Effect of PVA fiber dosage on fresh and engineering characteristics of alkali activated slag-fly ash concrete cured under room temperature

This paper examines the effect of polyvinyl alcohol [PVA] fibres on the fresh and engineering characteristics of alkali-activated slag-fly ash concrete [AASFC] that has been cured under ambient conditions. In this paper, 40 MPa grade of concrete was developed using 100% ground-granulated blast furnace slag [GGBFS], GGBFS was replaced with 0 %, 20 %, 40 %, 60 %, 80 %, and 100 % fly ash. PVA fibres were incorporated into all mixtures in the following percentages: 0.00 %, 0.15 %, 0.30 %, 0.45 %, and 0.60 %. Fresh properties workability [slump flow] and mechanical properties such as compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexural strength, stress-strain relation, peak stress, strain at peak stress, modulus of elasticity [MOE], and energy absorption capacity [EAC] were studied. A correlation was established between the compressive, split tensile, and flexural strengths of all mixes, and the resulting relationships were compared to previous studies and code requirements. According to the test results, the workability of mixes increased as the fly ash content increased but decreased as the fibre content increased in all mixes. Mechanical properties enhanced as PVA fibre content increased from 0.15 % to 0.30 %, while they decreased at 0.45 % and 0.60 %. From the overall results, the best mechanical properties were obtained in all mixtures at 0.30 % PVA fibres.