Materials and Design 32 (2011) 1044–1049

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Materials and Design

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Technical Report

The durability properties of polypropylene fiber reinforced fly ash concrete

Okan Karahan *, Cengiz Duran Atisß
Department of Civil Engineering, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey

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

Article history: This paper reports of a comprehensive study on the durability properties of concrete containing polypro-
Received 22 February 2010 pylene fiber and fly ash. Properties studied include unit weight and workability of fresh concrete, and
Accepted 9 July 2010 compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, porosity, water absorption, sorptivity coefficient, drying
Available online 14 July 2010
shrinkage and freeze–thaw resistance of hardened concrete. Fly ash content used in concrete mixture
was 0%, 15% and 30% in mass basis, and fiber volume fraction was 0%, 0.05%, 0.10% and 0.20% in volume
basis.
The laboratory results showed that inclusion of fly ash improves; however, polypropylene fiber
decreases the workability of concrete. Moreover, polypropylene fiber addition, either into Portland
cement concrete or fly ash concrete, did not improve the compressive strength and elastic modulus.
The positive interactions between polypropylene fibers and fly ash lead to the lowest drying shrinkage
of fibrous concrete with fly ash. Freeze–thaw resistance of polypropylene fiber concrete was found to
slightly increase when compared to concrete without fibers. Moreover, fly ash increased the freeze–thaw
resistance more than the polypropylene fibers did.
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Polypropylene fiber is introduced in the mix to minimize brit-

Concrete is a tension-weak building materials, which is often
crack ridden connected to plastic and hardened states, drying
shrinkage, and the like [1]. When the water, present in concrete,
freezes then its volume increases approximately 9%. This expan-
sion results in concrete with a tensile stress and strain; thus, if ten-
sile strength and strain capacity of concrete is exceeded then the
concrete disintegrates [2].
It is known that the tensile strength of concrete is relatively
much lower than its compressive strength, therefore, crack propa-
gation can be developed more quickly [3]. The tensile strength of
concrete is only about 10% of its compressive strength, and concrete
cracks when subjected to tensile stresses [4]. Crack control plays a
crucial role in the performance life of concrete in construction. This
is because the settlement and plastic shrinkage cracks may pass
through fresh concrete, thus forming planes of weakness and low-
ering the integrity of the structure of concrete [5]. Polypropylene fi-
bers mitigate plastic and early drying shrinkage by increasing the
tensile property of concrete and bridging the forming cracks [6].
The polypropylene fiber has a low Young’s modulus so they cannot
prevent the formation and propagation of cracks at high stress level
but they can bridge large cracks [7]. Shrinkage especially the drying
shrinkage influences the performance of structural concrete which
could induce cracking and thus reduces the durability [8].
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 352 4374901x32401; fax: +90 352 4375784.
E-mail address: okarahan@erciyes.edu.tr (O. Karahan).
tleness of the matrix thereby reducing the susceptibility to crack-
ing of a concrete [9]. It is also reported that polypropylene fiber
was effective in resisting the development of cracks caused by dry-
ing shrinkage [10,11].
It is known that inclusion of polypropylene fiber in concrete
shows excellent durability on exposure to freeze–thaw cycling
[12]. Although, it is expected that fibers to be effective in reducing
frost damage because of their crack-arresting properties [13], con-
trary conclusion was also reported by Allan and Kukacka [14] stat-
ing that polypropylene fibers did not significantly change the
residual compressive strength of air entrained grouts subjected
to freeze–thaw cycles.
The environmental protection and cost-effective considerations
bring about the era of using the industrial by-products such as fly
ash and slag in concrete [15]. There are many advantages of using
fly ash in concrete. The addition of fly ash can increase workability
[16], increase long-term strength [17] and increase durability and
reduce the heat of hydration of concrete [18,19].
An area that has not been much examined previously is the
influence of polypropylene fiber on the shrinkage and frost resis-
tance of not only for Portland cement concrete but also fly ash con-
crete. Therefore, the aim of this research is to study the effects of
polypropylene fibers on drying shrinkage and freeze–thaw resis-
tance of concrete made with and without fly ash. This is achieved
by measuring the unit weight, workability, and compressive
strength, modulus of elasticity, porosity, water absorption, sorptiv-
ity coefficient, drying shrinkage and freeze–thaw resistance of con-

0261-3069/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2010.07.011
 O. Karahan, C.D. Atisß / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 1044–1049 1045

crete studied. This study is a part of PhD thesis carried out at Table 3
Cukurova University [20,21]. Concrete compositions for a cubic meter.

Mixture PC Fly ash PP fiber W HP Aggr.

(kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (lt/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3)
2. Experimental program
A1 400 – – 140 4.0 1891
A2 400 – 0.45 140 4.0 1890
2.1. Materials
A3 400 – 0.90 140 4.0 1889
A4 400 – 1.80 140 4.0 1886
2.1.1. Cement B1 340 60 – 140 4.0 1874
The cement used was Portland cement CEM I 42, 5 R with a spe- B2 340 60 0.45 140 4.0 1872
B3 340 60 0.90 140 4.0 1871
cific gravity of 3.16. Initial and final setting times of the cement
B4 340 60 1.80 140 4.0 1868
were 138 min and 203 min respectively. Its Blaine specific surface C1 280 120 – 140 4.0 1856
area was 3250 cm2/g and chemical composition is given in Table 1. C2 280 120 0.45 140 4.0 1855
C3 280 120 0.90 140 4.0 1853
C4 280 120 1.80 140 4.0 1851
2.1.2. Fly ash
Fly ash used was obtained from Sugozu power station located in
southern Turkey. According to ASTM C 618 [22] standard it was
classified as class F and low lime fly ash. Specific gravity and Blaine used to determine the aggregate weight. Fresh concretes contain-
specific surface area were 2.31 and 2900 cm2/gr respectively. ing 15% and 30% fly ash as cement replacement in mass basis were
Chemical oxide composition of cement and fly ash were given in prepared by modifying the control Portland cement concrete. Fresh
Table 1. fiber-reinforced concretes containing 0.05%, 0.10%, and 0.20% poly-
propylene fiber in volume basis were prepared. Aggregate weight
2.1.3. Aggregate for a cubic meter was adjusted when fly ash or fiber introduced
Dry and clean natural, river aggregate was used in concrete into concrete.
mixture. The gravel was 16 mm maximum nominal size with The procedures for mixing the fiber-reinforced concrete in-
1.1% absorption value and its relative density at saturated surface volved the following. First, the gravel and sand were placed in a
dry (SSD) condition was 2.70. The absorption value of the sand concrete mixer and dry mixed for 1 min. Second, the cement and
used was 1.2% and its relative density at saturated surface dry fiber were spread and dry mixed for 1 min. Third, the mixing water
(SSD) condition was 2.61. The grading of the mixed aggregate (90%) was slowly added and mixed 2 min. Fourth, the remaining
was presented in Table 2. mixing water (10%) and plasticizer were added and mixed 3 min.
Last, the freshly mixed fiber-reinforced concrete was fed into spec-
2.1.4. Fibers imens mold and vibrated simultaneously. After casting, each of the
Polypropylene fiber, which was named F19, fibrillated polypro- specimens was allowed to stand for 24 h in laboratory before
pylene fibers with a density 0.91, and a tensile strength ranging be- demolding. Demoulded specimens were stored in water at
tween 400 and 600 MPa. 23 ± 2 °C until testing days.

2.1.5. Plasticizer 2.3. Testing methods

A commercial carboxylic type hyper plasticizer was used to
maintain the workability of fresh concrete. The dosage of hyper Experimental investigation of fresh mix properties of fiber rein-
plasticizer was kept constant in mass basis; it was 1% of the binder forced fly ash concrete was conducted based on TS-EN 12350-2
content of concrete. [23] using a slump cone, TS EN 12350-3 [24] for V–B time, and
TS EN 12390-7 [25] for unit weight. Compressive strength of each
2.2. Mixture composition and preparation specimen was determined using TS-EN 12390-3 [26]. Elastic mod-
ulus of each specimen was determined using TS 3502 [27]. Porosity
For each concrete of a cubic meter, approximate concrete com- and water absorption was determined by conforming to TS 3624
position is given in Table 3. Mixture design is made with according [28]. Length change was measured using TS 3453 [29]. Freeze–
to absolute volume method. At the beginning of the mixture de- thaw was performed in accordance with the TS 699 [30]. Compres-
sign, binder content 400 kg/m3 and water–cement ratio 0.35 were sive strength, modulus of elasticity, porosity, water absorption and
chosen as constant, then, the volume of aggregate was determined sorptivity were measured at 28 days. Freeze–thaw resistance was
for control Portland cement concrete by assuming approximately measured at 90 days. The shrinkage measurements were carried
2% air is trapped in fresh concrete. The volume of aggregate was out from 1 day to 210 days on the samples cured in a humidity
cabinet at 65% relative humidity with 23 ± 2 °C. Specimen dimen-
sions were 150  300 mm for compressive strength and elastic
Table 1 modulus, 50  50  285 mm for shrinkage, 71  71  71 mm for
Chemical composition of cement and fly ash (%). porosity, water absorption, 40  40  160 mm for sorptivity and
Oxide SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO SO3 K2O Na2O LOI 100  100  100 mm for freeze–thaw resistance.
Cement 19.71 5.20 3.73 62.91 2.54 2.72 0.90 0.25 0.96
Fly ash 52.50 22.82 5.34 7.16 2.56 0.20 0.99 0.48 3.35 3. Results and discussion

3.1. Unit weight and workability

Table 2
Mixed aggregate gradations.
Unit weight, V–B time and slump value workability measure-
Particle size (mm) ments were carried out on fresh fiber reinforced fly ash concrete.
0–0.25 0.25–0.5 0.5–1 1–2 2–4 4–8 8–16 The results of unit weight, V–B time and slump values were
presented in Table 4. Table 4 shows that the unit weights of
Content (%) 3.5 11.2 5.2 7.1 18.5 31.1 23.4
polypropylene fiber reinforced with and without fly ash concretes
1046 O. Karahan, C.D. Atisß / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 1044–1049

Table 4
Fresh concrete properties results.

No. Density (kg/m3) V–B (s) Slump (cm) No. Density (kg/m3) V–B (s) Slump (cm) No. Density (kg/m3) V–B (s) Slump (cm)
A1 2540 6.0 17 B1 2519 3.1 18 C1 2492 2.5 19
A2 2533 7.0 17 B2 2507 5.6 18 C2 2489 4.9 19
A3 2524 8.0 16 B3 2501 6.5 16 C3 2486 5.6 16
A4 2513 10.0 14 B4 2492 7.8 15 C4 2480 6.7 15

were slightly lower than that of concrete without fibers for each
group. It also shows that as the fly ash and polypropylene fiber
content increased in concrete the unit weight reduced. These
reductions were attributed to the difference between the specific
gravities of the fly ash and polypropylene fibers. This finding is in
line with the published literature. The laboratory result of Han
et al. [31] showed that the use of polypropylene fiber in concrete
result with little decrease in unit weight. Results of Yıldırım [32]
also supported this conclusion.
Table 4 also shows that inclusion of polypropylene fiber in fresh
concrete increases V–B time and reduces slump values. Moreover,
increase in the fiber content causes additional increase in V–B time
and reduce slump values. Therefore, it can be concluded that inclu-
sion of polypropylene fiber reduced workability; increase in fiber
content dosage additionally reduces workability. However, in-
crease in fly ash content additionally improves workability of fresh
fiber-reinforced concrete.
Mostoufinezhad and Hatami [33], Salih and Al-Azaawee [34],
Aulia [35], Raghavan et al. [36] reported that the use of polypropyl-
ene fiber in concrete made the mixture more harsh and lowered
the workability.
The comparisons made between V–B time and slump value
workability’s, show that V–B time measurement is more appropri-
ate than the slump value measurement as an indicator of the work-
ability of fresh fiber-reinforced concrete.
3.2. Compressive strength and modulus of elasticity
Compressive strength test results are given in Table 5. Compres-
sive strength decreased with the increase of fly ash. In the all fiber
content groups, slight reductions in compressive strength can be
observed with the addition of polypropylene fiber. This can be ex-
plained by the redistribution of void structure due to the inclusion
of fiber, and the presence of weak interfacial bonds between the fi-
ber and cement-fly ash grains [37]. The presence of fly ash, when
compared with plain concrete, decreased the average compressive
strength by 17% and 30% for 15% and 30% fly ash replacement ratio,
respectively.
In this work, the modulus of elasticity, which is also called se-
cant modulus, is taken as the slope of the chord from the origin
to some arbitrary point on the stress–strain curve. The secant mod-
ulus calculated in this study is for 40% of the maximum stress. The
results are given in Table 5. The elasticity modulus of the concrete
containing 15% and 30% fly ash were comparable with the elasticity
modulus of control Portland cement concrete at 28 days. Neverthe-
less, there is no clear indication of significant effect of fly ash on the
modulus of elasticity of concrete. Elastic modulus of concrete con-
taining 0.05% polypropylene is slightly higher than the elastic
modulus of concrete without fibers. Addition of 0.10% and 0.20%
polypropylene fibers not only did not improve the values of mod-
ulus of elasticity but also reduced it.
Puertas et al. [38], Choi and Yuan [3], Alhozaimy et al. [39],
Huang [11], Salih and Al-Azaawee [34], Zhang et al. [40] agreed
that incorporating of polypropylene fibers in concrete does
not affect positively the compressive strength and modulus of
elasticity.
3.3. Porosity and water absorption
Porosity and water absorption of the concretes are shown in
Table 6. The polypropylene fiber reinforced material with the
inclusion of the fly ash showed the most high percentage of poros-
ity and water absorption. Porosity and water absorption values in-
creased with the increase of fly ash and fiber contents for all
concrete mixtures. Huang [9,11] and Aulia [35] who studied on fi-
brous mixture using polypropylene, discussed that the amount of
large pores increased with the addition of polypropylene fiber.
The porosity decreases with paralleling the water absorption
development for all concrete with and without fly ash and fibers.
There was a close relationship between the porosity and water
absorption that water absorption value increases as the porosity
value increases.

Table 5
Compressive strength and modulus of elasticity results.

No. Comp. strength Elastic modulus No. Comp. strength Elastic modulus No. Comp. strength Elastic modulus
(MPa) (GPa) (MPa) (GPa) (MPa) (GPa)
A1 63.4 37.9 B1 52.9 37.5 C1 45.3 36.8
A2 64.9 39.0 B2 52.0 39.4 C2 43.0 37.1
A3 62.2 37.2 B3 53.6 37.3 C3 42.4 34.2
A4 61.5 36.7 B4 49.5 37.2 C4 44.3 35.3

Table 6
Porosity and water absorption results.

No. Porosity (%) Absorption (%) No. Porosity (%) Absorption (%) No. Porosity (%) Absorption (%)
A1 7.09 2.86 B1 7.77 3.17 C1 8.54 3.53
A2 7.51 3.04 B2 8.53 3.52 C2 8.91 3.69
A3 8.28 3.38 B3 8.79 3.63 C3 9.07 3.77
A4 8.97 3.67 B4 9.03 3.76 C4 9.09 3.76
 O. Karahan, C.D. Atisß / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 1044–1049 1047

Table 6 also shows Portland cement mixture that containing 0.07

0.05%, 0.10% and 0.20% polypropylene fiber, result with approxi- 0.06

Length Change (%)

mately 6%, 18% and 28% increase in porosity and absorption when
0.05
compared to control mixture. Similarly concrete mixture that con-
taining 15% fly ash and 0.05%, 0.10%, 0.20% polypropylene fiber, re- 0.04
sult with approximately 11%, 14% and 18% increase in porosity and 0.03 0.00%
absorption value when compared to counter part fly ash concrete 0.05%
made without polypropylene, respectively. In a similar manner, 0.02
0.10%
concrete mixture that containing 30% fly ash and 0.05%, 0.10%, 0.01 0.20%
0.20% polypropylene fiber, result with approximately 5%, 7% and
0.00
7% increase in porosity and absorption value when compared to 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210
counter part fly ash concrete made without polypropylene, respec- Time (Day)
tively. When a comparison made with only Portland cement con-
crete mixture without polypropylene fiber, addition of 15% and Fig. 1. Shrinkage of fiber reinforced Portland concrete versus time.
30% fly ash result with approximately 10% and 20% increase in
porosity and absorption, respectively.
0.07
3.4. Sorptivity
0.06

Length Change (%)

Oven dry specimens of 40  40  160 mm were exposed to the 0.05
water on the plane of 40  160 mm by placing it in a pan. The
0.04
water level in the pan was maintained at about 5 mm above the
base of the specimens during this experiment. The lower areas 0.03 0.00%
on the sides of the specimens were coated with paraffin to achieve 0.05%
0.02
unidirectional flow. At certain times, the mass of the specimens 0.10%
0.01 0.20%
was measured using a balance, then the amount of water adsorbed
was calculated and normalized with respect to the cross-section 0.00
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210
area of the specimens exposed to the water at various times such
as 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64 and 81 min. The sorptivity coefficient Time (Day)
(k), was obtained by using the following expression:
Fig. 2. Shrinkage of fiber reinforced 15% fly ash concrete versus time.
pffiffi
ðQ=AÞ ¼ k t ð1Þ
where Q is the amount of water adsorbed in (cm3); A is cross-section
0.07
of specimen that was in contact with water (cm2); t is time (s); k is
the sorptivity coefficient of the specimen (cm/s1/2). To determine the 0.06
Length Change (%)

sorptivity
pffiffi coefficient, Q/A was plotted against the square root of 0.05
time ( t ), then, k was calculated
pffiffi from the slope of the linear rela-
0.04
tion between Q/A and t [41]. Sorptivity coefficient results were
given in Table 7. Table 7 shows that the addition of fly ash and poly- 0.03 0.00%
propylene fiber to concrete significantly increases the sorptivity 0.02 0.05%
coefficient. Influence of addition of fly ash on sorptivity coefficient 0.10%
is found to be more than the addition of polypropylene fibers in 0.01 0.20%
concrete. 0
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210
3.5. Drying shrinkage Time (Day)

The results of drying shrinkage or length change of 0%, 15% and Fig. 3. Shrinkage of fiber reinforced 30% fly ash concrete versus time.

30% fly ash concrete samples containing 0%, 0.05%, 0.10% and 0.20%
polypropylene fibers are presented in Figs. 1–3, respectively. These
figures show that addition of polypropylene fibers in concrete or increasing the percentage of volume fraction of fiber. Kırca and Sa-
fly ash concrete reduces drying shrinkage considerably. Malhotra hin [44] supported this finding and reported that the use of poly-
et al. [42] concluded that polypropylene fiber reinforced high vol- propylene restrained the movements of micro level in mortar by
ume fly ash concrete has very low drying shrinkage property. Liu bridging and stitching the fine cracks.
et al. [43] and Salih and Al-Azaawee [34] stated that polypropylene Drying shrinkage values of concrete studied at 210 days, regard-
fiber mixed into cement mortar decreased its dry-shrinkage. They less of polypropylene fiber and fly ash content, were presented in
concluded that the reduction in drying shrinkage increases with Table 8. Table 8 shows that the maximum drying shrinkage oc-
curred in Portland cement concrete mixture. Table 8 also shows
that fly ash concrete without fiber shrank less than that of counter
Table 7 part Portland cement concrete mixture. On the basis of 210 days
Sorptivity coefficient results.
drying shrinkage, when compared to Portland cement control mix-
No. Sorptivity No. Sorptivity No. Sorptivity ture, concrete mixture that contains 0.05%, 0.10% and 0.20% poly-
(103 cm/sn1/2) (103 cm/sn1/2) (103 cm/sn1/2) propylene fiber result with 5%, 13% and 17% reductions in drying
A1 0.21 B1 0.42 C1 0.51 shrinkage. Similarly concrete mixture that containing 15% fly ash
A2 0.22 B2 0.35 C2 0.53 and 0.05%, 0.10%, 0.20% polypropylene fiber, result with 6%, 8%
A3 0.27 B3 0.40 C3 0.52
and 15% reduction in drying shrinkage when compared to counter
A4 0.29 B4 0.47 C4 0.56
part fly ash concrete made without polypropylene fiber, respec-
1048 O. Karahan, C.D. Atisß / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 1044–1049

Table 8 tensile strength of concrete. However, randomly distributed fiber

Drying shrinkage results. in concrete mixture restrains this expansion and reduces the
No. Length change No. Length change No. Length change freeze–thaw damage to concrete.
(%) (%) (%) On the other hand, no significant weight loss was observed after
A1 0.06632 B1 0.06246 C1 0.05965 freeze–thaw cycles for concrete made with and without polypro-
A2 0.06316 B2 0.05895 C2 0.05895 pylene fiber. Moreover, fly ash increased the freeze–thaw resis-
A3 0.05754 B3 0.05754 C3 0.05719 tance more than polypropylene fibers. Freeze–thaw resistance of
A4 0.05474 B4 0.05333 C4 0.05333
fiber-reinforced concrete increased with increasing with fly ash
content, as shown in Table 9.
Although, results of Allan and Kukacka [14] showed that
tively. In similar manner, concrete mixture that containing 30% fly polypropylene fibers did not significantly change freeze–thaw
ash and 0.05%, 0.10%, 0.20% polypropylene fiber, result with 1%, 4% resistance, the result of this study on freeze–thaw resistance of fi-
and 11% reduction in drying shrinkage when compared to counter ber-reinforced concrete supports the conclusion of Morgan et al.
part fly ash concrete made without polypropylene fiber, respec- [12], Kırca and Sahin [44] who stated that inclusion of polypropyl-
tively. When a comparison made for a concrete mixture made with ene fiber in concrete shows excellent durability on exposure to
only Portland cement (A1) and without polypropylene, the freeze–thaw cycling. Yıldırım and Ekinci [45] concluded that the
addition of polypropylene, and fly ash result with maximum 20% use of polypropylene in concrete will provide an advantage against
reduction in drying shrinkage. Shrinkage reduction property of freeze–thaw deterioration. Richardson [46] concluded that there
polypropylene fiber and fly ash can be utilized in the area where was a clear association between the use of polypropylene fibers
concrete shrinkage is a concern (i.e. large floors, road pavements). in concrete and freeze–thaw protection leading to subsequent en-
hanced durability.
This study contributes to the literature by providing more data
3.6. Freeze–thaw resistance
on shrinkage and freeze–thaw resistance of concrete containing
polypropylene and fly ash.
Concretes studied were submitted to 50 freezing/thawing
cycles. Each day, two cycles were carried out: 2 h at 20 °C, 2 h im-
mersed in water at 20 °C, then 2 h at 20 °C, and again another 2 h 4. Conclusions
immersed in water at 20 °C, and for the rest of the time (16 h), the
specimens were kept immersed in water at 20 °C. After 50 cycles, From this laboratory work the following conclusions were
the concretes were tested, and their weight and compressive made:
strength were measured. The weight and compressive strengths
of concretes before and after freeze–thaw cycles are shown in (1) Addition of polypropylene fiber and fly ash reduce the unit
Table 9. weight. While inclusion of fly ash improves, polypropylene
After freeze–thaw testing, compressive strength of concrete fiber decreases the workability of concrete.
without fly ash, made with 0%, 0.05%, 0.10% and 0.20% polypropyl- (2) Compressive strength decreased with the increase of fly ash
ene fiber volume fraction decreases 11%, 11%, 10% and 8%, respec- content. Influence of polypropylene fiber on compressive
tively. After freeze–thaw testing, compressive strength of concrete strength and elastic modulus is found to be insignificant.
with 15% fly ash, made with 0%, 0.05%, 0.10% and 0.20% polypropyl- (3) Porosity, water absorption and sorptivity coefficient values
ene fiber volume fraction decreases 7%, 4%, 4% and 4%, respectively, increased with the increase of fly ash and fiber contents
and with 30% fly ash, made with 0%, 0.05%, 0.10% and 0.20% poly- for all concrete mixtures. Influence of addition of fly ash
propylene fiber volume fraction decreases 0%, 1%, 1% and 1%, on sorptivity coefficient is found to be more than the addi-
respectively. It was seen that freeze–thaw resistance of polypro- tion of polypropylene fibers in concrete.
pylene fiber concrete was found to slightly increase when com- (4) Presence of polypropylene fiber and fly ash in concrete
pared to concrete without fibers. This little increase in freeze– regardless of separately or together reduce drying shrinkage.
thaw resistance due to fiber addition is explained in the following. The positive interactions between polypropylene fibers and
It is known that when water freezes its volume increases 9%. When fly ash lead to the lowest drying shrinkage of fibrous con-
water that is present in the concrete pore freezes; due to volume crete with fly ash.
changes of water, concrete begin to expand and cause tensile (5) Freeze–thaw resistance of polypropylene fiber concrete was
stress, which will disintegrate the concrete when it exceeds the found to slightly increase when compared to concrete with-
out fibers. Moreover, fly ash increased the freeze–thaw resis-
tance more than the polypropylene fibers did. Freeze–thaw
Table 9
Freeze–thaw cycles results.
resistance of fiber-reinforced concrete increased with
increasing with fly ash content.
No. Without cycles 50 cycles Reduction
Weight Strength Weight Strength Weight Strength
(g) (MPa) (g) (MPa) (%) (%)
Acknowledgement
A1 2581.03 87.4 2524.44 78.1 2 11
A2 2553.69 87.7 2484.45 77.8 3 11
A3 2553.42 85.9 2536.41 77.4 1 10
The authors would like thank to Cukurova University Scientific
A4 2576.95 84.0 2560.98 77.6 1 8 Research Projects Directorate (Project Number: MMF 2004 D17)
B1 2578.35 84.0 2561.64 78.1 1 7 for the financial support.
B2 2600.49 83.8 2574.39 80.6 1 4
B3 2605.60 80.3 2597.95 76.7 0 4
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