Effect of Glass Fibers on Concrete (OPC Concrete)

1
Mukesh Kumawat, 2Bharat Sarswat.
Arya institute of engineering technology and management Omaxe city Jaipur.
B tech Civil Department
1
[email protected] ,2 [email protected]
Abstract
Concrete is a tension weak building material, which is often crack ridden connected to plastic and hardened states, drying
shrinkage, and the like. Moreover, concrete suffers from low tensile strength and little resistance to cracking. In order to
improve these properties, and attempt has been made to study the effect of addition of glass fibers in ordinary Portland
cement concrete. In the present experimental investigation glass fibers in different percentage 0 to 0.1% has been studied
for the effect on properties of concrete by carrying compressive strength test, flexural strength test . We are using 53
grade of OPC cement. There are many types of fibers used in concrete to increase the tensile strength of concrete

1. Introduction
The concrete without any fibres will develop the cracks due to plastic shrinkage, drying shrinkage and other reasons of changes
in volume of concrete. The development of these micro cracks causes deformation of concrete. Plain concrete is a brittle material
and having the values of modulus of rupture and strain capacity is low. The addition of fibres in the plain concrete will control
the cracking due shrinkage and also reduce the bleeding of water. The addition of glass fibres in plain concrete shows high tensile
strength than plain concrete. Environmental and economic considerations played a great role in the increase in use of mineral
admixtures.
River sand is mainly used in the concrete ( fine sand ). Fibers are used to improve the strength of the concrete . As we know that
plain concrete is more brittle and strong in the compression but weak in the tensile strength.

2. Review of literature
Reduction of both water absorption and chlorine ion permeability in the specimen showed that natural pozzolana is not only
suitable for high performance concrete but also results in better properties than the control concrete. Permeability of concrete
allows aggressive chemicals such as chlorides and sulphates to penetrate through concrete causing damage. In fact, chloride
diffusion and sulphate attack are the main reasons for concrete deterioration. The ability of concrete to resist chemical attack is
characterized by permeability and diffusivity which are considered as “durability indicators” [Talah Aissa et.al. 2011]. Fibre
Reinforced Polymers in new and existing structures is increasing at a rapid pace. The environmental parameters to which the
specimens were subjected included freeze-thaw cycling of 50, 100, 200, and 300 cycles, UV radiation of 1200, 2400, and 4800
hours, temperature variation of 28, 56, 112, and 336 cycles, NaOH solutions with pH 10 and pH 12 concentrations of 7, 14, 28,
and 84 days, and moisture for 7, 14, 28, and 84 days [S.M.Homam, et.al., 2004].

3. Experimental Programme
Materials Cement
The ingredients of cement primarily consist of calcareous materials in the form of limestone, chalks and marl and argillaceous
materials. The ordinary Portland cement of 53 Grade is used. The specific gravity of cement is 3.15. For ordinary Portland
cement, the initial setting time is 55 minutes and the final setting time is 600 minutes.

Aggregate
Fine aggregate is a material such as sand, crushed stones or crushed gravel passing through 4.75 mm size. Locally available sand
is used as fine aggregate in the concrete mix. The specific gravity of fine aggregate is 2.71.
Material which retained on 4.75 mm size is classified as coarse aggregate. For most works, 20 mm aggregate is suitable. The
locally available 20 mm size of aggregate is used. The specific gravity of coarse aggregate is 2.94.

Glass Fibers
The glass fibers used in concrete suppressed the localization of micro cracks in to macro cracks hence tensile strength increase. It
improves durability of concrete by increasing the strength of concrete
Mix Proportions
In this study, control mix A was designed as per IS 10262:1982 to achieve a target compressive strength of 20 MPa. The glass
fibers of 0 %, 0.03%, 0.06% and 0.1 % by volume fraction of concrete were used.

Preparation and Details of Test Specimens

In the present experimental investigation cubes of 150mm x 150mm x 150mm of M-20 grade concrete were casted with varying
percentage of addition of 0.03%, 0.06% and 0.1% of glass fibre. After casting, test specimens were demoulded after 24 hours and
were kept in the curing tanks until the time of test.

Tests on Concrete
Casting and testing of cubical specimens of size 150mm×150mm×150mm for compressive strength, flexural strength test and
splitting tensile strength test test was done as per IS:516-1959 specification compressive strength test was performed on 150mm
cubes, tested at 28 days, with their specimen in each case and cured in the water tank completely immersed at constant
temperature 28˚-30˚C until the test age. All the test specimens were demodulate 24 hours after casting.

Table 1 – Compressive strength test result

Compressive Average compressive

Type of concrete Cube Crushing load KN
strength N/mm2 Strength N/mm2
N1 600 26.67
M-20 with 0.0%
N2 515 22.88 23.93
glass fiber
N3 500 22.22
3a 540 24
M-20 with 0.03%
3b 538 23.91 26.07
glass fiber
3c 682 30.31
6a 545 24.22
M-20 with 0.06%
6b 540 24 26.6
glass fiber
6c 711 31.6
1a 430 19.11
M-20 with 0.1%
1b 680 30.22 29.54
glass fiber
1c 884 39.29

Fig. 1 Compressive strength of % of Glass Fiber

Table 2 – Flexural strength test result

Flexural strength Average Flexural

Type of concrete Beam Crushing load KN
N/mm2 Strength N/mm2

N1 16.2 3.312
M-20 with 0.0%
N2 14.31 2.86 3.344
glass fiber
N3 19.32 3.86
3a 15.3 3.06
M-20 with 0.03%
3b 18.48 3.696 3.587
glass fiber
3c 20.03 4.006
6a 16.48 3.296
M-20 with 0.06%
6b 18.50 3.7 3.654
glass fiber
6c 19.84 3.968
1a 17.74 3.548
M-20 with 0.1%
1b 20.08 4.018 3.99
glass fiber
1c 22.15 4.43

Fig. 2 Flexural strength of % of Glass Fiber

4. Results and Discussions
Compressive strength
Table 1 gives the test results of compressive strength at 28 days. Compressive strength increases with increasing percentage of
glass fibers. It can be observed that 28 days compressive strength is increased by 8.81% with addition of 0.03% of glass fiber
compared to normal M-20 concrete. It can be observed that 28 days compressive strength is increased by 11.15% with addition
of 0.06% of glass fiber compared to normal M-20 concrete. Also it can be observed that 28 days compressive strength is
increased by 23.44% with addition of 0.1percentage of glass fiber compared to normal M-20 concrete. Concern with percentage
of addition of glass fibers are gives better results by addition 0.1 % (Fig. 1).

Flexural strength
Flexural strength increases with increasing percentage of glass fibers. It can be observed that 28 days flexural strength is
increased by 7.27%with addition of 0.03% of glass fiber compared to normal M-20 concrete (Table 2). It can be observed that 28
days flexural strength is increased by 9.27%with addition of 0.06% of glass fiber compared to normal M-20 concrete. Also it
canbe observed that 28 days flexural strength is increased by 19.31% with addition of 0.1% of glass fiber compared to normal M-
20 concrete (Fig. 2).

Split tensile strength

Table 3 gives the test results of splitting tensile strength at 28 days. Flexural strength increases with increasing percentage of
glass fibers. It can be observed that 28 days Splitting tensile strength is increased by 2.8% with addition of 0.03% of glass fiber
compared to normal M-20 concrete. It can be observed that 28 days Splitting tensile strength is increased by 12.73%with
addition of 0.06% of glass fiber compared to normal M-20 concrete. Also it can be observed that 28 days Splitting tensile
strength is increased by 42.23%with addition of 0.1% of glass fiber compared to normal M-20 concrete. Concern with
percentage of addition of glass fibers are gives better results by addition 0.1 % (Fig. 3).

5. Conclusions
The addition of glass fibres into the concrete mixture marginally improves the compressive strength at 28 days. It is observed
from the experimental results and its analysis, that the compressive strength of concrete, flexural strength of concrete, splitting
tensile strength of concrete increases with addition of Percentage of glass fibers. The 0.1% addition of glass fibers into the
concrete shows better result in mechanical properties and durability.
6. References
• Chandramouli K., Srinivasa Rao P., Seshadri Sekhar T., Pannirselvam N. and Sravana P; et al (March 2010) “Rapid
Chloride Permeability Test for Durability Studies On Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete”;; VOL. 5, NO. 3, ARPN
Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences pp: 67 – 71.
• IS 516 (1999) ,Indian standard methods of tests for strength of concrete, (Reaffirmed 1999) , Bureau of Indian
Standards , New Delhi.
• IS 456 (2000) Indian standard code of practice for Plain and Reinforced concrete, Bureau of Indian Standards, New
Delhi.
• IS 5816 (1970) , Method of tests for splitting tensile strength of concrete cylinders, Bureau of Indian Standards , New
Delhi.
• IS 8112 Indian standard specification for 43 grade ordinary Portland cement, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
• IS 10262 (1982), Recommended guidelines for Concrete Mix Design, Bureau of Indian Standards , New Delhi
• Sheik, S. And Homam M.;(2004) “A Decade of Performance of FRP-Repaired Concrete Structures” Proceedings of the
ISIS-SHM 2004 Workshop. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. pp – 751-758.
• Talah Aissa, Kharchi F. and R.Chaid et al., (June2011) “Contribution of natural pozzolana to durability of high
performance concrete in chloride environment”; The Indian Concrete Journal pp – 35 -45.