Basalt Fibers Reinforced Concrete: Strength and Failure Modes

Buthainah Nawaf Al-Kharabsheh; Mohamed Moafak Arbili; Ali Majdi; Saleh M Alogla; A Hakamy; Jawad Ahmad; Ahmed Farouk Deifalla

doi:10.3390/ma15207350

Basalt Fibers Reinforced Concrete: Strength and Failure Modes

Materials (Basel). 2022 Oct 20;15(20):7350. doi: 10.3390/ma15207350.

Authors

Buthainah Nawaf Al-Kharabsheh¹, Mohamed Moafak Arbili², Ali Majdi³, Saleh M Alogla⁴, A Hakamy⁵, Jawad Ahmad⁶, Ahmed Farouk Deifalla⁷

Affiliations

¹ Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Al-Albayt University, Al-Mafraq 25113, Jordan.
² Department of Information Technology, Choman Technical Institute, Erbil Polytechnic University, Erbil 44001, Iraq.
³ Department of Building and Construction Techniques Engineering, Al-Mustaqbal University College, Hillah 51001, Iraq.
⁴ Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Physics, Faculty of Applied Science, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 21955, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Civil Engineering, Military College of Engineering, Sub Campus of National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
⁷ Structural Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Future University in Egypt, New Cairo 11845, Egypt.

Abstract

The low tensile capacity of concrete often results in brittle failure without any warning. One way to cope with this issue is to add fibers and essentially improve the tensile strength (TS) behavior of concrete and offset its undesirable brittle failure. In recent investigations, basalt fibers (BFs), as compared to a variety of other kinds of fiber, have attracted the attention of researchers. In that respect, BFs exhibit several benefits, such as excellent elastic properties, great strength, high elastic modulus, higher thermal stability, and decent chemical stability. Although many researchers have reported that BFs can be embedded in concrete to improve the tensile capacity, a more profound understanding of its contribution is still needed. However, the information is scattered and it is difficult for the reader to identify the benefits of BFs. Therefore, a detailed assessment is essential to summarize all relevant information and provide an easy path for the reader. This review (part Ⅰ) summarizes all the relevant information, including flow properties, strength properties, and failure modes. Results reveal that BFs can greatly enhance the strength properties and change the brittle nature of concrete to one of ductility. However, it unfavorably impacts the flowability of concrete. Furthermore, the optimal proportion is shown to be important as a higher dose can adversely affect the strength of concrete, due to a deficiency of flowability. The typical range of the ideal incorporation of BFs varies from 0.5 to 1.5%. Finally, the review also indicates the research gap for future research studies that must be cautiously explored before being used in the real world.

Keywords: basalt fiber; compressive strength; crack prevention; failure modes; flowability.

Grants and funding

The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research at Umm Al-Qura University for supporting this work by Grant Code: (22UQU4250045DSR07).