Abrasion resistance of concrete micro-reinforced with polypropylene fibers

This paper presents a research of abrasive resistance of classic concrete and micro-reinforced concrete with two types of polypropylene fibers. Water/cement factor was varied from 0.5 to 0.7, while the content (in%) of the remaining components remained constant. An accelerated test of abrasive erosion of concrete was performed on the equipment allowing the high-velocity jet of water/sand mixture to act on the surface of the test specimens. The research results demonstrate that the abrasive resistance of concrete is in an inverse function of the water/cement factor; the concretes with higher compressive strength and higher bending strength have also the higher abrasive resistance; the micro-reinforced concretes demonstrate higher abrasive resistance in comparison to the benchmark concrete.

► Abrasive resistance of concrete is reduced with the increase of water/cement ratio. ► Polypropylene fibers addition contributes to increase of concrete abrasive erosion resistance. ► Polypropylene fiber adding has no significant effects on compressive strength change. ► Polypropylene fiber addition contributes increase of concrete tensile strength. ► High compressive/tensile (at bending) strength concretes have high abrasive resistance.