Murtaza Nalwala, a recent Civil and Environmental Engineering graduate, received a prize from The American Concrete Institute (ACI) Student Chapter at Texas A&M on his abstract " Investigation in Mechanical Properties of Synthetic Short-Cut Fiber Reinforced Mortars"
Investigation in Mechanical Properties of Synthetic Short-Cut Fiber Reinforced Mortars
Murtaza Nalwala, Shayan Gholami, Yong-Rak Kim
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University
An experimental study was carried out to investigate the mechanical properties of fiberreinforced mortar using two types of synthetic fibers: FiberForce 1000HP as a monofilament macro-synthetic fiber and Tejin Technora Aramid as yarn-based synthetic fiber. Synthetic fibers
have been known to have more energy absorption capacity and less durability-related issues (such as corrosion) than conventional steel fibers. However, they have a controversial performance in compression or flowability. Type I cement-based fiber reinforced mortars were cast where the fibers were mixed in the matrix with 1, 2, and 3% volume fraction of sand. 3-point bending (with strain-measuring equipment), flow of mortar and uniaxial compressive strength tests were carried out. Technora Fiber implementation enhanced the compressive strength by around 30%. Also, the flowability of Technora reinforced samples were quite similar to the control binder with no fibers. However, in terms of flexural strength and post cracking behavior, the 1% FiberForce mortars were observed as the most effective approach. It was demonstrated that the composite strain capacity improved more than two times than the control binder. Results of this study can be used to implement new types of synthetic fibers in fiber composite material.
More details at: http://cee.unl.edu