Accepted Manuscript

Fibre reinforced concrete with a combination of polyolefin and steel-hooked

fibres

M.G. Alberti, A. Enfedaque, J.C. Gálvez

PII: S0263-8223(16)32374-1
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2017.03.033
Reference: COST 8354

To appear in: Composite Structures

Received Date: 1 November 2016

Revised Date: 2 February 2017
Accepted Date: 8 March 2017

Please cite this article as: Alberti, M.G., Enfedaque, A., Gálvez, J.C., Fibre reinforced concrete with a combination
of polyolefin and steel-hooked fibres, Composite Structures (2017), doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.
2017.03.033

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Fibre reinforced concrete with a combination of polyolefin and
steel-hooked fibres
1 1 1
M. G. Alberti , A. Enfedaque , J.C. Gálvez
1
Departamento de Ingeniería Civil: Construcción, E.T.S de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos,
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. C / Profesor Aranguren, s/n, 28040, Madrid.

e-mail: jaime.galvez@upm.es, Phone & Fax: +34 91 336 5350

Abstract

Self-compacting polyolefin fibre reinforced concrete has shown high performance in both fresh
and hardened state. Post-cracking behaviour provides significant residual strengths especially
for large deformations. For small deformations, flexural residual strength could be enhanced
with a small amount of steel-hooked fibers, obtaining a hybrid fibre-reinforced concrete well
suited for structural use. Four types of conventional fibre-reinforced concrete with steel and
polyolefin fibers were produced on the basis of the same self-compacting concrete also
manufactured as reference. These concrete mixtures were manufactured separately with the
same fibre contents being subsequently used for two more hybrid mixtures. Flexural and
uniaxial fracture tests were performed in addition to the assessment of fresh and mechanical
properties. The research showed both synergies (with the two types of fibers working together
in the fracture processes) and an improvement of the orientation and distribution of the fibers on
the fracture surface.

Keywords: hybrid fiber-reinforced concrete, polyolefin fiber-reinforced concrete, steel fiber-

reinforced concrete, self-compacting concrete and fracture.

1 Introduction

The mechanical properties of concrete have been thoroughly studied in the last century due to
the profuse use of this material in the construction industry. High stiffness and good
compressive strength, together with a reduced cost, have been the concrete main virtues that
have made of it the most common construction material up to now. However, there are some
other inherent characteristics of concrete that may be interesting to improve: tensile strength
and ductility. This issue has been traditionally solved adding small amounts of short fibres
during mixing [1, 2, 3]. There has been a wide diversity of materials used for this purpose:
steel, palm, glass, carbon, or polypropylene, among others [4, 5, 6]. With some of these
materials, steel and some polymers, there is such an increment of the mechanical properties
that the contribution of the fibres may be taken into account in the structural design [7, 8]
forming a new type of composite material.

Among the fibres used, the most common are made of steel due to their high modulus of
elasticity and tensile strength. Concrete reinforced with steel fibres has been widely employed in
the building industry for some time in applications such as industrial and airport pavements,
reinforcement of projected concrete, and precast elements with reduced thickness, among
others [9]. These uses have been based on extensive studies of the mechanical behaviour of
this type of concrete under tensile stresses, fatigue or even impact [10, 11, 12]. Such studies
have shown the outstanding fracture properties that steel fibres provide for low strain states.
Nevertheless the proximity of the steel fibres to the free surface of the concrete piece might
reduce the life span of the structure due to the corrosion of the fibres, especially in aggressive
environments, such asC02 or chloride atmospheras.
The newly developed polymeric fibres with enhanced mechanical properties have opened the
field to new applications where the corrosion of steel fibres might be an issue. The suitability of
this type of fibres for its use in concrete has been proved in different studies [6, 13] and practical
uses [14, 15]. The aforementioned studies showed the aptitude of the polymeric fibres to
withstand large deformations providing high ductility. However, the polyolefin fibres are not able
to borne high loads at small deformations probably due to its low modulus of elasticity and the
frictional adhesion with matrix [16].

The last tendencies in the construction industry are to develop tailor-made concretes that suit
the mechanical and durability requirements of the structure. In that field the use of cocktails of
fibres in concrete have been one of the main improvements. Combinations of steel fibres with
different sizes have been studied analysing its mechanical properties and anisotropy [17, 18,
19, 20]. In addition, fibres of different materials, steel and polypropylene, have been also added
to concrete obtaining satisfactory results. In any of the aforementioned studies the steel fibres
were responsible of the improvement of the mechanical properties of concrete.

Following this rationale, and aiming to obtain a high-performance concrete when subjected to
tensile and flexural stresses, a combination of structural polymeric fibres and steel fibres have
been added to a self-compacting concrete. Whereas the presence of steel fibres would improve
the behaviour of concrete when fracturing under low strain states, the addition of polyolefin
fibres would enhance the high strain behaviour in such process. Taking advantage of these two
types of fibres it would be possible to obtain a material not only with outstanding compressive
behaviour but also with higher tensile strength and ductility. Moreover, the addition of these
types of fibres to a self-compacting concrete might enhance the distribution and positioning of
fibres due to the effect of the flux, as has been previously shown for other types of fibres [21,
22], improving the mechanical properties of concrete up to new limits.

In a previous study it was shown that a combination of steel and polyolefin fibres when added to
a self-compacting concrete improved the fresh state behaviour of concrete adding lower
amounts of fibres in terms of weight [3]. Regarding the mechanical properties of this type of
concrete its fracture behaviour was assessed following the recommendation RILEM TC-187
SOC [23]. The results obtained showed a noticeable increment of the mechanical properties of
concrete that might enable to reduce or eliminate the traditional reinforcement steel bars.

To take advantage of all the benefits that this cocktail of fibres provides to the concrete is of key
importance to know in depth not only the flexural behaviour, assessed by the fracture tests, but
also to analyse its tensile behaviour. In this paper uni-axial tests are performed to characterise
the tensile behaviour of a self-compacting concrete reinforced with a combination of hooked-
end steel fibres and structural embossed polyolefin fibres. The samples tested were obtained
from the halves remaining from flexural fracture tests previously performed [3]. The results
completed the previously obtained fracture results providing a clearer view of the mechanical
behaviour of the material that could not be derived from the fracture tests. In addition, the
fracture surfaces have been analysed by a counting procedure and related to the mechanical
behaviour. These two aspects provide capital information that enable structural designers to
take full advantage of the improvements that each type of fibre offer to the behaviour of
concrete.

2 Materials and mix proportioning

2.1 Materials

For the concrete production Portland cement type EN 197-1 CEM I 52.5 R-SR 5 was selected
and mineral admixture of limestone was used as a micro-aggregate with a specific gravity and
Blaine surface of 2700 kg/m³ and 400-450 m²/kg respectively. The calcium carbonate content of
the limestone powder was higher than 98% and less than 0.05% was retained by the 45 µm
sieve. A polycarboxylate based superplasticizer named Sika Viscocrete 5720 with a solid
content of 36% and 1090 kg/m³ density was employed. As regards the aggregates, the mixtures
were made with siliceous aggregates composed of two types of gravel 4-8mm and 4-12mm and
sand 0-2mm. The maximum aggregate size was 12.7mm.

Two types of fibers were used: steel-hooked fibers with a smooth surface and 35mm long, and
polyolefin straight fibers with a rough surface and surface treatment and 60mm long. Table 1
compares the main characteristics of the types of fiber, their material properties and their
geometrical patterns. The appearance of both types of fibres is shown in Figure 1.

Table1: The physical and mechanical properties of fibres.

Tensile
Eq. Modulus
Fibre type Density Length strengt Fibers Surface Anchorage
Diameter of
h
elasticity
(g/cm³) (mm) (mm) (MPa) per kg structure
(GPa)
Polyolefin
0.910 60 0.903 >500 >9 27000 Embossed Bond
based
Steel-
7.850 35 0.550 1100 210 14500 Smooth Hooked
hooked

Figure 1: Appearance of the fibres (scale in mm): (a) polyolefin fibres; (b) steel-hooked fibres.

2.2 Mix proportioning and concrete production

The starting point to perform the concrete mix proportions was to achieve a mixture with
moderate cement content able to reach the self-compacting fresh properties required even with
the addition of the two types of fiber. In order to do so, a plain SCC with a slump-flow spread
target of 650mm containing 375kg/m³ of cement, and with a water-to-cement ratio of 0.50, was
previously designed. To obtain the required fresh properties, 1.25% of cement weight of
superplasticizer was needed. The optimum distribution of the aggregates was taken as the
maximum dry packing density obtained according to the ASTM C29/29M-09. Thus, the optimum
aggregate skeleton was taken as 24%, 16% and 60% of gravel, grit and sand respectively.
Aggregates humidity was corrected in the first step of the mixing process.

One plain concrete was manufactured in order to compare the influence of adding fibers and
was named REF. To obtain a reasonable value of hybrid fiber proportions added to a SCC,
values in the lower part of the range of their use were chosen for the steel fibers. However,
regarding the polyolefin fiber contents a medium amount was employed to reach as high a
number of fibers as possible in the hybrid concretes. All are summarized in Table 2.

Hence, a volume fraction of fibers of 0.49% was chosen to perform one mixture of polyolefin
fibers separately. In that of polyolefin fibers, that volume fraction was in terms of weight
4.5kg/m³, that mix was termed P4.5. For the SFRC, the volume fraction of 0.33% was used in
 order to obtain a result in the lower part of the range of their use. In terms of weight, this was
equivalent to adding 25.88kg/m³ of fibers. This mix was named S26.

The hybrid fiber proportions added to the mix were chosen with the aim of achieving an
improved polyolefin fiber reinforced concrete (PFRC) with a small quantity of steel fibers. In that
sense, the smaller fraction volume explained above of 0.33% was chosen to evaluate the
synergies when a fiber cocktail with a 0.49% volume fraction of polyolefin fibers were added.
This hybrid mixture was called H1, with a total fiber volume fraction of 0.82% having a total
addition of 30.5kg/m³ of fibers.

Table 2: Mix proportions.

SCC P4.5 S26 H1

3
Cement (kg/m ) 375 375 375 375
Limestone powder (kg/m3) 200 200 200 200
Superplasticizer 1.25% (CEM) 1.25% (CEM) 1.25% (CEM) 1.25% (CEM)
3 187.5 187.5 187.5 187.5
Water (kg/m )
3
Sand (kg/m ) 918 918 918 918
3 245 245 245 245
Grit (kg/m )
3
Gravel (kg/m ) 367 367 367 367
3 -- 4.5 -- 4.5
Polyolefin fibres (kg/m )
3
Steel fibres (kg/m ) -- -- 26 26

Based on the plain SCC mix design used as reference (REF), the three FRC mixtures were
manufactured. In addition to the mentioned REF, FRC mixtures S26 and P4.5 were performed
with only one type of fibers. Hybrid FRC mix H1 completed the research, as was previously
stated, and is shown in Table 2. All were manufactured with a vertical axis concrete-mixer with
100l of capacity. Nine cylindrical specimens with a diameter of 150mm and height of 300mm,
and three prismatic specimens of dimension 430x100x100mm³, were produced for each
mixture. All the specimens were cured in a climatic chamber (20ºC and 95% humidity) until the
age of testing.

3 Tests program and results

3.1 Assessment of fresh state concrete properties

In order to characterize and compare the fresh state behavior of every concrete type, two tests
were performed. The slump-flow test described in the standard EN: 12350-8 [24] and the V-
funnel test in the standard EN: 12350-9 [25]. The results of both tests for every concrete type
are shown in Table 3. It is worth noting that concrete production was made in two batches of
each concrete type, remarkably close results and showing negligible variations being obtained.

It should be noted that all the results for REF and monotype FRC were among the limits of the
most common standards which set a slump-flow spread (df) from 550 mm to 850 mm, a time for
the slump-flow patty to reach 500mm of diameter (T500) lower than 8s, and an emptying time of
the V-funnel between four and 25 seconds [26].

Table 3: Fresh state and mechanical test results.

Slump flow test V-funnel Mechanical properties

df (mm) T500 (s) t (s) fck (MPa) c.v. E(GPa) fct (MPa) c.v.
 REF 655 3.5 8 39.0 0.01 35.8 3.78 0.14
S33 570 3.5 10 41.7 0.01 33.7 5.32 0.15
P49 600 3.5 11 38.5 0.06 31.2 4.18 0.20
H1 565 4.0 14 36.5 0.03 33.0 5.41 0.04

The slump-flow spread mean diameters displayed a reduction, as expected and show in
references [17] or [20], with the addition of fibers when compared with the results of plain
concrete REF. As also anticipated in reference [6], steel fibers had more influence on the flow
properties with significant reduction of the patty. Times obtained for T500 remained at similar
values for all the concrete types. In Figure 2 the slump-flow spread of the hybrid mixture H1 is
portrayed to highlight the uniform distribution of fibers and the aggregates on the spread and
also with no segregation signs.

Figure 2: Visual appearance of the slump-flow spread of H1.

As regards the V-funnel test results, it is important to mention that the hybrid mixture had
significantly higher fiber proportions which led to higher emptying times being obtained. Given
that the test measures the fluidity and passing capacity, fiber addition increased the emptying
times as the volume fraction rose. However, the values obtained were within the optimum
values.

3.2 Assessment of mechanical properties

In order to obtain and compare the mechanical properties, the compressive strength, tensile
splitting strength and modulus of elasticity were measured in accordance with the standards EN
12390-3 [27], EN 12390-6 [28] and EN 12390-13 [29]. Three cylindrical specimens of each
concrete type were tested for obtaining the compressive strength and tensile splitting strength.
Modulus of elasticity was determined in one cylindrical specimen of each mixture. Table 3
shows the mean values and the coefficient of variation of the results. In Figure 3, the
mechanical properties variation of each FRC on the basis of the plain REF mixture is performed.
 160%
fck (MPa)
E (GPa)
140%
fct(MPa)

120%
100
100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
REF S26 P4,5 H1

Figure 3: Mechanical properties comparison

As it can be observed Figure 3 and Table 3 there were no major differences among the all the
concrete mixes in compressive strength and modulus of elasticity. Fibre addition increased
indirect tensile strength in all concretes. For REF mixture the tensile strength obtained was in
the order of magnitude expected [6, 13, 30]. The best performance was obtained with the steel
fibres, which was probably due to the anchorage of the fibres and the higher modulus of
elasticity of the material itself. Moreover, the addition of polyolefin fibre also increased, although
moderately, the tensile strength. It is worth noting that the results of compressive strength with
the combination of the two types of fibres, H1, were analogous to those with higher volume
fractions provided in the literature [6, 13]. That is to say, the slight decrease in compressive
strength may have been due to the worse compaction of the specimens with higher amounts of
fibres. Regarding the elasticity modulus, there was no clear trend with slight decreases for all
the specimens of FRC. As regards indirect tensile strength, remarkable increases were found
for H1 in a proportional trend to the combined action of S26 and P4.5. In any case, the Brazilian
test is arguably not the most appropriate test available to determine the tensile strength of FRC.

Flexural tensile strength

3.3.1. Test setup

In accordance with RILEM TC-187-SOC [23] three-point bending tests were carried out in three
prismatic specimens of each concrete type with dimensions 430x100x100 mm³. The geometry
was set based on the depth (D) of the sample, which was 100 mm. Thus, span was chosen as
three times the depth and the notch height as one third of the depth in the center of the span.
The test procedure and the details of the method employed can be consulted in reference [3].

It is worth noting that the especially meticulous manufacturing processes, being of key
importance in this study, in addition to the accuracy of the equipment and measuring devices,
permitted the reduction of the scatter. The specimen positioning was carefully made by means
of laser devices. The notch was machined with a water-cooled low-speed diamond cutting disc.
The concrete beams rested on two rigid steel cylinders laid on two ground supports, which
allowed free rotation out of the plane of the beam and guaranteed negligible friction rolling in the
longitudinal direction of the beam. Thus, the results of the fracture tests on two beams showed
a remarkably low degree of scatter. The latter is also supported by the previous works given in
references [6] and [13]. The coefficient of variation of the fracture curve of H1 mixture was on
average of the turning points 0.08.
 In Figure 4 the mean load-deflection curves of all the mixtures manufactured can be
observed. In addition, the post-peak behaviour of the algebraic addition of the mixes
S26 and P4.5 can be observed. This curve appears as P4.5+S26. As can be clearly
ascertained the hybrid concrete behaviour improves the fracture behaviour of the
theoretical mix P4.5+S26. Therefore there is a synergetic effect when steel and
polyolefin fibres are employed in the same mixture. In order to compare the results with
the requirements of the codes, it is worth noting that the specimen size considered in
the standards [7, 8] is 550 x 150 x 150 mm (length-height-width) and the dimensions of
the specimens tested in this research were 430 x 100 x 100 mm. This issue was
addressed in reference [6] and considered that stress values corresponding to crack
mouth opening displacements of 0.5 and 2.5 mm represented greater deformations in a
smaller specimen as the geometric relation for the same rotation angle of the cracked
cross section is linked to the values of height. That is to say, the value of CMOD 0.5
mm in a specimen with a height of 150 mm would correspond to a value of 0.333 mm in
one with a 100 mm height if the same deformation were compared. The reference found
that making such a conversion when using PFRC may not always be on the
conservative side. In addition and given that strength values increase up to significantly
higher deformations above the standards requirements, it is possible to take the same
deformation values. Furthermore, when the two sizes were compared in reference [32]
it was found that the position for the turning points of the curve was remarkably close.
Hence, it might be concluded that the residual strengths of the mixture H1 met the
requirements of the standards and therefore the contribution of the fibres can be taken
into account in the structural design. The latter allows to reduce or even to eliminate the
amount of steel bars used as reinforcement.

Figure 4: Fracture test results: average curve of three specimens of each concrete type

In order to study the improvements with the combination of fibres, the fracture surfaces of all the
concretes were analysed and the results are shown in Table 4. Specimens with only polyolefin
fibres showed lower orientation factor, and some were curved or folded. Besides, the
distribution was not uniform on the fracture surface and contrary to what took place in the
fracture surfaces with only steel fibres. Nonetheless, when hybrid FRC fracture surfaces were
examined the orientation factor of both types of fibres was increased leading to a better
performance and higher than the sum of each individual contribution.

The theoretical number of fibres (th) placed in the fracture surface was obtained for each
concrete considering that the fibres were uniformly distributed and perpendicular to the crack.
The average total number of fibres obtained from the counting exercise and its coefficient of
variation (c.v.) is shown in Table 4. Furthermore, the relation between the fibres counted in a
given cross-section (n) and theoretical number of fibres (th) are shown in Table 4. This relation
θ is the so-called “orientation factor” or “fibre efficiency factor” that assumes a homogeneous
distribution of fibres in the section [31] and which may be computed with expression (1). It
should be noted that the orientation factor was expected to be high, given the use of self-
compacting concrete and use of 60mm long polyolefin fibres with moulds of size 100mm [32,
33]. These effects would imply increases in the residual strengths of about 20%, as shown in
reference [34]. Regarding the use of SCC, previous research showed that when using PFRC
the orientation factor may be increased by another 10% [35, 36]. In any event, it should be
clarified that such influences would affect to an equal extent the mixtures with only one fibre
type and the mixture with the combination of the two fibre types.

 

= = (1)
ℎ  

Table 4: Number of fibres on the fracture surface: average values and coefficient of variation
(c.v.) of three specimens of each concrete type.

Concrete # theoretical # average total c.v. (%) θ

SF PF SF PF SF PF SF PF
S26 139 - 94 - 14% - 0.68 -
P45 - 74 - 45 - 13% - 0.61
H1 139 74 104 47 4% 7% 0.75 0.63

Regarding the distribution of fibers along the specimen, the coefficient of variation showed less
scattering in the distribution of the steel fibers. The SCC flow showed good performance in
spreading evenly the metallic rigid fibers. The use of a combination of steel and polyolefin fibers
led to a sound improvement in terms of scatter when compared with the mixes manufactured
only with polyolefin fibers. The lowest dispersion was found for the H1 mixture with coefficients
of variation of 4% and 7% for steel and polyolefin fiber respectively. The values obtained for θ
were remarkably higher for hybrid mixtures, as can be seen when comparing H1 with S26 and
P4.5.

3.3 Uniaxial tensile strength

3.4.1. Test setup

The uniaxial tension test as described in RILEM TC 162-TDF [37] can be used to determine the
tensile strength and the softening parameters defining the σ-w curve in FRC. The test uses a
notched cylindrical specimen with both ends fixed with respect to rotation. It is conducted under
controlled tensile displacements. The results of these tests provide significant information but
the setup is rather complex and demands highly trained and experienced personnel. Therefore,
the uniaxial tension test is quite expensive and time consuming, and are only adequate for
research purposes in specialised laboratories. In the case of the present study, these tests were
performed in order to clarify the performance of the combination of fibres under tension beyond
the conventional flexural tests. In such a sense, the possibility of testing under uniaxial stresses
one of the halves of each sample, allowed comparing flexural and tensile results. This idea can
be better understood observing Figure 5. Two specimens of each type of concrete were
prepared and tested.

Figure 5: Sketch of the preparation and size of the specimens used for the tensile tests.

Moreover, there was one more reason that justified designing and developing new tests for the
prismatic specimens already tested on fracture. That is to say that if some synergy effects were
found in residual flexural strengths [3] it was of key importance to determine if such effect were
observed due to the existence of a noticeable wall effect. Hence, the depth of the notch of the
uniaxial tensile effectively removes the wall effect of the fibre and allows an improved
discussion of the results. Since fibre positioning was assessed for the fracture surfaces, the
comparison of a new fibre counting performed permits sounder conclusions. In this areas in the
concrete bulk distribution of fibres are barely affected by the presence of boundaries [38].

Consequently, the final shape of the specimens for the uniaxial tensile tests was prismatic of
size 185x100x100 mm³. The notch depth was 20 mm in each face in order to remove most of
the wall effect and leave a representative surface remaining. The sketch of the specimen size
can be seen in Figure 6. Moreover, in order to assure that rotations were limited during the
tests, all the faces were evened by means of a water refrigerated grinder. The latter produced a
perfect prismatic shape with parallel and orthogonal faces reducing scatter and non-desired
effects during the fracture processes and to obtain a reduced degree of scattering in the same
sense as explained for the flexural tests. With this preparation, two specimens of each concrete
type were tested.
 Figure 6: Uniaxial tests specimens.

The test was conducted by displacing the actuator of the machine. The test set-up, as sketched
in Figure 7, needed two CMOD devices similar to those used for flexural tests. These devices
were placed in opposite positions of the specimens. The tests were carried out with a
displacement rate of 0.005 mm/min. The two bases of the specimens were pasted to steel caps
with resin which needed 24 hours of curing time. The upper cap was linked to the grip of the
machine by threaded stainless steel bar. A hinge was placed in such upper part to avoid any
lack of parallelism. The lower cap was linked by a stainless steel bar threaded in the upper half
and with a soft surface in the lower half. This lower half of the piece was designed to be
introduced in a hollow cylinder being both drilled in order to pass a bolt after the placement of
the specimen. This permitted the thread of the piece in the upper grip. Once it was done, the
lower part of the piece having the hollow cylinder was also threaded to the grip and fixed to it
with the bolt and two lateral nuts. The last piece of the design was a bigger nut that was
threaded to the external surface of the hollow cylinder not allowing rotations. All these pieces
and procedures can be better understood observing Figure 7.

Figure 7: Configuration of the uniaxial tests.

The results of the uniaxial tests were satisfactory in terms of the designed procedure without
non-desired effects or rotations before the limit of proportionality. Slight rotations could be seen
in the initial post-cracking processes, though, they did not influence the results as the crack
growth in the two sides was extremely close and therefore the stresses were aligned producing
fracture under tension. In Figure 8 the mean of two tests is shown in any of the mixes. If Figure
8 is observed, it can be seen that the results had noticeable differences among the two types of
fibres used individually. Since steel-hooked fibres have higher modulus of elasticity and they
anchored to the matrix by the hooks, the initial residual strength and the recovery of strength
are significant. However, it is possible to observe that with only 4.5 kg/m³ of polyolefin fibres,
their residual contribution surpasses that of steel fibres for crack openings around 1.75 mm. If
the two residual actions were added (algebraic sum) it can also be seen that the results of the
mixture H1 surpasses such addition. That is to say that the synergy effect could also be
observed even though the wall effect was practically null. This allows concluding that the
synergy effect between the two types of fibres occurred due to the interaction between them
and the flux of self-compacting concrete and that it was not a collateral effect of the size or
machining of the samples.

Uniaxial tensile tests

12

H1
10 P4.5

S26

Algebraic sum
8
Load (kN)

0
0 0,25 0,5 0,75 1 1,25 1,5 1,75 2

CMOD (mm)
Figure 8: Uniaxial test result: average curves of two specimens of each concrete type.

In order to analyse such synergy between the two types of fibres, the latter that appeared in the
fracture surfaces were also counted and analysed being the average results those placed in
Table 5. As expected, the steel fibres did not reach its maximum tensile strength and hence no
one was found broken. Conversely, most of the polyolefin fibres were broken although a
significant percentage was pulled-out. In any event, more fibres of both materials, steel and
polyolefin, were counted in the mixture with the combination of them (H1). That is to say that
orientation was improved and therefore the results showed the referred synergy. The coefficient
of variation of the uniaxial results increased up to 0.25 for the mixture H1. Although this could
be considered adequate in the field of FRC, the complexity of the tests merits mention of the
low degree of scattering.

Table 5: Number of fibres on the uniaxial fracture surfaces: average values of two specimens of
each concrete type
 Upper half Lower half c.v.
Mixture Fibre type Total
Pulled-out Broken Pulled-out Broken (%)

Polyolefin 4 5 5 5 14 24%
H1
Steel-
15 0 16 0 31 23%
hooked
Steel-
S26 12 0 13 0 25 17%
hooked

Polyolefin 4 7 6 7 26%
P4.5 17

4 Discussion

In figure 8 the load-CMOD curves registered values up to 2mm, which was considered the most
interesting part, can be seen. At that moment, no FRC specimens had collapsed. At least two
tests were performed for every concrete mixture showing a limited scatter in all the mixes. The
curves shown in Figure 4 and Figure 8 offer a clear view of the effect of the fibres in the post-
peak behaviour of a self-compacting concrete. It is clear that the stiffness of the fibres have a
great influence in the unloading branch following the peak load. It can be easily perceived that
the stiffer the material the more pronounced unloading process. This can be seen in the curves
that correspond to mixes S26 and P4.5. Similarly, the slope of mix H1 is equal to the one
registered for S26. Therefore, the presence of polyolefin fibres did not improve the behaviour of
the unloading branch of the hybrid mix.

In order to compare the mechanical characteristics of all the mixes tested the fracture energy of
each concrete was computed. Similarly, the most relevant points of the curves obtained were
extracted and can be seen in Table 6. Two main turning points of the curve shapes were also
extracted (later discussed and shown in Table 6). The peak load (lPEAK), defined as the first
maximum load before the softening post-cracking branch and the minimum post-cracking load
(lMIN), were extracted. In addition the maximum post-peak load was also obtained (lREM).

Table 6. Significant points of the Load-CMOD curves and fracture energy.

lPEAK (kN) lMIN (kN) lREM (kN) l R1 (kN) lR3 (kN) Gf (N/m)
H1 10.25 5.56 54.24% 8.47 82.63% 7.93 77.37% 5.79 56.49% 4018
S26 8.76 2.52 28.77% 5.61 64.04% 5.59 63.81% 3.03 34.59% 1362
P4.5 10.56 1.43 13.54% 1.44 13.64% 1.54 14.58% 2.27 21.51% 2434

The values of lPEAK shown in Table 6 do not show any particular trend being the ones obtained
in the mix P4.5 higher than the rest. This phenomenon is expected as it is something that has
been previously reported in three point bending tests. Regarding the values of lMIN it is
noticeable how the value obtained in the hybrid mix surpasses the sum of S26+P4.5 by more
than 12%. Moreover, the most noticeable effect is that not only the value of l MIN is increased but
also the CMOD where l MIN is reached is lower than in any of the concretes reinforced with a
single type of fibre. When lREM is analysed it is clear that the hybrid fibre reinforced concrete is
able to bear a maximum post peak load above the theoretical values obtained in the algebraic
sum. Not only are these two characteristic points improved but also the fracture energy obtained
up to a CMOD opening of 2mm is also enhanced. This is of key importance because it is a
significant increment in the toughness of the composite material.
The fracture energy is obtained as the area under the uniaxial fracture curves divided by the
real fracture surface (the accuracy in this terms has significant influence and therefore the
surfaces were measured after the tests). If the results, shown in the last column of Table 6, are
analysed it can be concluded that in terms of fracture energy up to 2mm of crack opening, the
synergy meant an increase of 5.9%.

The aforementioned improvements of the mechanical behaviour of the hybrid concrete can be
explained by means of an analysis of the fracture surfaces and a counting exercise of the fibres
that appear in the latter. In Figures 9 and 10 it can be seen the fracture surfaces of one P4.5
sample and one H1 sample respectively. Observing Table 5 and Figures 9 and 10 it is clear that
not only the amount of fibres is important but also its positioning and orientation. According to
Table 5 there are more polyolefin fibres in the fracture surface of P4.5 and a similar number of
steel fibres in the S26 samples than in the H1 sample. Therefore its mechanical behaviour, if
only the amount of fibres is considered, should be better in the P4.5+S26 theoretical mix.
However, the experimental results did not showed this trend. The differences can be explained
when the orientation of the polyolefin fibres in Figures 9 and 10 is compared. In Figure 10 it can
be clearly seen that the polyolefin fibres are oriented, as an average, in a normal disposition.
Nevertheless if Figure 9 is observed in the fracture surface of P4.5 sample it can be perceived
that there is a certain amount of polyolefin fibres that are folded or oriented in directions close to
being parallel to the fracture surface. Therefore the presence of the steel fibres helps to align
the polyolefin fibres normal to the principal tensile stress improving consequently the behaviour
of the concrete above the theoretical values.

Figure 9. Polyolefin concrete fracture surface

Figure 10. Hybrid concrete fracture surface

5 Conclusions
It is possible to produce a hybrid fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete with a combination of
hooked steel fibres and macro polyolefin fibres, preserving the high performance fresh
properties within the most common self-compacting requirements.

The fracture behaviour of all single and hybrid FRC under tensile and fracture stresses was
remarkably stable and, in the case of flexural tests, met the structural requirements of the
standards.

The fracture toughness and ductility, as well as residual strength, were increased if compared
with the same proportions of fibres added separately and subsequently combined. Therefore a
synergy effect above the algebraic sum of the influence of the fibres individually was assessed
opening a large field of research for future applications.

This synergy in the fracture results led to a high-performance concrete capable of bearing loads
close to the peak-load for deflections of Span/60. This improving effect was observed on the
fracture surface of the specimens that showed the same preferential orientation for both types
of fibres and an improved orientation and distribution of the polyolefin fibres. In addition, this
synergy was found in both flexural and uniaxial fracture tests. Moreover, the low degree of
scatter found due the meticulous testing procedures permit the conclusion that simultaneous
use of these two fibre types can be used to increase the properties of FRC.

The design of the uni-axial tests provided satisfactory results without rotation problems that
allowed localizing the synergy effects using the two types of fibre under direct tension. In
addition, it permitted extracting the sound conclusion that the best performance of the
combination of fibres was not linked to wall effect and only to the interaction between steel and
polyolefin fibres set inside the flux of self-compacting concrete.

It should also be noted that the addition of fibres did not noticeably change the compressive
strength, indirect tensile strength or modulus of elasticity of a reference SCC for any of the
amounts, types or combination of fibres used.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by Ministry of Economy and
Competitiveness of Spain by means of the Research Fund Project PDI 2011-24876. They also
offer their gratitude to SIKA SAU for supplying the polyolefin fibers. Marcos García Alberti also
wishes to express his gratitude to SIKA SAU for the grant provided.

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