Experimental Research on the Thermal Instability of Fiber Polypropylene Concrete at 250 °C

Abstract

Abstract The high temperature in the concrete destroys the hydrates of the cement paste. This destruction means the weakness of the materials caused by the deterioration of their mechanical properties. This work aims to study the behavior of high-performance fiber concrete sets at high temperatures; specifically, we used polypropylene fibers and studied their influence on deterioration behavior. This study includes high performance concrete and three types of fiber concrete, each containing a specific ratio of polypropylene fibers (0.12 %, 0.18 %, and 0.24 %). Consequently, cubic test specimens (15 cm x 15 cm x 15 cm) were subjected to the temperature of 250 °C, with a speed of 2 °C/min followed by a step of one hour at the target temperature then cooling to the ambient temperature. The results showed that fiber-reinforced concrete exhibited a better performance when exposed to the temperature studied. The mechanical properties were improved by up to 56% for compressive strength and 86% for tensile strength.