EFFECT OF STEEL FIBERS ON PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE FLOORING

Concrete is a non-homogeneous material and it has high compressive strength but it is weak in tension. Cracks occur when tensile stresses exceeded. Improving of concrete properties by adding steel fibers to plain concrete to overcome the weakness of concrete. In this paper steel fibers (S.F) is added with (1mm) diameter and (50mm) long i.e. spect ratio (l/d=50) to plain concrete to study its effect on properties of concrete (workability, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, abrasion resistance, and absorption). The tested variables are characteristics of concrete (fcu30MPa and fcu40MPa) with steel fibers content (0.4%, 0.5%, and 0.6%) by volume of concrete, and all specimens are tested at 28 days. The results show an increases in compressive strength by (6%, 12 % and 17%) for fcu30 MPa and (8%, 13% and 16%) for fcu40 MPa for fiber content 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6% respectively. The tensile strength increases by (38%, 59% and 67%) for fcu30 and (21%, 35%, 53%) respectively for fcu40. Abrasion resistance is increased by (14%, 29%, and 31%) for fcu30 and (6%,25% and 26%) for fcu40 respectively. The absoribtion of concrete is also enhanced by (7%, 14% and 26%) for fcu30, and (25%, 33% and 55%) for fcu40. The flexural strength is enhanced by (10%, 15%and 20%) for fcu30 and (12%, 37%, 40%) fcu40 respectively. While the workability decreases significantly for all mixes containing steel fiber compared to control mix.