Assessing flexural and permeability performance of roller-compacted concrete pavement (RCCP) reinforcing with different types of synthetic fibres and crimped steel fibre

ABSTRACT The ever-increasing use of fibres in roller-compacted concrete pavement (RCCP) necessitates fully identifying the mechanical and permeability properties of RCCPs. Incorporating fibres in RCCP with different properties leads to a better comparative investigation that helps discover the unique effects of each fibre on the RCC characteristics. This aim was achieved via analyzing the test results of compressive and flexural strengths, flexural toughness, drying shrinkage, porosity, and water sorptivity. The reinforced RCCs were prepared by incorporating 0.5% and 1% of steel, Barchip, Kortta, and polypropylene fibres in a plain mixture. The plain mixture was chosen between nine mixtures, the differences of which were defined in w/c ratio, volume of cement content, and type of aggregate grading curve. The results indicated that increase in the volume of fibres from 0.5% to 1% could reduce the drying shrinkage rate and enhances the flexural toughness of FR-RCC. Furthermore, the water sorptivity and porosity were found to increase with the substitution of fibres in the RCC mixtures. Here, the water sorptivity of the specimens was highly dependent on the type and surface geometry of fibres. However, apart from other characteristics of fibres, the porosity was significantly increased, using fibres with a high aspect ratio.