EXPERIMENTAL AND STATISTICAL INVESTIGATION ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND IMPACT RESISTANCE OF SYNTHETIC FIBER REINFORCED CONCRETE

In the current study an experimental/statistical approach addressing key mechanical properties (compressive, tensile and flexural strength) and impact resistance of such new fibers with inclusion of different volume of polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) fibers has been carried out on 288 specimens. Results from this study revealed that compressive, tensile and flexural strength exhibit a good fit with normal distribution with a coefficient of variation less than 10%. However, impact resistance results dispersed with no considerable conformity to normal distribution with a coefficient of variation around 40~50%. Additionally, higher percentage of fibers led to higher level of data scatter which may be attributed to the considerable effect of the presence of more fiber-concrete interfaces. Tests also proved a direct correlation between percentage of fibers versus mean and coefficient of variation values. Moreover, based on acquired results a General Linear Model (GLM) was developed for impact resistance of PPS fibers considering fiber content. Required replications of tests considering fiber content and required accuracy were also proposed.