Investigation of steel fiber effects on concrete abrasion resistance

Concrete surfaces, industrial floors, sidewalks, roads and parking lots are typically subjected to abrasions. Many studies indicated that the abrasion resistance is directly related to the ultimate strength of the cured concrete. Chemical reactions, freeze-thaw cycles, and damages under abrasion are among many factors negatively affecting the concrete strength and durability. One of the major solutions to address the abrasive resistance of the concrete is to use fibers. Fibers are used in the concrete mix to improve the mechanical properties, strength and limit the crack propagations. In this study, implementation of the steel fibers in concrete to enhance the abrasive resistance of the concrete is investigated in details. The abrasive resistance of the concrete with and without steel fibers is studied with the sandblasting technique. For this purpose, different concrete samples are made with various hooked steel fiber ratios and investigated with the sandblasting method for two different strike angles. In total, 144 ASTM verified cube samples are investigated and it is shown that those samples with the highest steel fiber ratios have the highest abrasive resistance. In addition, the experiments determine that there is a meaningful correlation between the steel fiber percentage in the mix, strike angle and curing time which could be considered for improving structural behavior of the fiber-reinforced concrete.