Effect of Freezing and Thawing on the Strength Characteristics of Slurry Infiltrated Fibrous Ferrocement using Steel Fibers
The concrete composites play an important role in the field of concrete. The addition of fibers to concrete enhances the strength properties and ductility characteristics. Ferrocement is light weight and versatile material having high cracking, ductility and fatigue resistance and is additionally impermeable to make it far superior than reinforced concrete. It is used for prefabricated residential units, marine and industrial structures. Slurry infiltrated fiber concrete (SIFCON) could be considered as a special type of fiber concrete with high fiber content. The matrix consists of cement slurry or flowing cement mortar. This composite material withstands blast loading and can be used for pre-stressed concrete beams and safe vaults. Slurry infiltrated fibrous ferrocement (SIFF) is a combination of SIFCON and ferrocement and can overcome the limitations of latter. SIFF can be used for the structures like runways in aerodromes, industrial floors etc. This paper deals with an experimental investigation on the strength characteristics of SIFF using 1% by volume of steel fibers of aspect ratio 25 when subjected to 90 cycles of freezing and thawing (1cycle of freezing and thawing means 24 hours of immersion of specimens in freezer at a temperature of -14°C and then keeping the specimens in open atmosphere for 24 hours). The results indicated that with the addition of 0.8% steel fibers yield higher compressive strength, flexural strength, toughness indices and impact strength.
