Mechanical Properties of Synthetic Fiber Reinforced Concrete Using River Gravel as Coarse Aggregate

Abstract

Concrete is a material with low tensile strength and bending strength compared to the compressive strength. In addition, the use of natural river gravel as a mixture of coarse aggregates resulting in lowering the tensile strength. One method to strengthen the tensile strength is the use of synthetic fiber reinforced concrete. This research uses 3 types of synthetic fibers which are glass fibers, polypropylene fibers and polyester fibers. The fibers are added to the concrete at the ratio of 0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 percent by weight of cement. Two types of coarse aggregates, which are rock from the mountain and natural river gravel are tested. The results found that the slump decreases 50-57 percent as the fiber content increases. The compressive strength increases slightly. The tensile strength increases up to 42 percent with the increase of the amount of the fiber used. The increase in ductility is clearly observed with the increase of amount of the synthetic fibers.