2018 Scienceline Publication

Journal of Civil Engineering and Urbanism

Volume 8, Issue 5: 54-58; September 25, 2018

ISSN-2252-0430

Design of Composition of Basalt Fibre Concrete

Dang Van Thanh^

Department of Civil Engineering, Vietnam National University of Forestry, Hanoi, Vietnam

^*Corresponding author’s Email: thanh40e@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Fibre-reinforced concrete is an emerging trend that delivers new materials with high quality for construction. Basalt

fibre, an mineral fibre, has high potential to be used for reinforcing concrete, but there has been little research

conducted into using this fibre for concrete reinforcement worldwide and no research work on this fibre reinforced

concrete has been published in Vietnam. Therefore, researching into Baslat fibre reinforced concrete to establish

fundamental understandings and material mixture recommendations is considered to be scientifically significant and

practically worthwhile, especially for the climate and construction conditions in Vietnam. With the use of

theoretical and experimental research methods, a procedure for designing the composition of Basalt fibre reinforced

concrete was achieved and presented in this paper.

Keywords: Basalt fibre, Fibre reinforced concrete, Concrete, Concrete component design

INTRODUCTION

improving the performances of Jute/Polyproplyene

composite; Nguyen (2014) researched on enhancing

shear strength for concrete beam by glass fibre; Hoang

(2017) experimental study on some features of

Polypropylene fibre concrete.

In recent years, there have been many studies on fibre

reinforced concrete in the world with reinforced fibre

types such as steel fibre, glass fibre, mineral fibre, lignin

fibre, polyester fibre, etc. The published research works

have been mainly concentrated on the effect of fibre to

concrete, the selection of suitable fibre and the

determination of optimal fibre volume fraction. Sim and

Park (2005) who studied on basalt fibre reinforced

concrete indicated that the tensile strength of basalt fibre

reinforced concrete increased 1.5 to 2 times, and

elongation capacity of the reinforced concrete raised 4÷6

times as opposed to the respective properties of a

traditional concrete. Dias and Thaumaturgo (2005)

showed that concrete reinforced by basalt fibre with

2.65kg/m3 could increase compressive and fracture

tensile strength by 26.4% and 12%, respectively

compared to those of a traditional concrete. Some of the

research works in China (Jie, 2011; Chang, 2012;

Zhaoxian, 2009) have showed that: when basalt fibre

volume fractions of 0%, 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3% were used

in concrete with B30 grade, the tests showed that the

compressive strength for 28 days increased with the

increase of the volume fraction of the fibre and the

maximum increase of the strength was 31.5%; however,

the strength only increased slightly in B50 grade when

the volume fractions of the fibre increased; when fibre

volume fraction increased, the properties of concrete

increased accordingly with the compressive strength and

fracture tensile strength being the most sensitive to the

increase. In Vietnam, there have also been some studies

on this field: Doan (2010) carried out investigation on

Through the review of the previous research work

above, it has shown that experimental methods were

helpful for the studies of fibre reinforced concrete.

However, the number of experiments and the systematic

methodologies were still limited. There has been little

research on Basalt fibre and none has published on the

design method of concrete composition for this fibre

reinforcement. Therefore, the research work presented in

this paper has been focused onto Basalt fibre as

reinforcement for concrete. With the use of the

experimental testing method through slump criteria and

compressive strength properties, composition of Basalt

fibre-reinforced concrete was investigated and presented

in this paper.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Materials

Portland cement PCB-40 manufactured in Vietnam

was used. The technical properties of this cement are in

accordance with Vietnam standard TCVN 2682:2009

(2009). Its typical properties are shown in Table 1. Fine

aggregate and coarse aggregate used for this study was

produced from local sources in Hanoi city of Vietnam.

Technical properties of fine and coarse aggregates were

in accordance with Vietnam Standard (2006). Water

used for mixing the concrete was as per the

recommendation in Vietnam Standard (2012). The fibre

To cite this paper: Van Thanh D (2019). Design of Composition of Basalt Fibre Concrete. J. Civil Eng. Urban., 8 (5): 54-58. www.ojceu.ir

used was basalt fibre. The picture of basalt fibre is

shown in Figure 1, and its properties are shown in Table

3) Determine the amount of cement (C) and basalt

fibre (F);

4) Determine the amount of coarse and fine

aggregate (C_a), (F_a);

Table 1. Typical properties of cement PCB-40

5) Finalise the theoretical calculations;

6) Verify the calculations by experimental tests.

N^o

Request

Typical properties

Compressive strength

- 3 days (± 45 minutes)

- 28 days ( ± 8 hours)

Setting time

- Initial

- Final

The experimental method for determining the

slump and compressive strengths

The slump of mixture and compressive strength of

the concrete were determined according to Vietnamese

standard TCVN3106 (1993) and TCVN 3118 (1993).

≥ 21 N/mm²

≥ 40 N/mm²

≥ 45 mins

≤ 375 mins

Fineness

- The amount of 0,09 mm sieve

- Blain rate

≤ 10 %

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

≥ 2800 cm²/g

Determining the amount of mixing water

The amount of water (W) was determined based on

the conditions of the materials and designing

requirements. Chosen concrete grade was B15 with

average compressive strength R_b= 20Mpa; the coarse

aggregate used had the largest diameter D_max= 20mm.

The slump of concrete mixture and the amount of

mixing water was selected by the method used in

common constructions (Pham et al., 2011 ): for coarse

aggregate, crushed stones with D_max= 20mm were used,

and the slump of mixture was about 6 ÷ 8cm. The

amount of water determined for 1m³of the concrete was

205 litres.

Determining the ratio of cement to water

The ratio of cement to water (C/W) was based on

the Bolomey – Skramtaev formula (Pham et al., 2011 ):

Regular concrete (C/W = 1.4 ÷ 2.5):

Figure 1. Basalt fibre

Table 2. Properties of Basalt fibre

Properties

Value

Density

2,65 g/cm³

High strength concrete (C/W > 2.5):

Ultimate elongation

Diameter

3.1%

7 ÷ 13µm

6 ÷ 12mm

1050⁰

Fiber length

Melting point

Tensile strength

Resistance to acid and base

Young’s modulus

Water absorption

Health risk

4100 ÷ 4840 MPa

Good

In which: R_C– the strength of cement (R_C

40MPa); R_b– the strength of concrete at 28 days; A and

A₁– the factors of raw materials, were indicated in

reference (Pham et al., 2011 ). The raw materials used

were with good quality and the strength of concrete was

20MPa. Therefore, the formula was selected for a regular

concrete with A = 0.55.

93.1 ÷ 110 GPa

N/a

Safe, non-toxic

Methods

The theoretical and experimental methods were

used to design the concrete components. By theoretical

calculations in combination with laboratory tests, the

concrete components were determined through two

indicators, namely, the strength and slump of the

concrete mixture. In particular, the following procedure

was carried out:

The cement –water ratio was finally calculated to

be: C/W = 1.41.

Determining the amount of cement and fibre

Determining the amount of cement (C) was based

on C/W ratio which was determined in the above step.

, kg

1) Determine the amount of mixing water (W);

2) Determine the ratio of cement to water (C/W);

To cite this paper: Van Thanh D (2019). Design of Composition of Basalt Fibre Concrete. J. Civil Eng. Urban., 8 (5): 54-58. www.ojceu.ir

From the amount of water W = 205 litres and the

C/W ratio = 1.42 determined above, the amount of

cement for 1m³of concrete was calculated to be 290 kg.

The amount of cement should be compared to the

amount of minimum and maximum cement (C_minand

C_max) which are based on the design standard. The

determined cement amount was within the range for the

minimum and maximum cement in Vietnam standard.

The reinforcing fibre content was determined from

the published research results in the research

communities (Sim and Park, 2005; Thaumaturgo, 2005;

Jie, 2011; Chang, 2012; Zhaoxian, 2009 ). Based on the

review of the published results, the amount of basalt

fibre for 1m³of concrete was selected to be 2.5 kg.

cursed stone (γ_aCa= 2.8 g/cm³); γ_aFa– weight of solid

particles of sand (γ_aFa= 2.75g/cm³).

Substituting all these parameters into the above

formula gives the amount of sand: F_a= 681kg.

Summarizing the theoretical calculation results

The calculated results for 1m³of concrete is shown

in Table 4.

Table 4. The results of the theoretically calculated

ingredients

F_a

(kg)

C_a(kg)

F_a(kg)

W (kg)

C (littre)

1267

681

290

205

2.5

Determining the amount of coarse and fine

aggregate

Verifying the calculated results by experiment

and adjustment

Checking the slump of mixture: Kneading the

mixture with the identified ingredients in the theoretical

calculations (Table 4) and testing the slump of mixture.

If the experiment slump is smaller than the

required slump (S < S_yc) the amount of water and cement

must be adjusted with the W/C ratio being maintained

constant.

If S > S_yc: the amount of sand and crushed stone

must be changed; however, the F_a/C_aratio must be kept

constant.

Determining the amount of coarse aggregate

(crushed stone - C_a): The formula for 1m3 of concrete

was determined as follows:

Where: r_Ca- porosity of crushed stone; k_d- loss

coefficient, determined in Table 3; γ_0Ca- volumetric

weight of crushed stone, g/cm³; γ_aCa- density of solid

particles of crushed stone, g/cm³.

If S = S_yc: The result was used and the raw

materials were adjusted for 1m³of concrete.

The adjustments of the raw materials were

calculated by the following formulas:

Table 3. Loss coefficient in concrete

Cement in 1m³of

concrete

Crushed stone

Graval

C_a’ = 1000. C_a/V; F_a’ = 1000. F_a/V;

250

300

350

400

1.30

1.34

C’ = 1000. C/V;

W’ = 1000. W/V

1.36

1.42

1.48

Here: C_a, F_a, C, W: the amount of the crushed

stone, sand, cement and water for the volume (litre) of

the concrete mixture (kg), respectively;

1.47

1.52

C_a’, F_a’, C’, W’: the amount of the crushed stone,

sand, cement and water for 1m³of the concrete mixture

after the adjustment for the slump, respectively.

The experiment conducted for this study is

illustrated in Figure 2.

The cement amount calculated above was C =

292kg, from Table 3, k_d= 1.36; crushed stone having:

volumetric weight of crushed stone: γ_0Ca= 1.48g/cm³;

density of solid particles of crushed stone: γ_aCa

2.8g/cm³and porosity of crushed stone: r_Ca= 0.47.

Substituting all the parameters into the formula, the

amount of crushed stone in 1m³of concrete was

calculated to be C_a= 1267kg.

Determining the amount of fine aggregate (Sand

- F_a): After the amount of the mixing water, cement and

crushed stoneware determined, the sand for 1m³of

concrete was calculated using the following formula:













C_a

F  1000 



 W ._aFa;kg











_aC_aCa



Where: γ_aC– weight of solid particles of cement

(γ_aC= 3.05g/cm³); γ_aCa– weight of solid particles of

Figure 2. Checking the slump of mixture

To cite this paper: Van Thanh D (2019). Design of Composition of Basalt Fibre Concrete. J. Civil Eng. Urban., 8 (5): 54-58. www.ojceu.ir

The result of the first slump testing is presented in

Table 5. These results indicate that the average slump is

smaller than the required slump. Therefore, the raw

materials for the mixed concrete need to be adjusted. In

particular, the amount of cement and water was

increased while C/W ratio was kept constant. The water

and cement was added and the slump was monitored by

subsequent slump tests until the required slump was

reached.

presented in Table 8. The results in Table 8 show that the

average compressive strength of the concrete sample are

greater than the required compressive strength, but the

difference is not too greater than 15%. Therefore, the

results of the concrete mixture design were considered

acceptable. A summary of the experimental results is

presented in Table 9.

It took several rounds of the adjustment of the

amount of water and cement and slump tests until the

required slump was achieved. The final results for the

desirable portions of the raw materials are shown in

Table 6. With the proportion of the ingredients in the

Table 6, the slump of the samples are shown in the Table

Table 5. The result of the first slump testing, cm

Sample 1

Sample 2

Sample 3

Average

5.5

4.0

3.0

4.2

Figure 3. Testing conducted for the compressive

strength

Table 6. The final result of the adjusted ingredients

Table 8. The results of compressive strength test, MPa

F_a

C_a(kg)

F_a(kg)

C (littre)

W (kg)

(kg)

Sample 1

Sample 2

Sample 3

Average

1267

681

300

210

2.5

23.33

22.13

24.22

23.23

Table 9. Summary of the experimental results

Table 7. The results of the satisfactory slump tests, cm

C_a

(kg)

F_a

R_b

Sample 1

Sample 2

Sample 3

Average

(kg)

(littre)

(kg)

(cm)

(MPa)

7.5

7.0

6.5

7.0

1267

681

300

210

2.5

7.0

23.23

Verifying compressive strength of the concrete:

The concrete mixture that gave the satisfactory slump

was used to make samples for the compressive strength

tests. The concrete mixture was maintained for 28 days.

During this period, the concrete mixture was covered

with wet cloth for the first day and soaked in water for

the remaining 27 days. The average compressive

strength (R_b28) was then determined and compared with

the required compressive strength (R_b):

If R_b28> R_band the average compressive strength

was 15% larger than the required compressive strength,

then the amount of the cement was reduced. If R_b28> Rb

but the average compressive strength is not 15% larger

than the required compressive strength, the results were

considered acceptable.

CONCLUSION

In reality, different methods could be used for the design

of the concrete mixture components. However,

combining the theoretical calculations with suitable

experimental tests has been considered the best method

for high accuracy. With the goal of designing the

concrete components using basalt as fibre reinforcement

to make a mixture that has a 20MPa compressive

strength, the theoretical calculations in combination with

experimental testing through slump and compressive

strength indicators of the samples have been successfully

used for the study in this paper to achieve the desirable

results of the concrete mixture. The basic ingredients for

1m3 of concrete have been identified and a specific

procedure has been established for the design of the

basic components for the polypropylene basalt fibre-

reinforced concrete.

If R_b28< R_b, the cement grade needed to be re-

selected and other materials needed to be re-calculated.

If R_b28= R_bwe accept the result of the design and

adjusting raw materials for 1m3 of concrete. The method

is conducted same as conducting for slump.

The experiment for the compressive strength is

shown in Figure 3. The results of the experiment for the

concrete compressive strength made from a mixture of

the ingredients that had been corrected for the slump are

Competing interests

The author declare that it has no competing

interests.

To cite this paper: Van Thanh D (2019). Design of Composition of Basalt Fibre Concrete. J. Civil Eng. Urban., 8 (5): 54-58. www.ojceu.ir

REFERENCES

Chang L (2012), Study on Performance and Application

of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Concrete Pavement,

Henan University.

Dias D P, Thaumaturgo C. (2005), Fracture toughness of

geopolymeric concretes reinforced with basalt

fibers, Cement and Concrete Composites, pp. 49-54.

Doan Thi Thu Loan (2010), Investigation on improving

the performances of jute/polypropylene composite

by matrix modificaition, Journal of Science and

Technology, University of Da Nang, pp.28-35.

Hoang Gia Duong (2017), Experimental study on some

features of Polypropylene reinforced concrete.

Faculty of engineering, Hanoi Architectural

University, Hanoi, Vietnam, Doctoral Thesis.

Jie Zh (2011), Study on effect of basalt fiber in concrete,

China & Foreign Highway, pp. 0243-0246.

Nguyen Hung Phong (2014), Experimental study on

shear strengthening of concrete beams using glass

fiber reinforced polymer sheets, Journal of Science

and Technology Building, pp.23-29.

Pham Duy Huy et al. (2011). Materials for building

2011. Communication and Transport publishing,

Hanoi.

Sim J and Park Ch (2005), Characteristics of basalt fiber

as a strengthening material for concrete structures,

Department

Civil

and

Environmental

Engineering, Hanyang University, Sa-l-dong,

Ansan, Kyunggi 425-791, South Korea.

Vietnam Standard TCVN 2682:2009 (2009), Portland

cements – Specifications. Hanoi

Vietnam

Standard

TCVN

3106:1993

(1993),

Heavyweight concrete – Method for slump test.

Hanoi

Vietnam

Standard

TCVN

3118:1993

(1993),

Heavyweight concrete – Method for determination

of compressive strength. Hanoi.

Vietnam Standard TCVN 4506:2012 (2012), Water for

concrete and mortar – Technical specification.

Hanoi

Vietnam Standard TCVN 7570:2006 (2006), Aggregates

for concrete and mortar – Specifications. Hanoi

Zhaoxian

(2009), Mechanical properties and

application of basic basalt fiber reinforced concrete,

Wuhan University of Technology, 4.

To cite this paper: Van Thanh D (2019). Design of Composition of Basalt Fibre Concrete. J. Civil Eng. Urban., 8 (5): 54-58. www.ojceu.ir