Effect of spatial distribution of polymer fibers on preventing spalling of UHPC at high temperatures

Polypropylene (PP) fibers are commonly used for the prevention of thermal spalling of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC). In this work, the effect of fiber distribution on permeability and spalling resistance is investigated and an analytical model for permeability at 150 °C is proposed. This mo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhang, Dong, Zhang, Yao, Dasari, Aravind, Tan, Kang Hai, Weng, Yiwei
Other Authors: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/152258
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
Description
Summary:Polypropylene (PP) fibers are commonly used for the prevention of thermal spalling of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC). In this work, the effect of fiber distribution on permeability and spalling resistance is investigated and an analytical model for permeability at 150 °C is proposed. This model, considering the parameters like fiber dimensions, dosage, and percolation, is based on Kozeny-Carman equation. It was found that the percolation of the interconnecting fiber network resulted in a significant increase in permeability of UHPC. X-ray tomography data on the three-dimensional spatial distribution of fibers reiterated that fiber aspect ratio and dosage (and fiber number density) were critical in increasing the fiber connectivity (percolation). It was also found that a vapor permeability of larger than 0.6 × 10⁻¹⁶ m² at 150 °C could eliminate spalling. Further, based on a semi-empirical approach, aspect ratio between 300 and 600 was recommended for spalling prevention with a fiber dosage of 0.3–0.4 vol%.