Materials Today: Proceedings | 2021
Determine the influence of fiber types on some properties of self-compacted mortar
Abstract
Abstract There has recently been a rapid growth in the manufacture of less energy-intensive cement and high-performance concretes (resistance and durability). The key benefits of randomly dispersed fiber reinforcement of cement-based materials are strengthened by its flexural strength and toughness. Therefore, the main aim of this research is to evaluate the influence of cement mortar type on fresh mortar (slump flow test), and hardened mortar (apparent density, compressive strength and modulus of rupture) by using mineral admixtures (silica fume), as a partial replacement (8%) by weight of cement. As well, study the effect of fiber types used {micro steel fiber or hybrid fiber (hooked end\u202f+\u202fmicro steel fiber)} with the fiber volume fraction of 1.5% on the self-compacted mortar properties (SCM). Results indicated that it is possible to attain the self-compacted property through this mix explained by slump flow between (240–260) mm. Moreover, SCM incorporating densified silica fume shows a significant increase in compressive strength and modulus of rupture compared to reference mortar, and the addition of 1.5% by volume micro steel fibers or hybrid fiber to SCM with densified silica fume compared to corresponding mixes without fibers caused an increase in the compressive strength to about 24.4% and 35.3% respectively, and in modulus of rupture to about 159.5%, and 192%, respectively.