Flexural Behaviour of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Concrete ... · Basalt rock can also make basalt...

Flexural Behaviour of Basalt Fiber

Reinforced Concrete Beam

Enhanced with Wire Mesh Epoxy

Composite

Poornima Pradeep

M.Tech Student, Department of Civil Engineering

Vimal Jyothi Engineering College

Kannur, Kerala, India

Biju Mathew

Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering

Vimal Jyothi Engineering College

Kannur, Kerala, India

Abstract – Many of the existing reinforced concrete structures throughout the world are in urgent need of

rehabilitation, repair or reconstruction because of

deterioration due to various factors like corrosion, lack of

detailing, failure of bonding between beam-beam joints,

increase in service loads etc. Leading to cracking, spaling,

loss of strength, deflection etc. The recent developments in

the application of the advanced composites in the

construction industry for concrete rehabilitation and

strengthening are increasing on the basis of specific

requirements, national needs and industry participation.

The speciality of concrete is that it is very strong against

compression and for tension it is weak. The use of

reinforcement and to some extent the inclusion of certain

fibers in concrete increases the tensile strength of concrete.

In this project, the tensile strength of reinforced concrete

beam is increased by adding basalt fibre into the concrete

by weight of concrete and is again strengthened with the

help of wire mesh epoxy composite. The wire mesh is placed

on the specimen in different alignments and is covered with

epoxy resin. Five specimen including the control beam is

casted. The flexural behavior of basalt fibre reinforced

beam enhanced with wire mesh epoxy composite is then

compared with the control beam. Based on this study, the

beam specimen with the addition of basalt fiber enhanced

with welded wire mesh U – wrapped completely attained

higher strength than control beam and is 42.6% more

stronger.

Keywords: Rehabilitation, Basalt Fibre, Wire Mesh Epoxy

Composite

I. INTRODUCTION

A major problem that is currently facing the building and

construction industry is the deterioration of concrete structures

over time. In addition, many civil structures are no longer

considered safe due to increased load specifications in the

design codes, the overloading or under design of existing

structures, or a lack of quality control. To maintain efficient

serviceability, older structures must be repaired or strengthened

so that they meet the same requirements demanded of the

structures being built today and in the future. It is both

economically and environmentally satisfactory to upgrade

structures rather than rebuild them if this can be done using

simple, effective, and rapid methods[7]. Pasting steel plates onto

the soffits of beams was the earliest adopted and investigated

method. Although the capacities, stiffness and cracking

performance of the beams strengthened in this way are

improved, the steel plate pasting method also has some

disadvantages, such as the corrosion of the steel plates and the

difficulty of handling and transporting long plates.

Furthermore, a steel plate is difficult to adapt to the profile

of a concrete surface. To solve the problems with steel plates,

the fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) was introduced. The use of

FRP for strengthening beams has attracted considerable

attention worldwide due to the excellent durability and high

strength-to-weight ratio of this material. FRP laminates can be

installed quickly and can conform to curved surfaces well.

However, they have no marked effect on the stiffness of RC

beams because of the limit on the thickness of FRP laminates.

Furthermore, strengthening with bonded FRP laminates

requires the additional use of epoxy adhesive, an organic

material with unqualified fire resistance. In addition, the high

cost of FRP is also an issue to consider[7]. Industry is always

trying to find new, better and economical material to

manufacture new product, which is very beneficial to the

industry. Today a significant growth is observed in the

manufacture of composite material. With this in mind energy

conservation, corrosion risk, the sustainability and environment

are important when a product is changed or new product is

manufactures. Basalt fiber is a high performance non-metallic

fiber made from basalt rock melted at high temperature. Basalt

rock can also make basalt rock, chopped basalt fiber, basalt

fabrics and continuous filament wire[9]. Basalt fiber originates

from volcanic magma and volcanoes, a very hot fluid or semi

fluid material under the earth’s crust, solidified in the open air.

Basalt is a common term used for a variety of volcanic rock,

which are gray dark in colour. The molten rock is then extruded

through small nozzles to produce continuous filaments of basalt

fiber. The basalt fibers do not contain any other additives in a

single producing process, which gives additional advantage in

cost. Basalt rock fibers have no toxic reaction with air or water,

are noncombustible and explosion proof. When in contact with

other chemicals they produce no chemical reaction that may

damage health or the environment. Basalt fiber has good

hardness and thermal properties. Basalt fibers have been

successfully used for foundation such as slabs on ground

International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 14, Number 12, 2019 (Special Issue) © Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com

Page 72 of 76

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

concrete. As an alternative, the use of wielded wire mesh in the

form of Ferro-cement laminates has proven to have many

advantages. Ferro-cement possesses good toughness, ductility

and durability. Furthermore, Ferro-cement can easily be cast

into any shape to fit the contours of the elements to be repaired.

Epoxy is used to ensure the full composite behaviour of RC

beams and laminate under loading.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

Sun Q et. al (2018)[7] studied the experimental behaviors of

reinforced concrete (RC) T-beams strengthened using an

innovative technique, namely, wire mesh-polyurethane cement

(WM-PUC) composite. From the results obtained they

concluded that WM-PUC strengthening more effectively hinder

crack expansion shows potential as an external strengthening

technique for concrete structures[7]. Raja A et. al (2017)[1]

experimentally investigated the use of basalt chopped strands

fibre of length 6mm and 12mm, having an aspect ratio of around

500 was employed in equal percentages of 0.2 percentage by

weight in cast concrete. Conventional concrete have very low

tensile strength and small resistance to cracking. They

concluded that fibres added to a certain percentage of the

concrete improve the strain value as well as crack resistance and

flexure strength[1]. Mindess S et.al (2016)[4] studied the

combination of fibers and welded wire mesh were tested under

impact loading. Steel and synthetic fibers are used at

concentrations of 0.5% and 1.0%. They observed that the

behavior of reinforced concrete beam under impact loading was

quite different from that of static loading. From the

experimental results, they concluded that a hybrid

reinforcement system is more effective than any single system

of reinforcement in mitigating the brittleness of the concrete[4].

III. FLEXURAL BEHAVIOUR OF BEAM

Five RC beams were prepared. The RC beams were

reinforced with two 8 mm diameter bars at top and bottom and

6 mm diameter stirrups spaced at 120 mm center to center as

shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 geometry and details of concrete beam specimens (all dimensions in

cm)

A. Material Properties

The materials used in the study are Ordinary Portland

cement of grade 53, the average yield stress of main steel bars

used in the experiment is 500 MPa and an elastic modulus of

200 GPa. Fine aggregate used is M sand, coarse aggregate used

is of size 20mm, basalt fiber of 36mm length and 18µm

diameter, closely spaced welded wire mesh with square opening

having wire spacing of 12.5mm and wire diameter of 1.35mm,

two-part epoxy impregnation resin, superplastisizer.

Superplastisizer used is MasterRheobuild 924KL. It is

composed of synthetic polymers specially designed to impart

rheoplastic qualities to concrete. A rheoplastic concrete us a

fluid concrete with a slump of at least 200mm but at the same

time free from segregation and having the same water cement

ratio as that of a no slump concrete (25mm) with admixture.

.

. Fig. 2 Basalt Fiber Fig. 3 Welded Wire Mesh

B. Specimen Casting

A beam of size 1500 x 150 x 200 mm is casted as the control

beam (Specimen1). 2 main bars of diameter 8mm is used with a

nominal cover of 30mm and 2 legged 6mm stirrup is placed at

120 mm spacing. Minimum clear cover to reinforcements

depends on the exposure criteria and this is specified in IS: 456-

2000. Control beam is casted with the addition of

superplastisizer at 1:3, cement: superplastisizer ratio. A beam of

size 1500 x 150 x 200 mm is casted with the addition of basalt

fibre as specimen 2. The basalt fiber is added at a percentage of

0.3 by volume of concrete. A beam of size 1500 x 150 x 200

mm is casted with the addition of basalt fibre as specimen 3.

After curing for 28 days the beam is preloaded upto 60% of load

obtained for BF beam and is then wrapped with welded wire

mesh at the soffit of the beam and then loaded till failure. A

beam of size 1500 x 150 x 200 mm is casted with the addition

of basalt fibre as specimen 4. After curing for 28 days the beam

is preloaded upto 60% of load obtained for BF beam and is then

wrapped with welded wire mesh, U – Wrapped completely and

then loaded till failure. A beam of size 1500 x 150 x 200 mm is

casted with the addition of basalt fibre as specimen 5. After

curing for 28 days the beam is preloaded upto 60% of load

obtained for BF beam and is then wrapped with welded wire

mesh, U – Wrapped at the supports and then loaded till failure.

TABLE 1 DETAILS OF SPECIMEN

Identification Description

Specimen 1 CB Control beam.

Specimen 2 BF Beam with the addition of basalt

fiber

Specimen 3 BF – WWM 1

Beam with the addition of basalt

fiber and welded with wire mesh

at the soffit of beam



fiber and welded with wire mesh,

U – Wrapped completely



fiber and welded with wire mesh,

U – Wrapped at the supports


Page 73 of 76

C. Testing Procedure

All specimens were water cured for 28 days and then tested

in loading frame applying two point load at L/3 sections of the

beam span as shown in Fig 5. Flexural strength of all beams are

evaluated.

Fig. 4 Test setup line diagram for testing of beam with two point loading

IV. RESULT AND DISCUSION

Fig. 5 Crack pattern in control beam

Fig. 6 Crack pattern in basalt fiber (BF) beam




The crack pattern developed in control beam is shown in fig

5. The crack originates from the tension side and propagates

towards the compression side. Verticals cracks are initially

developed. The crack pattern developed in BF beam is shown in

fig 6. The crack originates from the tension side and propagates

towards the compression side. Verticals cracks are initially

developed. Even though major cracks are formed, the crack

width developed is less than of in control beam. The crack

pattern in BF – WWM 1 beam after wrapping with wire mesh is

shown in fig 7. Minor cracks are developed while preloading

then leads to major crack when loaded upto failure of beam after

wrapping with wire mesh. The crack pattern in BF – WWM 2

beam after wrapping with wire mesh is shown in fig 8. Minor

cracks are developed while preloading. The cracks developed

after wrapping with wire mesh is not visible here, because the

wire mesh is U – wrapped completely around the beam. The

crack pattern in BF – WWM 3 beam after wrapping with wire

mesh is shown in fig 9. Minor cracks are developed while

preloading then leads to major crack when loaded upto failure

of beam after wrapping with wire mesh.

The comparison of load – deflection curve of all the beam

specimens at L/2 and L/3 sections respectively are shown in fig

10 and fig 11. From the graph it is clear that the control beam is

having higher deflection with least load carrying capacity

compared to other beam specimens. BF – WWM 2 is having the

least deflection with higher load carrying capacity. From both

the graphs it can be concluded that as load carrying capacity

increases the deflection reduces.

The Comparison of Stress – Strain Graph of different beams

at L/2 and L/3 section of the beam is shown in fig 12 and fig 13

respectively. From the graph it is clear that as the stress

increases correspondingly the strain also increases and when the

beam reaches its ultimate load the stress starts decreasing on

further increase in load. But the strain value continue increasing.

Maximum stress value is obtained for BF – WWM 2 beam with

least value of strain and control beam is having highest strain

with least stress value. As the maximum stress for a beam

increases the strain value decreases.

The comparison of ultimate loads of each specimen is

shown in fig 14. From the graph it is clear that the ultimate load

is greater for BF – WWM 2 i.e; basalt fiber reinforced beam

enhanced with welded wire mesh U-wrapped completely and

lower for control beam. Hence the load carrying capacity is

more for BF – WWM 2 beam compared to all other beam and

the load carrying capacity is increased by 42.60% compared to

control beam.

The comparison graph of deflection of all the beam

specimen at sections L/2 and L/3 is shown in fig 15. The

deflections corresponding to ultimate load of each specimens at

L/2 and L/3 section of the beam is compared. It is found that the

deflection is less for BF – WWM 2 (U-wrapped completely) at

L/2 and L/3 section and is 48.05% and 45.32% less than the

deflection at L/2 and L/3 section of control beam respectively.

The comparison of initial cracking load of each beam

specimen is shown in fig 16. Except control beam and basalt


Page 74 of 76

fiber beam all the other three beams are subjected to preloading.

Hence the initial cracking loads for BF, BF – WWM 1, BF -

WWM 2, BF - WWM 3 are almost similar since BF – WWM 1,

BF – WWM 2 and BF – WWM 3 beam acts as basalt fiber

reinforced beam during preloading and is greater than that of

control beam.

All test beams were passed through two point loading.

From the recorded values the highest permanent deflection is

attained by the control beam while the lowest deflection is

achieved by the beam BF – WWM 2 i.e.; basalt fiber beam

enhanced with welded wire mesh with U wrapping. The control

beam CB as well as all other beam specimens showed almost

the same behaviour at the beginning till the initiation of first

flexural crack and then significant variations started to be

observed. With further loading, flexural cracks began to

propagate in the tension side. The flexural cracks developed

depends upon the mode of wrapping of wire mesh and hence

reduces the deflection.

Fig. 10 Comparison of Load Vs. Deflection Graph at L/2 section of Beam

Fig. 11 Comparison of Load Vs. Deflection Graph at L/3 section of Beam

Fig. 12 Comparison of Stress Vs. Strain Graph at section L/2 of Beam

Fig. 13 Comparison of Stress Vs. Strain Graph at section L/3 of Beam

Fig. 14 Comparison of Ultimate Load Graph

Fig. 15 Comparison of Deflection Graph at L/2 and L/3 section

Fig. 16 Comparison of Initial Cracking Load Graph

A. Flexural Strength

The percentage increase in ultimate strength and flexural

strength of all the specimens compared with control beam is

shown in table 6.15. Flexural strength is determined using the

equation “PL/bd2”, where “L” is the Effective span of the beam,

“P” is the Failure load, “b” is the width of beam and “d” is the

depth of beam. On comparing the increment, it is seen that the

0

20

40

60

80

0 5 10 15 20

Load

(k

N)

Deflection (mm)

COMPARISON OF LOAD - DEFLECTION GRAPH

(AT L/2 SECTION)

CB

BF

BF - WWM 1

BF - WWM 2

BF - WWM 3

0

20

40

60

80

0 10 20

Load

(k

N)

Deflection (mm)

COMPARISON OF LOAD - DEFLECTION GRAPH

(AT L/3 SECTION

CB

BF

BF - WWM 1

BF - WWM 2

BF - WWM 3

0

5

10

15

0 50 100

Str

ess

(N/m

m2

)

Strain

COMPARISON OF STRESS - STRAIN GRAPH (AT L/2

SECTION)

CB

BF

BF - WWM 1

BF - WWM 2

BF - WWM 3

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

0 50 100

Str

ess

(N/m

m2

)

Strain

COMPARISON OF STRESS - STRAIN GRAPH (AT

L/3 SECTION)

CB

BF

BF - WWM 1

BF - WWM 2

BF - WWM 3

46 50.2 52.665.6 60.4

0

20

40

60

80

CB BF BF-WWM

1

BF-WWM

2

BF-WWM

3

Ult

imat

e lo

ad (

kN

)Specimen

COMPARISON OF ULTIMATE LOADS OF

SPECIMEN

14.11 13.5811.6

7.33

9.869.849.02 8.66

5.38

7.82

0

5

10

15

CB BF BF -WWM

1

BF -WWM

2

BF -WWM

3

Def

lect

ion

(m

m)

Specimen

COMPARISON OF DEFLECTION

L/2 L/3

2124.1 25.5 25.6 24.5

0

10

20

30

CB BF BF-WWM

1

BF-WWM

2

BF-WWM

3

Fir

st C

rack

ing

Lo

ad (

kN

)

Specimen

COMPARISON OF FIRST CRACKING LOAD OF

SPECIMENS


Page 75 of 76

basalt fiber reinforced beam enhanced with wire mesh U –

wrapped completely is having the highest percentage of

increment and is 42.60% more compared to control beam.

TABLE 2 PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN ULTIMATE STRENGTH AND FLEXURAL

STRENGTH

Sl

No Beam

Ultimate

Strength

(kN)

Flexural

Strength, 𝑷𝑳

𝒃𝒅𝟐

(N/Mm2)

Percentage Increase

In Ultimate Strength

And Flexural

Strength w.r.t. CB

1 CB 46.0 9.967 0

2 BF 50.2 10.877 9.13

3 BF –

WWM 1 52.6 11.397 14.34

4 BF –

WWM 2 65.6 14.213 42.60

5 BF –

WWM 3 60.4 13.087 31.30

V. CONCLUSIONS.

1. Addition of basalt fiber into the beam increased the load

carrying capacity by 9.13% and the flexural strength of the

beam also increased by 9.13%. The central deflection

reduced by 3.75% and deflection at L/2 section reduced by

8.33%.

2. Further when the beam is retrofitted using wire mesh at the

bottom the ultimate strength and flexural strength of the

beam increased by 14.34% and the central deflection

reduced by 17.77% and deflection at L/2 section reduced

by 11.99%.

3. When the beam is retrofitted using wire mesh U – wrapped

completely, the ultimate strength was found to be more than

other beam specimens and it is 42.6% more than control

beam. The central deflection is reduced to 48.05% and the

deflection at L/3 section is reduced to 45.32%.

4. The beam retrofitted with wire mesh U – wrapped at

supports has also higher load carrying capacity than control

beam, i.e; 31.3% but less than that of beam retrofitted with

wire mesh U – wrapped completely and the central

deflection is reduced to 8.62%.

5. Hence it can be concluded that the beam strength can be

improved by the addition of fibers and for external

strengthening U – wrapping completely with wire mesh is

more effective compared to other two mode of wrapping.

Wire meshes are very cheap and is easily available also. So

this is economical too.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The author gratefully acknowledges the management,

Principal, Head of the Department, other department staff and

friends for providing technical and moral support to do this

work.

REFERENCES

1. Aathithya Raja M, Saravanan G, Satheesh.V.S (2017): “Flexural

Behaviour of Basalt Chopped Strands Fibre Reinforced Concrete

Beams”, Research Article, Volume 7, Issue No. 3.

2. Gang Wu, Yi-Hua Zeng, Zhi-Shen Wu, M.ASCE, Wu-Qiang Feng

(2013): “Experimental Study on the Flexural Behavior of RC Beams

Strengthened with Steel-Wire Continuous Basalt Fiber Composite

Plates”, American Society of Civil Engineers.

3. Hamza Salim Mohammed Al Saadi, Hoby P. Mohandas, Aravind

Namasivayam (2017): “An Experimental Study on Strengthening of

Reinforced Concrete Flexural Members using Steel Wire Mesh”,

Curved and Layer. Struct. 2017; 4:31–37.

4. Hanfeng X U and Sidney Mindess (2016): “Behaviour of Concrete

Panels Reinforced with Welded Wire Mesh and Fibers under Impact

Loading”, American Society of Civil Engineers.

5. Ismail M.I, Qeshta, Payam Shafigh, Mohd Zamin Jumaat (2015):

“Flexural behaviour of RC beams strengthened with wire mesh-epoxy

composite”, Construction and Building Materials 79 (2015) 104–114.

6. Ismail M.I. Qeshta, Payam Shafigh, MohdZamin Jumaat, Aziz Ibrahim

Abdulla, Zainah Ibrahim, Ubagaram Johnson Alengaram (2014): “The

use of wire mesh–epoxy composite for enhancing the flexural

performance of concrete beams”, Materials and Design 60 (2014) 250–

259.

7. Kexin Zhang, Quansheng Sun (2018): “The use of Wire Mesh-

Polyurethane Cement (WM-PUC) composite to strengthen RC T-

beams under flexure”, Journal of Building Engineering 15 (2018) 122–

136.

8. LuoXin, Xu Jin-yu, Li Weimin, Wang Zhi-kun (2014): “Comparative

Study of the Effect of Basalt Fiber on Dynamic Damage Characteristics

of Ceramics Cement–Based Porous Material”, American Society of

Civil Engineers.

9. Nayan Rathod, MukundGonbare, MallikarjunPujari (2013): “Basalt

Fiber Reinforced Concrete”, International Journal of Science and

Research, ISSN (Online): 2319-7064.

10. Padmanabhan Iyer, Sara Y. Kenno, Sreekanta Das (2015): “Mechanical

Properties of Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Made with Basalt Filament

Fibers”, American Society of Civil Engineers.

11. R.A. Hawileh, W. Nawaz, J.A. Abdalla (2018): “Flexural behavior of

reinforced concrete beams externally strengthened with Hardwire

Steel-Fiber sheets”, Construction and Building Materials 172 (2018)

562–573.

12. Tehmina Ayub, S.M.ASCE, Nasir Shafiq and Sadaqat Ullah Khan

(2015): “Compressive Stree – Strain Behaviour of HSFRC Reinforced

with Basalt Fibers”, American Society of Civil Engineers.

13. Thomas Hulin, Dan H. Lauridsen, KamilHodicky (2015): “Influence of

Basalt FRP Mesh Reinforcement on High-Performance Concrete Thin

Plates at High Temperatures”, American Society of Civil Engineers.

14. Wael Alnahhal, Omar Aljidda (2018): “Flexural behavior of basalt fiber

reinforced concrete beams with recycled concrete coarse aggregates”,

Construction and Building Materials 169 (2018) 165–178.

15. IS: 4031-Part 1-1996: “Methods of Physical Tests for Hydraulic

Cement”, Determination of Fineness by Dry Sieving.

16. IS: 4031 (Part 4) 1988: “Methods of Physical Tests for Hydraulic

Cement”, Determination of Consistency of Standard Cement Paste.

17. IS: 4031-Part 5-1988: “Methods of Physical Tests for Hydraulic

Cement”, Determination of Initial and Final Setting Times.

18. IS: 2386 (part 3) 1963: “Methods of Test for Aggregates for Concrete”,

Specific Gravity, Density, Voids, Absorption and Bulking.

19. IS: 383 – 1970: “Specifications for Coarse and Fine Aggregates from

Natural Source for Concrete”

20. IS: 7320 – 1974: “Specifications for Concrete Slump Test Apparatus”

21. IS: 456 – 2000: “Plain and Reinforced Concrete”

22. IS: 10262 – 2009: “Concrete Mix Proportioning – Guidelines”

23. www.google.com


Page 76 of 76

http://www.google.com/

Flexural Behaviour of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Concrete ... · Basalt rock can also make basalt...

Documents

Transcript of Flexural Behaviour of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Concrete ... · Basalt rock can also make basalt...