Effect of Fibers on Strength and Elastic Properties of Bagasse Ash Blended HPC Composites

This article presents the details of an experimental investigation carried out on test specimens to assess the effect of the addition of steel, polypropylene fibers, and hybrid fibers (steel and polypropylene) at a total fiber volume fraction of 1.0 % by volume of concrete on the workability and strength-related properties of high performance concrete (HPC) utilizing bagasse ash. All the fiber-reinforced high performance concrete composites contained 10 % bagasse ash to replace cement. The results of the experimental study show that the addition of bagasse ash enhances the mechanical properties of conventional concrete. The incorporation of steel and polypropylene fibers improved the mechanical properties of bagasse blended HPC at each volume fraction considered in this study. Subsequently, it was observed that the addition of 0.75 % steel and 0.45 % polypropylene fibers significantly improved the strength of concrete. The various combinations of steel and polypropylene fibers are investigated, and among these, the best performance was attained by a mixture that contained 0.85 % steel and 0.15 % polypropylene fiber.