Mechanical Properties of Fiber-Reinforced High-Volume Fly-Ash-Based Cement Composite—A Long-Term Study

This article presents the long-term mechanical properties of a novel cement composite, no-aggregate concrete (NAC), containing 80% of low-calcium (class F) fly ash (F-FA) and 20% ordinary Portland cement (OPC) without aggregates. The study investigates the effect of adding polypropylene fibers (PPFs...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSustainability Vol. 15; no. 17; p. 13128
Main Authors Kudva, Laxman P, Nayak, Gopinatha, Shetty, Kiran K, Sugandhini, H. K
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.09.2023
Subjects
Aggregates
Cement
Climate change
Coal-fired power plants
Concrete mixing
Construction industry
Crack propagation
Fly ash
Hydration
Influence
Literature reviews
Manufacturing
Mechanical properties
Polyvinyl alcohol
Reinforced concrete
Stress concentration
Sustainability
Tensile strength
India
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Summary:This article presents the long-term mechanical properties of a novel cement composite, no-aggregate concrete (NAC), containing 80% of low-calcium (class F) fly ash (F-FA) and 20% ordinary Portland cement (OPC) without aggregates. The study investigates the effect of adding polypropylene fibers (PPFs) in varying volume fractions to NAC by conducting compressive, splitting tensile, flexural, bond strength, and sorptivity tests, emphasizing the morphological features over a curing duration of up to three years. The results indicate that adding PPF has an insignificant effect on compressive strength. However, flexural, splitting tensile, and bond strength improve with an increasing volume fraction of PPF. The addition of PPF achieves a ductile failure which is desirable. The initial and final water absorption rate (sorptivity) reduces with the addition of PPF. Further, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images reveal dense precipitation of C-S-H, while energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) quantifies the hydration products. The ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) affirms the composite’s excellent quality.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su151713128