HowDotheFibersAffecttheWorkabilityofConcrete?

Q:Howdosyntheticandsteelfibersaffectslump?Moreaccuratequestion:howdothefibersaffectthe
workabilityoftheconcrete?
A:Afrequentlyaskedquestionfocusesontheeffectofthesyntheticorsteelfibersontheslumpoftheconcrete.
Thecompanionquestionandmoreaccuratequestionishowwillthefibersaffecttheworkabilityofthe
concrete?
Firstthereadermustunderstandthatslumpandworkabilityarenotinterchangeableterms.Slumpisthemeans
ofmeasuringtheconsistencyoftheconcretefromonetruckloadtothenext.Workabilityisnotindicatedbythe
slumpmeasurement.
Thatsaidthereareanumberofphysicalfiberpropertiesthatwillaffectbothslumpandworkability:
TypeofFiber/ConfigurationoftheFiber
QuantityofFiber
LengthofFiber
ProportionsofthePlainMix
AdmixturesorAdditivesIncorporatedintheMix
Letuslookateachofthesefactors.
Thetypeoffibercanincludesteelormicrosyntheticormacrosyntheticfibers.Withinthemicrosyntheticfiber
categorywehavemonofilamentandfibrillatedpolypropyleneormonofilamentnylonfibers.Macrosynthetic
fibershavenostandardconfiguration.Steelfibersareeithercircular,rectangularorshavedcircularincross
section.Thestandardconfigurationsarecontinuouslydeformed,enddeformedorhookedend.Steelfibers
beingrigidcanhaveamajorinfluenceonbothslumpandworkability,particularlywhenotherparametersare
factoredin.
Oneconcernwithsteelfibersisorientation.Forexample,steelfiberreinforcedconcretecompressioncylinders
cannotbeinternallyrodded.Thereasonbeingthesteelrodusedtoconsolidatethespecimenwillreorientthose
steelfibershitbytherodtoaverticalornearverticaldirection.
ThecurrentACIdocumentthattalkstothissubjectrecommendsthatallFiberReinforcedConcretetest
specimensbeexternallyvibrated,whichwouldincludeallsyntheticfibers.
FibrillatedTapePolypropylenefiberscanreducetheslumpandworkabilitymorethanmonofilament
polypropyleneandnylonfibers.

2.Thequantityoffiberinamixwilldefinitelyeffecttheslumpandconsistency.Thefactortoconsiderhereisthe
surfaceareaofthefiber.Inadditiontothecoarseaggregatethemortar(sandandcement)mustalsocoatthe
fibers.Ifthemortarfractionisinsufficient,thentheeffectontheslumpandworkabilitywillbegreater.Therefore,
itismandatorytoconsiderthequantityoffiberswhendeterminingtheproportionsoftheconventional
ingredientsinafiberreinforcedconcretemix.Morefibersrequiremoremortar.Syntheticfiberswhenusedat
0.5to3.0lbs/cytypicallyrequirenochangestothemixproportions.At3.0lbs/cyandaboveonemustconsider
areviewofthemixproportions.Ifthereareanyquestions,atrialmixshouldberequestedtoevaluatethe
proportionsofconventionalingredientsandtheeffectofthefibers.Ingeneral,syntheticfibersat0.5to1.5
lbs/cywillreducetheslump1to2inchesinawellproportionedmix.Atthisdosagelevelthereshouldbeno
effectonworkability.Atdosagelevelsof3.0lbs/cyandaboveofsyntheticfibersamidrangeorhighrange
waterreducerisrecommended.Forsteelfibersthebreakpointisapproximately40lbs/cywhenconsideringa
waterreducerandmodificationstothemixdesign.
3.Ithasbeenfoundthatlongerfiberswillreducetheslumptoagreaterdegreethanshorterfibers.Thusa1
fiberatthesamedosagelevelwillreducetheslumpmorethana3/4fiberofthesametype.
1.Asnotedabovetheconsistencyorproportionsoftheplainconcretemixwillhaveaneffectonhowgreatthe
slumpreductionmaybewhenfibersareadded.Thisiswhywhen3.0lbs/cyormoreofsyntheticfibersare
addedtoamixor40lbs/cyofsteelfiberormore,itiswisetoputtogetheratrialmix.Anotherfactorwillbe
whetherthemixwillbepumped.Ifthisisthecasetheincreaseinmortarisprobablyamust.
2.Aswenoteabove,admixturesand/oradditiveslikeplasticizersandflyashcanbeusedtoincreasethe
workabilityofafiberreinforcedconcretemix.
Whenintroducingsyntheticand/orsteelfibers,achangeintheslump/workabilitycanbecreatedbyoneormore
oftheitemsdiscussedabove.Thisiswhywesuggestputtingtogetheratrialmixanytimethereisaquestion.
Letsexpandonourdiscussionofworkability.
Abovewehavereviewedthosefactorsrelatedtotheuseoffibersinconcretethateffectboththeslumpand
workabilityoftheconcrete.Nowwewilllookmorecloselyatfiberseffectonworkability.Workability,asdefined
inACI116,isthemeasureofhowreadilytheconcretecanbemixed,placed,consolidatedandfinished.There
isnomentionofslumpinthisdefinition.Thereisnodirectorindirectcorrelationbetweenslumpandworkability
ofplainorfiberreinforcedconcrete.
Thefourpropertiesoftheplasticconcretefoundinthedefinitionofworkabilityareeaseofmixing,placing,
consolidationandfinishing.Atbestslumponlyreflectsononeofthesepropertiesplacing.Slumpwillnot
provideanyindicationofmixing,consolidationorthefinishingpropertiesofagivenconcretemix.
Howdofiberseffectmixing?Theydonoteffectmixing.Ifproperlyintroducedintothemixingsystem,thefibers
willhomogeneouslydistributewithin34minutesinatruckmixer.Theintroductionofthesteelfibersdoes
requirespecialattention(SeespecialFAQonthissubject).Thesinglerequirementtoensureoptimum
distributionisthatthefinsinthemixingsystemareingoodcondition.Oneadditionalpoint:Thebagsof
syntheticfibershouldnotbeintroducedatthesametimeasthecement.Ithasbeenfoundthecementmay
coatthebagsthusretardingthebreakdownofthebags.

Fiberreinforcedconcreteiseasytoplace,eitherdirectlyfromthetruckorpumpedtothepointwhererequired.
Ithasbeenreportedthatmixescontainingfiberswillhavealowerpumppressurethanthesamemixwithno
fibers.Ibelievethisisreadilyunderstoodifonevisualizeswhathappenswithinthepipe.Itiseasytomovethe
mortarportionofthemixthroughthepipe.Itisnoteasytomovethecoarseaggregate.Thuswhathappensis
themortarmovesthroughthecenterofthepipewhilethecoarseaggregateispushedtothewallsofthepipe.
Thecoarseaggregateandpipecreateafrictionalresistance,whichretardsthemovementoftheconcrete.
Whenfibersareaddedtothematrix,thecoarseaggregateremainssuspendedinthematrix,whichreducesthe
frictionatthewallofthepipe.Forthistheorytoworkitisimportantthatthemortarfractionofthemixbe
sufficienttocoatthecoarseaggregateandfiber.
Consolidationofthefiberreinforcedconcreteisanotherproperty,whichrequirestheproperbalanceof
ingredients.Here,again,weemphasizetheneedtofabricatetrialbatchesofthedesignmixtoensurethereis
adequatemortartocoatthecoarseaggregateandthefiber.Itisimportanttonotethatthefibersarepartofthe
mortar,thusoverconsolidation(readvibration)oftheconcretewillseparatethemortar(andthefiberswhen
used)fromthecoarseaggregate.Somewouldviewthisaspoordistributionofthefiberswhere,infact,itisa
resultofpoorconsolidationpracticesbythecontractor.
Thefinalworkabilitypropertytoconsiderisfinishing.Withplainconcreteandfiberreinforcedconcreteitis
knownthatavibratingscreed,arollerscreedoralaserscreedreallyenhancesthefinishingoftheconcrete.
Theactionofthescreedpushesthecoarseaggregatedownandbringsthemortarup.Inafiberreinforced
concretethescreedactuallyhelpsencapsulatethosefibersatthesurfaceoftheslabwithinthemortar.
Insummation,thereareanumberoffiberpropertiesthatmayaffecttheslumpaswellastheworkability.I
wouldemphasizethatthesinglecommonthreadbetweenslumpandworkabilityistheeaseofplacement.The
slumpwillnotshowhowwellthefiberswilldistributeinthemixorhowthefiberreinforcedmixconsolidatesor
finishes.Thusthereistechnicallynowaytomakeablanketstatementthatslumpisameasureofworkabilityfor
plainorfiberreinforcedconcrete.
R.C.Zellers,PE/PLS,Director,EngineeringServices

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