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LAB PROJECT
SEMESTER: 3RD
SECTION: A
SUBJECT: STRENGTH OF MATERIALS
SUBJECT CODE: CV-201
TEACHER: MAM SHAZIA BAQAR
MAM NAHID MOSHARRAF
TOPIC: EFFECT OF POLYPROPYLENE FIBRE ON
COMPRESSIVE SRENGTH OF CONCRETE CUBE

GROUP MEMBERS
S.NO NAME ROLL NUMBER
1 MURTAZA ALI 2020-CV-043
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2 BADI UZ ZAMAN 2020-CV-014

3 SAQIB M AMIN 2020-CV-031

4 MUHAMMAD AJAML 2020-CV-016

5 ALI AKBAR SAMEJO 2020-CV-019

6 BAHADUR ALI 2020-CV-008

7 SHARJEEL ALI KHALID 2020-CV-034

8 MUNAWAR ALI 2020-CV-038

9 ABDUL RAHMAN 2020-CV-012

10 USMAN UMAR 2020-CV-197

11 MUHAMMAD SHAYAN ALI KHAN 2020-CV-199

1. ABSTRACT: In this present study, the effects of adding

polypropylene fibers on physical and mechanical properties of
concretes are investigated. To this end, three concrete mixtures
consists of 6 mm, 12 mm and 19 mm polypropylene fibers are
made and their physical/ mechanical aspects are studied and
compared with control concrete. The results manifest that adding
polypropylene fibers increases the flexural strength slightly and
decreases the cracks width. Besides, the compressive strength
decreases slightly. These properties are improved with increase
of fibers length.
Keywords: concrete, polypropylene fibers, crack bridge, flexural
strength, impact resistance.
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FIGURE 1: POLYPROPRLENE FIBES

2. INTRODUCTION: The fiber dispersion into concrete is one

of the technique to improve the building properties of
concrete. Polypropylene fibers are synthetic fibers obtained as
a byproduct from textile industry. These are available in
different aspect ratios and are cheap in cost. Polypropylene
fibers are characterized by low specific gravity and low cost.
Its use enables reliable and effective utilization of intrinsic
tensile and flexural strength of the material along with
significant reduction of plastic shrinkage cracking and
minimizing of thermal cracking. It provides reinforcement and
protects damage of concrete structure and prevents spalling in
case of fire. The fibers are manufactured either by the pulling
wire procedure with circular cross section or by extruding the
plastic film with rectangular cross-section. They appear either
as fibrillated bundles, mono filament. The fibrillated
polypropylene fibers are formed by expansion of a plastic
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film, which is separated into strips and then slit. The fiber
bundles are cut into specified lengths and fibrillated. In
monofilament fibers, the addition of buttons at the ends of the
fiber increases the pull out load.
Cracks play an important role as they change concrete structures
into permeable elements and consequently with a high risk of
corrosion. Cracks not only reduce the quality of concrete and make
it aesthetically unacceptable but also make structures out of
service. If these cracks do not exceed a certain width, they are
neither harmful to a structure nor to its serviceability. Therefore, it
is important to reduce the crack width and this can be achieved by
adding polypropylene fibers to concrete. Thus addition of fibers in
cement concrete matrix bridges these cracks and restrains them
from further opening. In order to achieve more deflection in the
beam, additional forces and energies are required to pull out or
fracture the fibers. This process, apart from preserving the integrity
of concrete, improves the load- carrying capacity of structural
member beyond cracking.
In this project polypropylene fibers of different amounts
(1%,1.5%,25,2.5%) are used with the concrete and also these
fibers cubes are compared with the simple and conventional cubes
for comparison between there compressive strengths.
3. OBJECTIVE: The objective is to study the effect of
polypropylene fiber in concrete. To conduct a comparative
study on fiber in concrete and conventional concrete. The ratio
used is 1:2:4.
4. SCOPE: In this project we are testing the effect of fiber
different amounts of on concrete in comparison to the
convectional cement.
5. LITERATURE REVIEW: This report presents an
experimental study on performance of polypropylene fiber
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reinforced concrete. In this study deals with the effects of

addition of various proportions of polypropylene fibers on the
properties of High strength concrete. An experimental
program was carried out to explore its effects on compressive,
tensile, flexural strength under different curing condition. The
main aim of the investigation program is to study the effect of
Polypropylene fiber mix by varying content such as
0%,1%,1.5%,2%& 2.5% and finding the
optimum Polypropylene fiber content. A notable increase in
the compressive, tensile and flexural strength was observed.
However, further investigations were highly recommended and
should be carried out to understand more mechanical properties
of fiber reinforced concrete.
6. METHODOLOGY:
A. EQUIPMENTS:

• Mould (6”x6”x6”)
• Shovel
• Aggregate (Coarse & Fine)
• Cement
• Sieve
• Compression Testing Machine (CTM)
• Polypropylene Fibers
• Digital Mass Balance
• Tray
• Compacting Rod
• Knife
• Trowel
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FIGURE 2: COMPRESSION TESTING MACHINE

B. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE:
• Make the concrete of ratio 1:2:4.
• Take the cement and aggregates in specified
quantities.
• Water used must be 45% to 60% to the weight of
cement.
• Concrete is filled in 3 layers of equal height.
• Every layer I compacted 25 times by the compacting
rod.
• After mould is filled up, the surface will be struck off
plane with a trowel.
• Remove the mould after 24 hours.
• Specimen is placed under water for curing for
required time.
• After required time of curing the specimen is placed
in Compression Testing Machine (CTM), note the
maximum value of load from the machine’s gauge,
when cracks start to develop in the cube.
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FIGURE 3: CRACKS DEVELOPED IN THE CONCRETE CUBES AFTER TESTING IN CTM

7. RESULTS:
Compressive
Strength(N/mm2)
Cube Size W/C
S.No. Section Specimen 7 days 14 days 28 days
(mm3) Ratio

Conventional
1 A,B,C,D 150x150x150 715 ml 18.2 23.75 23.18
Concrete

1%
2 A Polypropylene 150x150x150 715 ml 7.47 8.43 5.75
Fibers

1.5%
3 B Polypropylene 150x150x150 715 ml 7.66 9.57 26.81
Fibers

2%
4 C Polypropylene 150x150x150 715 ml 7.28 20.69 6.44
Fibers
715 ml
2.5%
5 D Polypropylene 150x150x150 2.11 4.02 4.02
Fibers
FIGURE 4: RESULTS OF CUBE TESTING OBTAINED BY CTM
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FIGURE 5: BAR GRAPH ILLUSTRATING THE ENTIRE DATA OF FIGURE 4

8. LIMITATIONS:
• The cement after adding the water gets set in very less time
and very quickly.
• The cement paste is not mixed properly because it is being
mixed by the hands.
• The environmental conditions of the room in which the
experiment is being carried out are suitable for the cement
paste to rapidly get harden.
• Compaction of concrete paste is very important while
filling the mould to avoid air spaces.
• Mixing of fiber should be done properly.
• Sieving of the aggregates should be done properly to
reduce the amount of wastage and increase accuracy.
9. CONCLUSION: The results from this experiment is best
summarized in figure 4 and best illustrated in figure 5. The
trend in the graph shows that the convectional concrete has
more compressive strength as compared to the cubes with the
polypropylene fiber and this proves that more amount of fiber
should be used for increase in the compressive strength.
10. MAJOR BENEFITS OF POLYPROPYLENE FIBRE:
• Inhibits plastic settlement cracking
• Controls plastic shrinkage cracking
• Lowers water migration in concrete
• Resists impact and shatter forces
• Increases abrasion resistance
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• Increases freeze/thaw durability

• Provides lasting reinforcement
• Provides significant improvement in fire protection
11. APENDICES:
• Use weighing balance to measure weight of cement.
• While weighing the cement avoid mass of steel tray.
• Use knife with shovel to level the surface of cement
paste in mould and to avoid air bubbles in it.
• To avoid air bubbles also use compacting rod.
• To calculate percentage of water:

Here, P = Percentage of Water

W = Quantity of Water Added
C = Quantity of Cement Used
12. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The author would like to express
gratitude to the students of Civil Engineering (this group) for
their continuous support during experimental work.
13. REFERENCES:
• Konig, G. et al., New concepts for high performance
concrete with improved ductility, proceedings of the
12th FIP congress on challenges for concrete in the next
millennium, Netherlands, 1998, pp. 49-53.
• Ramezanianpour, A.A., Najimi, M. and Pourkhorshidi,
A., The role of polypropylene fibers on concrete
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properties, First disaster management symposium,

University of Tehran, 2006, pp. 542-549.
• Breitenbucher, R., High strength concrete C 105 with
increased fiber resistance due to polypropylene fibers,
4th international symposium on the utilization of high
strength-high performance concrete, Paris, 1996, pp.
571577.
• Balaguru, P. and Slattum, K., Test methods for
Durability of Polymeric Fibers in Concrete and UV
Light Exposure, In: Stevens D.J., "Testing of Fiber
Reinforced Concrete", ACI SP-155, American Concrete
Institute, Detroit, 1995,pp. 115-136.
14. PERFORMANCE:

FIGURE 6: POURING CONCRETE IN MOULDS FIGURE 6: COMPACTING CEMENT TO AVOID

AIR BUBBLES USING COMPACTING ROD

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FIGURE 7: PLAINING THE SURFACE OF CUBE FOR UNIFORM AREA AT TOP

15. TESTING LAB RESULT:

MR BADI UZ ZAMAN

CUBE TESTING SECTION: A

95000 2639 186 18.20

39000 1083 76 7.47

124000 3444 243 23.75

23.2323.75
44000 1222 86 8.43

30000 833 59 5.75

121000 3361 237 23.18