Physical and Mechanical Properties of Steel-Polypropylene Composite Fiber Geopolymer Concrete
Meor Ahmad FARIS, Warid Wazien AHMAD ZAILANI, Muhammad Fahem MOHD TAHIR, Mohammad Firdaus ABU HASHIM, M.N.A. UDA, Mohd Ikram RAMLI, Mohammed Izzuddeen MOHD YAZID
Abstract. The manufacturing of cement for use in construction sites all over the world has resulted in tonnes of carbon dioxide being released. It is better to replace an alternative material such as geopolymer which contributes less carbon footprint than traditional Portland cement. Concrete is the most versatile building material, yet it has drawbacks in mechanical and physical properties, such as limited ductility, high water absorption, and low compressive strength. This study aims to determine the effect of the addition of composite fibers on the mechanical and physical properties of geopolymer concrete. In this research, the physical and mechanical properties of geopolymer concrete were investigated by mixing Class F fly ash with an alkaline activator consisting of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate. Steel fiber and polypropylene cut into 2 mm fiber were added into the geopolymer concrete as reinforcement. Various volume percentages ranging from 0% to 2% are used. Density, water absorption, workability, and compression testing were performed on all geopolymer concrete reinforced with steel and polypropylene fiber with varying volume percentages. The density of geopolymer concrete is similar to that of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), which is around 2400 kg/m3, and it has gradually increased with the inclusion of steel fiber, while more polypropylene fiber causes lesser density. With an increment of steel fiber and a decrement of polypropylene fiber, the result of water absorption percentage shows a decrement. Besides, the inclusion of steel fibers reduces the workability of geopolymer concrete. However, the addition of polypropylene fibers shows a higher workability. Plus, the inclusion of steel fiber and the reduction of polypropylene fiber improve the compressive strength.
Keywords
Geopolymer, Steel Fiber, Polypropylene Fiber, Reinforced Concrete, Hybrid Fibers
Published online 2025/06/01, 8 pages
Copyright © 2025 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Meor Ahmad FARIS, Warid Wazien AHMAD ZAILANI, Muhammad Fahem MOHD TAHIR, Mohammad Firdaus ABU HASHIM, M.N.A. UDA, Mohd Ikram RAMLI, Mohammed Izzuddeen MOHD YAZID, Physical and Mechanical Properties of Steel-Polypropylene Composite Fiber Geopolymer Concrete, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 56, pp 93-100, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644903636-10
The article was published as article 10 of the book Composite Materials
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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