Impact and durability properties of alccofine-based hybrid fibre-reinforced self-compacting concrete

Many research works have already been made and are still in progress with metallic fibres as their incorporation reduces the brittleness of the concrete and improves its resistance to impact and crack propagation. But the use of such non-metallic fibres may induce corrosion which is a major problem to be addressed from durability aspects. To overcome this problem, in the present work, a non-metallic hybrid fibre combination has been tried in the research with synthetic fibres like polypropylene and abaca fibres a natural fibre. Also rather than using conventional cementitious materials such as silica fume, fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag, a new generation ultra-fine material namely Alccofine has been used as a partial replacement for cement by 15%. Abaca fibre was used in a constant addition of 0.5% and the blended with polypropylene fibre was used in a range varying from 0% to 2% with an increment of 0.5%. The fresh properties of SCC in mono and hybrid fibre combinations were assessed through slump flow, J-ring, and V-funnel tests. Water absorption and sorptivity tests were performed to ensure the durability of the prepared mix. Further, impact tests were also carried out on the prepared cylindrical disc specimens to check the capability of the mix with the non-metallic hybrid combination. The main objective here is to check whether a high-strength durable SCC can be achieved using non-metallic fibres and natural fibres. From the obtained experimental results, it was observed that 15% Alccofine as a partial substitute to the cement with the addition of 0.5% of abaca fibre and 2% of polypropylene fibre in SCC performed better than control SCC.