The Effects of Steel and PET Fibers on the Properties of Fresh and Hardened Self-Compacting Concrete

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) due to several economical and technical advantages is increasingly used in construction industry. It can be improved on strength behavior when the fibers are added. Although the workability as a significant factor for this concrete must be maintained. This investigation experimentally evaluated the effects of steel and PET (polyethylene terephthalate) fibers separately on the properties of either fresh or hardened SCC. Fresh properties of concrete have been investigated by slump flow, V-funnel and L-box tests. Hardended properties were tested for compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, shrinkage and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) tests. The results showed that 30 Kg/m3 Steel and 3 Kg/m3 PET fibers can be considered as suitable contents regarding to fresh and hardened properties of SCC. However, the addition of PET fibers have caused a slight decrease in compressive strength.