechanical and durability properties of concrete.
 Steel fiber remarkably increased splitting tensile and flexural strengths of FRC.
 Addition of steel and PP fibers reduced the water absorption of concrete.
 Substitution of steel with PP fiber reduced mechanical properties of concrete.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study investigates the effect of the addition of steel and polypropylene fibers on the mechanical and
Received 20 March 2015 some durability properties of high-strength concrete (HSC). Hooked-end steel fibers with a 60-mm length
Received in revised form 10 May 2015 were used at four different fiber volume fractions of 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%, and 1.0%. Polypropylene fibers
Accepted 27 June 2015
with a 12-mm length were used at the content of 0.15%, 0.30%, and 0.45%. Some mixtures were produced
Available online 4 July 2015
with the combination of steel and polypropylene fibers at a total fiber volume fraction of 1.0% by volume
of concrete, in order to study the effect of fiber hybridization. All the fiber-reinforced concretes contained
Keywords:
10% silica fume as a cement replacement. The compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural
Steel fibers
Polypropylene fibers
strength, electrical resistivity, and water absorption of the concrete mixes were examined. Results of
Hybrid-fiber-reinforced concrete the experimental study indicate that addition of silica fume improves both mechanical and durability
High-strength concrete properties of plain concrete. The results also indicate that incorporation of steel and polypropylene fibers
Mechanical properties improved the mechanical properties of HSC at each volume fraction considered in this study.
Electrical resistivity Furthermore, it was observed that the addition of 1% steel fiber significantly enhanced the splitting ten-
Water absorption sile strength and flexural strength of concrete. Among different combinations of steel and polypropylene
fibers investigated, the best performance was attained by a mixture that contained 0.85% steel and 0.15%
polypropylene fiber. Finally, the results show that introducing fibers to concrete resulted in a decrease in
water absorption and, depending on the type of fibers, significant or slight reduction in the electrical
resistivity of concrete compared to those of the companion plain concrete.
Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction resistance to crack opening and propagation are the main

disadvantages of conventional concrete [1–4].
Concrete is the most widely used construction material, Development of modern civil engineering construction has gen-
because of the several well-known advantages it offers, such as erated an essential demand for new types of concretes which
low cost, general availability, and wide applicability. However, should possess improved qualities such as high-strength, tough-
concrete is a quasi-brittle material, and its brittleness increases ness, and durability [5,6]. Examples of new types of concretes
with its strength. Relatively low tensile strength and poor include high-strength concrete (HSC), high performance concrete
(HPC) and high performance fiber-reinforced concrete (HPFRC).
The properties of such concretes show a substantial improvement
⇑ Corresponding author. over those of conventional concrete [7,8]. However, HSC is more
E-mail addresses: vahid.afroughsabet@polimi.it (V. Afroughsabet), togay. brittle than normal-strength concrete (NSC) and this limits the
ozbakkaloglu@adelaide.edu.au (T. Ozbakkaloglu).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2015.06.051
0950-0618/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
74 V. Afroughsabet, T. Ozbakkaloglu / Construction and Building Materials 94 (2015) 73–82

utilization of HSC. Additionally, it is well understood that the use of to fiber-reinforced concretes. The freshly concrete was cast in
supplementary cementitious materials such as silica fume (SF), 100-mm cubic specimens in order to obtain compressive strength,
ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), and fly ash (FA) as electrical resistivity and water absorption. Splitting tensile
part of binders is required for production of high strength con- strength tests were done on cylindrical specimens with a 100
cretes [9,10]. Generally, replacement of ordinary Portland cement diameter and 200 mm height. Flexural tests were performed on
(OPC) by pozzolans in concrete can decrease porosity of concrete, prismatic beams with dimensions of 80  100  400 mm. The
especially in the long-term [1]. On the other hand, mineral admix- experiments were carried out at 7, 28, and 91 days of curing age,
tures such as silica fume also increase the brittleness of concrete and in all tests three specimens were tested for each curing age.
[11]. The cracks generally develop over time due to a number of
reasons such as plastic shrinkage in pre-hardening state as well 2.1. Materials and mixing procedure
as drying shrinkage in hardened concrete. Subsequently these
cracks weaken waterproofing capabilities of concrete, exposing Ordinary Portland cement (ASTM Type I) produced by the
the concrete microstructure to destructive substances such as Hekmatan factory was used in the present study. Silica fume that
moisture, chloride, sulfates, bromine etc. [12–15]. Therefore, was used in the present study was a commercially available
improvement of the properties of hardened concrete is an impor- by-product of the ferrosilicon factory in Semnan. The chemical
tant goal in concrete science [16]. and physical properties of the cement and silica fume are given
Fibers are incorporated into cementitious concretes to over- in Table 1. Coarse aggregate with a maximum size of 19 mm and
come this weakness, producing materials with increased tensile fine aggregate with a 3.4 fineness modulus were used. The volume
strength, ductility, toughness and improved durability properties fraction of the coarse aggregate and sand was equal to 50%. The
[17–21]. The efficiency of the fiber is dependent upon factors such specific gravity and water absorption of the coarse and fine aggre-
as the properties of the fiber matrix, volume of fiber inclusion, fiber gates were 2.69 and 0.56% and 2.61 and 1.92%, respectively. The
geometry, type of fiber, and orientation of fiber in the concrete grading curves of the aggregates are shown in Fig. 1, and the pass-
mixture [22,23]. There is a wide range of fibers available to ing percentage is presented in Table 2. A Carboxylic 110 M (BASF)
improve toughness and different properties of hardened concrete. was used as a superplasticizer to adjust the workability of the con-
The fibers are mainly made of steel, carbon or polymer [24–26]. crete mixtures. Hooked-end steel fibers with a 60-mm length and
Among the polymer fibers, polypropylene (PP) has attracted the an aspect ratio of 80, and polypropylene fiber with a 12-mm length
most attention among researchers because of its low cost, out- were employed in this study. The geometry and the properties of
standing toughness and enhanced shrinkage cracking resistance fibers are provided in Fig. 2 and Table 3, respectively.
in concrete reinforced with this type of fiber [27–29]. However, Concrete mix proportions are provided in Table 4. In the table,
concrete reinforcement with a single type of fiber improves the the content of superplasticizer is given as a percentage of the total
properties of concrete in a limited range. On the contrary, hybrid weight of the cementitious material. During the preparation of
fiber-reinforced concretes, which are reinforced with two or more concrete mixes, slump tests were conducted in accordance with
different types of carefully selected fibers to provide superior prop- the ASTM C143 [40] to determine the workability of fresh concrete.
erties. Since cracks occur at different stages and sizes in concrete,
the use of various fibers with different lengths is a good way to
2.2. Specimen molding and testing methods
address this problem. In a well-designed composite system, there
is a beneficial interaction between the fibers, which in turn results
The specimens were cast in steel molds and were compacted on
in a better performance of the hybrid system than that of the mono
a vibration table. They were demolded after approximately 24 h
fiber composite [30–34]. The main purpose of the combination of
and were then exposed to lime-saturated water at 23 °C and
different type of fibers is to control cracks at different zones of
100% relative humidity until their testing ages. Compression tests
the cementitious material, at different size levels and during differ-
were carried out on 100-mm cubic specimens using a 3000-KN
ent loading stages [35,36].
universal compression machine. Fig. 3 shows the setup used for
In this study, a total of 12 different mixtures were manufac-
the flexural tests. The specific electrical resistivity was measured
tured to investigate the effect of steel fiber, polypropylene fiber,
with the AC-Impedance spectroscopy, with a 1.0 kHz frequency
and hybridization of two fibers. Among these mixtures, three
and a 1.0 MO final capacity. The water absorption tests were
hybrid fiber-reinforced concretes were produced to study the
effect of fiber hybridization at a total fiber content of 1.0%. The
mechanical properties of concrete such as: compressive strength, Table 1
splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength were evaluated to Chemical composition and physical properties of cementitious materials.
establish the optimum percentage of steel and polypropylene Item Cementitious materials (%)
fibers. The present study was aimed at investigating the behavior
Cement Silica fume
of fiber-reinforced concretes with low fiber volume fractions, as
SiO2 21.2 93.0
this material is widely used in various applications, but the
Al2O3 5.4 1.7
research on the topic has been limited. Furthermore, research on Fe2O3 3.4 1.2
durability properties of fiber-reinforced concrete, such as electrical MgO 1.4 1.0
resistivity and water absorption, has been very limited and the Na2O – 0.6
results of the existing studies have been contradictory [37–39]. K2O – 1.1
CaO 63.9 0.3
The study reported in this paper was aimed at making a significant
contribution toward the understanding of these important proper- Compounds

ties of fiber-reinforced concrete. C3S 51.5 –

C2S 22.0 –
C3A 6.4 –
C4AF 10.5 –
2. Test program and procedures
Physical properties

Concrete mixes with water–cement ratio of 0.3 were produced. Specific gravity (kg/m3) 3150 2210
Specific surface (m2/kg) 300 14,000
Silica fume as a cement replacement was added by 10% of weight
 V. Afroughsabet, T. Ozbakkaloglu / Construction and Building Materials 94 (2015) 73–82 75

100 agreement with the findings of the previous studies that the sub-
Coarse Agg. stitution of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) with pozzolans can
Sand Agg. reduce the porosity of concrete particularly at higher age [44–47].
80
Mixture The results of the fiber-reinforced specimens show that the use
of fibers in any form and volume fraction resulted in an increase in
Passing [%]

60 the compressive strength compared to that of concrete without

fibers. Results also indicate that an increase in the fiber volume
40 fraction led to an increase in the compressive strength. This
increase in the compressive strength can be explained by the fibers
20 ability to restrain the extension of cracks, reduce the extent of
stress concentration at the tip of cracks, change the direction of
cracks, and delay the growth rate of cracks [2]. The results shown
0
in Table 5 indicate that compressive strength of concrete increases
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
from 5% to 15% as a result of addition of polypropylene fibers to the
Sieve Size [mm] mix. It can also be observed in the same table that the effect of steel
Fig. 1. Grading curves of aggregates. fibers was more significant than that of polypropylene fibers in the
improvement of the compressive strength. This can be attributed
to the higher strength and elastic modulus of steel fibers compared
performed on cubic specimens in accordance with BS 1881-122 to those of polypropylene fibers, which result in their higher effi-
[41]. The specimens were cured in water (22 °C) for 27 days. ciency in bridging macro-cracks and consequently increasing the
Subsequently, the specimens were dried in an oven at 45 °C for compressive strength. As can be seen in Table 5, the best perform-
at least 14 days. In the case where the difference between values ing mix was the one with 1.0% steel fiber, which attained a 91-day
obtained from two successive measurements of mass exceeded compressive strength of 104.3 MPa.
0.5% of the lesser value, the specimens were returned to the oven Table 5 also shows that the strengths of concretes manufac-
for an additional 24-h drying period. Weights of the specimens tured with hybrid steel-polypropylene fibers were up to 18%
were then measured at additional days until the difference higher than that of the plain concrete, depending on the replace-
between any two successive measurements was less than 0.5%. ment level of steel, polypropylene fiber, and testing age. The results
The cured specimens were then immersed in the water tank for of hybrid fiber-reinforced concretes illustrate that the substitution
0.5 and 168 h and they were weighed on a 0.01 g balance after of a portion of steel fibers with polypropylene fibers lead to a
being wiped with a dry paper towel. In the present study, water reduction in the compressive strength. Among the different combi-
absorptions at 0.5 h and 7 days are referred to as the early and ulti- nations of steel and PP fibers considered in this study, the highest
mate water absorption, respectively. All the other experiments compressive strength was developed by the mix containing 0.15%
were performed at 7, 28, and 91 days. PP and 0.85% steel fibers.

3. Results and discussions 3.2. Splitting tensile and flexural strengths

3.1. Compressive strength The variation of the splitting tensile and flexural strengths of
different fiber-reinforced concretes at the ages of 7, 28, and 91 days
The results of the compressive strength tests are shown in Fig. 4 are shown in Figs.5 and 6, respectively, and are presented in
and Table 5 for specimens manufactured using different fiber types Table 5. As can be observed from Table 5, addition of silica fume
and volume fractions. The results indicate that incorporation of sil- into concrete led to an increase up to 12% and 7% on the 28-day
ica fume in concrete resulted in an increase in the compressive splitting tensile and flexural strengths, respectively. The increase
strength. The addition of silica fume into the matrix improves in the strength caused by the addition of silica fume can be attrib-
the bond between the cement paste and the aggregate particles uted to the improvement in the bond between the hydrated
as well as increasing the density of the cement paste, which in turn cement matrix and the aggregate. This improved bond is due to
improves the compressive strength of the concretes [42,43]. This the alteration of calcium hydroxide, which tends to form on the
increase was equal to 6%, 8%, and 11% after 7, 28, and 91 days of surface of aggregate particles, into calcium silicate hydrate in the
curing, respectively, as can be seen from Table 5, which indicates presence of reactive silica.
that the increase in strength that results from the addition of silica The results of fiber-reinforced concretes show that incorpora-
fume becomes more significant at higher curing ages. This is in tion of fibers, especially steel fibers, had a significant influence
on the splitting tensile strength of the concrete. As expected, an
increase in the fiber volume fraction resulted in an increase in
Table 2 the splitting tensile strengths. For example, the splitting tensile
Aggregate grading.
strength of the mixtures containing 0.15%, 0.3%, and 0.45%
Sieve size Passing percentage (%) polypropylene fibers increased by 13%, 16%, and 20% at 28 days,
Coarse agg. Sand agg. Mixtures agg. respectively, compared to that of the reference concrete. The
results also indicate that an increase in the splitting tensile
3/4 in. (19 mm) 100.0 100.0 100.0
1/2 in. (12.5 mm) 72.4 100.0 86.2 strength ranging from 13% to 58% was attained, through the addi-
3/8 in. (9.5 mm) 22.9 100.0 61.4 tion of steel fibers to the mix, depending on the fiber content and
1/4 in. (6.35 mm) 8.0 100.0 54.0 test age. As can be seen from Table 5, the improvement in the con-
No. 4 (4.75 mm) 2.0 95.4 48.7 crete strength was higher at later ages of curing. This suggest that
No. 8 (2.36 mm) 0.2 75.5 37.9
No. 16 (1.18 mm) 0.1 51.5 25.8
the presence of silica fume, in addition to improving the character-
No. 30 (0.6 mm) – 27.1 13.6 istics of interfacial layer of aggregate-paste, increased the bond
No. 50 (0.3 mm) – 9.5 4.8 between fibers and cement matrix. Also, this may be attributed
No. 100 (0.15 mm) – 1.9 1.0 to the fact that adding silica fume improves dispersion of fibers
No. 200 (0.075 mm) – 0.6 0.4
into the concrete [48]. The results of hybrid fiber-reinforced
76 V. Afroughsabet, T. Ozbakkaloglu / Construction and Building Materials 94 (2015) 73–82

(a) (b)
Fig. 2. Shape and dimension of different types of fibers: (a) polypropylene fiber and (b) steel fiber.

and elastic modulus compared to those of steel fibers, they bridged

Table 3
Properties of hooked-end steel and polypropylene fibers.
only on micro-cracks and did not have a major effect on the flexu-
ral strength. On the other hand, owing to their higher tensile
Type Shape of Length Diameter Aspect Density Tensile
strength and modulus of elasticity, steel fibers had a remarkable
of fiber fiber l (mm) d (mm) ratio l/d (kg/m3) strength
(N/mm2)
influence on the flexural strength of concrete. The results shown
in Table 5 further indicate that among the hybrid FRCs the flexural
Steel Hooked-end 60 0.75 80 7.80 1050
PP Straight 12 0.022 545 0.91 350
strength of the mix manufactured by 0.15% PP and 0.85% steel
fibers was only 5% lower than that of ST1.0% mix. However, as
can be seen from the table, an increase in the content of PP fibers
in these hybrid mixes resulted in significant reductions in flexural
concretes point to the higher efficiency of steel fibers compared to strengths of the mixes.
PP fibers in enhancing the concrete strength. However, it was Fig. 7 shows a flexural beam manufactured using steel
observed that samples containing any combination of fibers addi- fiber-reinforced concrete after testing. As it can be seen in the fig-
tives exhibited a better performance compared to that of without ure, some of the hooked-end steel fibers became straight under
fibers. The splitting tensile strength improvement of hybrid heavy loads they were subjected to during the pull-out stage.
fiber-reinforced concretes ranged from 23% to 52%, depending on Since the tensile strength of steel fibers was approximately three
the replacement level of steel fiber with PP fiber, and testing age. times that of PP fibers, they contributed more effectively toward
Similarly, it was observed that the use of PP fibers in the con- arresting the macro-cracks in concrete. Furthermore, due to the
crete mix resulted in a slight improvement in the flexural strength. anchoring mechanism created by their hooked ends, steel fibers
As can be seen from Table 5, an increase in the flexural strength of used in the present study were able to develop considerably higher
PP fiber-reinforced concretes over that of the plain concrete varied maximum pull-out forces compared to those developed by straight
from 5% to 14%, depending on the fiber content and test age. On the PP fibers. Consequently, substitution of steel fibers with PP fibers
other hand, as is evident from the results shown in Table 5, addi- resulted in a reduction in the flexural strength of hybrid
tion of steel fibers into concrete led to a significant increase in fiber-reinforced concretes.
the flexural strength. As can be seen from the table, the flexural
strength of concretes incorporating steel fibers was up to 61%
greater than that of the companion plain concrete. The results of 3.3. Specific electrical resistivity
the present study clearly indicate that the presence of steel and
PP fibers influences the flexural strength of concrete quite differ- Electrical resistivity is one of the most important features of
ently. Since, PP fibers are short and have lower tensile strength concrete durability, as it is a significant factor affecting corrosion

Table 4
Mix proportions of concrete mixes.

Mix No. Mixture ID W/B Water Cement Silica Fume Fine Agg. Coarse Agg. Fiber volume SP (%)* Slump (mm)
fraction (%)
(kg/m3) ST PP
1 Plain 0.3 156 520 – 860 886 – – 1.0 170
2 SF10 0.3 156 468 52 851 877 – – 1.0 145
3 PP0.15 0.3 156 468 52 849 875 – 0.15 1.2 130
4 PP0.30 0.3 156 468 52 847 873 – 0.30 1.3 115
5 PP0.45 0.3 156 468 52 845 871 – 0.45 1.4 80
6 ST0.25 0.3 156 468 52 847 873 0.25 – 1.1 150
7 ST0.50 0.3 156 468 52 844 870 0.50 – 1.1 120
8 ST0.75 0.3 156 468 52 841 867 0.75 – 1.2 125
9 ST1.0 0.3 156 468 52 838 863 1.00 – 1.2 80
10 PP0.15ST0.85 0.3 156 468 52 838 863 0.85 0.15 1.2 85
11 PP0.30ST0.70 0.3 156 468 52 838 863 0.70 0.30 1.2 95
12 PP0.45ST0.55 0.3 156 468 52 838 863 0.55 0.45 1.2 50
*
Percentage of total weight of cementitious material.
 V. Afroughsabet, T. Ozbakkaloglu / Construction and Building Materials 94 (2015) 73–82 77

gel, which is known as a source of strength in concrete, increases

the volume of solid phases and reduces the formation of capil-
lary pore systems in concrete. These phenomena result in
improvements in durability properties of concrete, such as con-
crete resistivity [50]. The increase in electrical resistivity inter-
rupts the ions that travel through the concrete. Therefore,
higher electrical resistivity results in a lower corrosion rate of
reinforcing bars in concrete [51,52].
Previously established relationships between the corrosion rate
and electrical resistivity shown in Table 7 [49] suggest that the sil-
ica fume mix, SF10, would provide excellent protection against cor-
rosion of internal steel reinforcement. It can also be seen from
Fig. 8 that silica fume was more effective in enhancing electrical
resistance at later ages. This result is in an agreement with that
reported in Alsadat Sabet et al. [53] and it can be attributed to
the slower rate at which pozzolanic reactions typically occurs.
The results of polypropylene fiber-reinforced concretes indicate
Fig. 3. Test setup for flexural specimens. that incorporation of PP fibers resulted in a slight reduction of the
concrete electrical resistance, the magnitude of which increased
with an increase in the fiber content. This may be due to the fact
in reinforced concrete. It was shown previously that an electrical that fiber inclusion caused the porosity of the mixture to increase
resistivity of 120 O m is the limit for corrosion propagation in [54,55]. The connectivity and size of pores have a significant influ-
internal steel reinforcing bars, above which corrosion of concrete ence on transport properties in concrete. As such, in concretes with
reinforcement would not be probable [49]. The results of the higher porosity it is much easier for electrical current to be carried
electrical resistivity tests for the fiber-reinforced concretes of by ions through concrete’s pore network, which consequently
the present study are shown in Fig. 8 and presented in leads to a lower electrical resistance [56]. Nonetheless, classifica-
Table 6. As can be seen from Table 6, silica fume had a major tions shown in Table 7 suggests that corrosion of steel reinforce-
impact on the electrical resistivity of concrete. Replacing 10% ment inside the polypropylene fiber-reinforced concretes would
of cement weight by silica fume caused the specific electrical be improbable for all the curing ages considered in this study.
resistivity of concrete to increase by 3.1, 6.7, and 5.3 times at The electrical resistance of concrete is strongly influenced by
7, 28, and 91 days, respectively compared to that of the plain the electrolytes in the pores structure of composite, and in the case
concrete. The presence of silica fume densifies the microstruc- of fiber-reinforced specimens, by the presence of the conductive
ture of concrete, while its pozzolanic reaction causes the forma- elements such as steel fibers. The results illustrate that steel fibers
tion of secondary calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H). The C–S–H significantly reduced the electrical resistance of concrete. As can be

120 120
7 Days 7 Days
Compressive Strength [MPa]

Compressive Strength [MPa]

110 28 Days 110 28 Days

91 Days 91 Days
100 100

90 90

80 80

70 70

60 60
Plain SF10 PP0.15 PP0.30 PP0.45 Plain SF10 ST0.25 ST0.50 ST0.75 ST1.0
Mixture Mixture
(a) (b)

120
7 Days
Compressive Strength [MPa]

110 28 Days
91 Days
100

90

80

70

60

Mixture
(c)

Fig. 4. Compressive strengths of different fiber-reinforced concretes: (a) polypropylene fiber-reinforced specimens, (b) steel fiber-reinforced specimens, and (c) hybrid
fiber-reinforced specimens.
78 V. Afroughsabet, T. Ozbakkaloglu / Construction and Building Materials 94 (2015) 73–82

Table 5
Compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength test results.

Mix no. Mixture ID Compressive strength (MPa) Splitting tensile strength (MPa) Flexural strength (MPa)
7 days 28 days 91 days 7 days 28 days 91 days 7 days 28 days 91 days
1 Plain 71.2 (–) 82.6 (–) 88.3 (–) 4.63 (–) 5.27 (–) 5.81 (–) 6.94 (–) 7.81 (–) 8.45 (–)
2 SF10 75.2 (6%) 88.8 (8%) 98.0 (11%) 5.02 (8%) 5.88 (12%) 6.30 (8%) 7.18 (3%) 8.38 (7%) 8.73 (3%)
3 PP0.15 74.9 (5%) 91.2 (10%) 98.6 (12%) 5.13 (11%) 5.95 (13%) 6.47 (11%) 7.36 (6%) 8.50 (9%) 8.97 (6%)
4 PP0.30 75.7 (6%) 91.5 (11%) 101.4 (15%) 5.17 (12%) 6.10 (16%) 6.45 (11%) 7.52 (8%) 8.59 (10%) 8.91 (5%)
5 PP0.45 77.1 (8%) 92.8 (13%) 100.3 (14%) 5.34 (15%) 6.30 (20%) 6.72 (16%) 7.75 (12%) 8.84 (13%) 9.12 (8%)
6 ST0.25 76.1 (7%) 92.3 (12%) 98.5 (12%) 5.24 (13%) 6.05 (15%) 6.60 (14%) 7.58 (9%) 8.93 (14%) 9.41 (11%)
7 ST0.50 77.4 (9%) 93.8 (14%) 102.0 (16%) 5.46 (18%) 6.41 (22%) 7.40 (27%) 8.64 (24%) 9.97 (28%) 10.92 (29%)
8 ST0.75 78.3 (10%) 95.0 (15%) 102.6 (16%) 6.16 (33%) 7.29 (38%) 7.87 (35%) 9.56 (38%) 10.61 (36%) 11.18 (32%)
9 ST1.0 79.9 (12%) 98.7 (19%) 104.3 (18%) 7.32 (58%) 8.17 (55%) 8.80 (51%) 10.66 (54%) 12.58 (61%) 13.10 (55%)
10 PP0.15ST0.85 80.1 (13%) 97.5 (18%) 104.0 (18%) 7.04 (52%) 7.98 (51%) 8.47 (46%) 10.37 (49%) 12.02 (54%) 12.64 (50%)
11 PP0.30ST0.70 81.4 (14%) 96.6 (17%) 103.2 (17%) 6.11 (32%) 7.35 (39%) 8.20 (41%) 9.83 (42%) 10.75 (38%) 11.12 (32%)
12 PP0.45ST0.55 77.9 (9%) 95.3 (15%) 102.8 (16%) 5.73 (24%) 6.68 (27%) 7.17 (23%) 9.05 (30%) 10.40 (33%) 10.96 (30%)

Note: The number in the () shows the percentage of strength increase over that of the plain concrete.

10 10
Spling Tensile Strength [MPa]

7 Days 7 Days

Spling Tensile Strength [MPa]

9 28 Days 9 28 Days
91 Days 91 Days
8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4
Plain SF10 PP0.15 PP0.30 PP0.45 Plain SF10 ST0.25 ST0.50 ST0.75 ST1.0
Mixture Mixture
(a) (b)

10
Spling Tensile Strength [MPa]

7 Days
9 28 Days
91 Days
8

Mixture
(c)

Fig. 5. Splitting tensile strengths of different fiber-reinforced concretes: (a) polypropylene fiber-reinforced specimens, (b) steel fiber-reinforced specimens, and (c) hybrid
fiber-reinforced specimens.

seen in Table 6, addition of steel fibers reduced the electrical resis- fiber-reinforced concretes indicate that an increase in the steel
tance of concretes up to 82% at 28 days, compared to that of the fiber content at a constant total fiber volume fraction of 1.0%
plain concrete mix with 10% silica fume (i.e. mix No. 2). Despite resulted in a reduction in the electrical resistivity of the concrete.
the adverse effect of steel fibers on the electrical resistivity of con-
crete, addition of silica fume in these mixtures resulted in an over- 3.4. Water absorption
all improvement on the overall electrical resistivity of steel
fiber-reinforced concretes compared to that of the plain concrete Another major factor that affects concrete durability is the
without silica fume. Furthermore, it was observed that the electri- resistance of concrete to the ingress of aggressive ions. The absorp-
cal resistance of concretes that incorporated silica fume and steel tion characteristics of concrete indirectly represent its porosity,
fiber was up to 152% greater than that of the plain concrete, while also supplying useful information about the permeable pore
depending on the replacement level of steel fibers. Therefore, it volume inside the concrete and connectivity between these pores.
can be concluded that the inclusion of 10% silica fume was suffi- The water absorption of different fiber-reinforced concretes of the
cient to overcome the reduction in electrical resistivity that present study are depicted in Fig. 9 and summarized in Table 6. The
resulted from the addition of steel fibers of up to 1.0% fiber volume results indicate that introducing silica fume in concrete caused a
fraction. As expected, in Table 6 the results of hybrid the significant reduction in the water absorption of concrete. For
 V. Afroughsabet, T. Ozbakkaloglu / Construction and Building Materials 94 (2015) 73–82 79

14 14
7 Days 7 Days
28 Days 28 Days

Flexural Strength [MPa]

Flexural Strength [MPa]
12 91 Days 12 91 Days

10 10

8 8

6 6
Plain SF10 PP0.15 PP0.30 PP0.45 Plain SF10 ST0.25 ST0.50 ST0.75 ST1.0
Mixture Mixture
(a) (b)

14
7 Days
Flexural Strength [MPa]

28 Days
12 91 Days

10

Mixture
(c)
Fig. 6. Flexural strengths of different fiber-reinforced concretes: (a) polypropylene fiber-reinforced specimens, (b) steel fiber-reinforced specimens, and (c) hybrid
fiber-reinforced specimens.

instance, 30 min (early) and 7-day (ultimate) water absorptions of

concrete mixes with silica fume reduced by 25% and 36%, respec-
tively, compared to the respective values obtained from plain con-
crete mixes. The results of polypropylene fiber-reinforced
concretes indicate the positive effect of PP fibers on decreasing
the water absorption of concrete. As it can be seen from Table 6,
increasing the fiber content caused a higher reduction of water
absorption. Therefore, mixture includes 0.45% PP fiber reached
the lowest water absorption among all polypropylene
fiber-reinforced concretes. The results shown in Table 6 also indi-
cate that ultimate water absorption of polypropylene
fiber-reinforced concretes on average reduced by 14% compared
to that of the silica fume concrete (i.e. mix No. 2).
The results of steel fiber-reinforced concretes show a similar
trend to that seen in polypropylene fiber-reinforced concretes,
with an increase in the fiber volume fraction resulting in a decrease
in the water absorption of concrete. The results given in Table 6
indicate that, the lowest water absorption was recorded for a Fig. 7. Steel fiber-reinforced beam after flexural test.
mix that contained 1.0% steel fibers, for which early and ultimate
water absorptions were 0.47%, and 0.69%, respectively. concretes leads to an increase in transition zone thickness and
Even though addition of fibers to concrete has a number of ben- porosity, and consequently to higher water absorption.
efits, this also cause an increase in the thickness of the transition It is worth noting that according to CEB-FIP [58] concretes with
zone in hybrid fiber-reinforced concretes [57]. As can be seen from early water absorptions of less than 3%, between 3% and 5%, and
Table 6, among the hybrid fiber-reinforced concretes the best per- higher than 5% can be classified as good, average, and poor quality,
forming mix was the one with 0.7% steel and 0.3% PP fibers. It is respectively. Therefore, according to these classifications, all of the
observed that, increasing the PP fiber content from 0.3% to 0.45% concrete mixes investigated in the present study showed a low
in hybrid fiber-reinforced concretes resulted in higher water absorption which indicated ‘‘good’’ concrete quality. The low water
absorption. The observations of the present study indicate that absorption values attained in this study can be attributed to the lim-
addition of higher amounts of PP fibers to hybrid fiber-reinforced ited pore connectivity and reduced porosity of the concrete mixes.
80 V. Afroughsabet, T. Ozbakkaloglu / Construction and Building Materials 94 (2015) 73–82

600 600

Specific Electrical Resisvity [ m]

Specific Electrical Resisvity [ m]

7 Days
500 500 28 Days
91 Days
400 400
7 Days
300 28 Days 300
91 Days
200 200

100 100

0 0
Plain SF10 PP0.15 PP0.30 PP0.45 Plain SF10 ST0.25 ST0.50 ST0.75 ST1.0
Mixture Mixture
(a) (b)

Specific Electrical Resisvity [ m] 600

7 Days
500 28 Days
91 Days
400

300

200

100

Mixture
(c)

Fig. 8. Specific electrical resistivity of different fiber-reinforced concretes: (a) polypropylene fiber-reinforced specimens, (b) steel fiber-reinforced specimens, and (c) hybrid
fiber-reinforced specimens.

Table 6 enhancing the matrix-aggregate bond and increasing the

Results of specific electrical resistivity and water absorption tests. concrete strength. Moreover, it is founds that silica fume is
more effective in enhancing the concrete strength during
Mix no. Mixture ID Specific electrical resistivity Water
(O m) absorption (%) the later stages of curing.
(2) The inclusion of silica fume significantly influences the dura-
7 days 28 days 91 days Early Ultimate
bility properties of concrete and improves the characteristics
1 Plain 40.3 68.6 105.1 0.85 1.52 of the transition zone. The electrical resistance of concrete
2 SF10 122.9 460.9 551.8 0.64 0.97
3 PP0.15 121.4 455.6 550.8 0.61 0.92
with 10% silica fume increased by 3.1, 6.7, and 5.3 times at
4 PP0.30 119.7 440.3 545.6 0.54 0.82 7, 28, and 91 days, respectively, compared to those of plain
5 PP0.45 114.5 431.7 535.1 0.51 0.77 concrete. Replacing 10% of cement weight with silica fume
6 ST0.25 53.6 172.8 320.6 0.59 0.85 resulted in a decrease of 25% and 36% in the early and ulti-
7 ST0.50 33.1 133.8 243.9 0.56 0.80
mate water absorption, respectively.
8 ST0.75 23.8 102.9 201.8 0.50 0.71
9 ST1.0 17.3 83.0 175.6 0.47 0.69 (3) An increase in the fiber content of both PP and steel
10 PP0.15ST0.85 19.8 91.2 180.8 0.49 0.75 fiber-reinforced concretes results in enhancements in
11 PP0.30ST0.70 23.0 109.1 211.3 0.43 0.62 mechanical properties of the concrete. This is due to the abil-
12 PP0.45ST0.55 31.4 118.0 236.5 0.50 0.71 ity of fibers to restrain the extension of cracks, reduce the
extent of stress concentration at the tip of cracks, and delay
Table 7 the growth rate of cracks.
Relations between electrical resistivity of concrete and probability of steel corrosion (4) The results of hybrid fiber-reinforced concretes show that
[49].
substitution of steel fiber with PP fiber results in a lower
Electrical resistivity (O m) Probability of corrosion mechanical strength. The higher tensile strength and modu-
120< Not probable lus of elasticity of steel fibers are the two main factors that
50–120 Probable contribute toward the better performance of steel
<50 Inevitable fiber-reinforced concretes.
(5) Addition of different type of fibers to concrete affects the
electrical resistivity of concrete differently. Inclusion of
4. Conclusions polypropylene fiber increases the porosity of mixtures and
causes a slight reduction in the electrical resistivity of con-
Based on the results and discussions presented in this paper the crete. Whereas, addition of steel fibers significantly
following conclusions can be drawn. decreases the electrical resistivity of concrete due to conduc-
tivity characteristics of the fibers.
(1) Addition of silica fume leads to an improvement in all of the (6) Combined use of silica fume with steel or polypropylene
mechanical properties of concrete. The silica fume particles fibers in concrete results in a significant decrease in the
act as a microfiller, densifying the transition zone, thus, water absorption of concrete. The combined use of fibers
 V. Afroughsabet, T. Ozbakkaloglu / Construction and Building Materials 94 (2015) 73–82 81

2.0 2.0
Early Ulmate Early Ulmate
1.6 1.6

Water Absorpon [%]

Water Absorpon [%]

1.2 1.2

0.8 0.8

0.4 0.4

0.0 0.0
Plain SF10 PP0.15 PP0.30 PP0.45 Plain SF10 ST0.25ST0.50ST0.75 ST1.0
Mixture Mixture
(a) (b)

2.0
Early Ulmate
1.6
Water Absorpon [%]

1.2

0.8

0.4

0.0

Mixture
(c)

Fig. 9. Early and ultimate water absorption of different fiber-reinforced concretes: (a) polypropylene fiber-reinforced specimens, (b) steel fiber-reinforced specimens, and (c)
hybrid fiber-reinforced specimens.

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