Experimental study on mechanical and durability characteristics of latex modified concrete with micro steel fibers

Abstract

In this study, latex modified concrete with amorphous and conventional micro steel fibers was tested using five different test methods of KS and ASTM to investigate the mechanical and durability characteristics. Based on the test results, the mechanical characteristics of compression strength, flexural strength, and shrinkage of the latex modified concrete with micro steel fibers were evaluated, and the durability characteristics of water-tightness and freeze-thaw resistance of the material were evaluated. The test results showed that the addition of a higher volume fraction of micro steel fibers into latex modified concrete contributed to early development of compression strength, and resulted in relatively ductile flexural behavior in the descending branch after peak flexural strength. The maximum crack width of the latex modified concrete with 0.3 % volume fraction of micro steel fibers was 0.19 mm, which satisfies the requirement of the KCI design code. For the given amount of latex (15 % of weight), the water-tightness capacity was found to satisfy the requirement (0.5 kg/m