Enhancement of Tensile Strength of High Strength Concrete using Polyvinyl Alcohol Fibre (PVA)

Abdelrahman, Ahmed; Elshahat, Ahmed; Refaey, Ahmed; Ali, Osama; Salah, Ismail; Said, Khalid; Montaser, Wael; Afifi, Ahmed; Mahmoud, Moataz; Nabil, Mina

doi:10.21608/iugrc.2021.246731

Enhancement of Tensile Strength of High Strength Concrete using Polyvinyl Alcohol Fibre (PVA)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Construction and Building Department, Faculty of Engineering, October 6 University, Egypt.

² Associate Professor, Head of Department Construction and Building Department, Faculty of Engineering, October 6 University, Egypt.

³ Assistant Professor of Reinforced Concrete Structures Construction and Building Department, Faculty of Engineering, October 6 University, Egypt.

⁴ Teaching Assistant, Construction and Building Department, Faculty of Engineering, October 6 University, Egypt.

10.21608/iugrc.2021.246731

Abstract

In recent years, the use of high-strength concrete (HSC) has gained significant interest in the construction industry. However, the fundamental issue with HSC is its low tensile strength comparing to its high compressive strength, which limits the use of high strength concrete in the flexural structural elements. Therefore, this paper presents an experimental study to investigate the tensile behavior of concrete including Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) ranges from 0 to 1.5%. A total of 18 cubes and 18 cylinders were cast and tested till failure. It was found that the inclusion of PVA improves the compressive and tensile strength significantly. The results showed that the tensile strength results were two times the average tensile strength of HSC without PVA. Consequently, the use of PVA has solved the main problem with HSC and provide a creative solution for the construction industry.

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