Evaluation of the Addition of Polypropylene (PP) Fibers in Self-compacting Concrete (SCC) to Control Cracking and Plastic Shrinkage Between Different Methods

The present work aims to contribute to the study and development of methodologies for shrinkage tests of self-compacting concrete (SCC) using the addition of polypropylene (PP) microfibers as a variable to validate the correlations between the shrinkage tests. The objective of this work was to evaluate, through correlations between the area and the age at which the cracks appeared, the role of PP fibers as a control for this pathology. Reference SCC traces with additions of 6 mm and 12 mm microfibers were created for this purpose. For the shrinkage tests, the criteria of the ASTM C1579:2013 (plates) and ASTM C1581:2016 (rings) standards were used. The microfibers showed a significant reduction in cracks in the SCC, its reduction rate ranging from 40% to 70%, also presenting a delay in its appearance, which varied from 9 to 20 days for the appearance of the first crack.

Keywords:
self-compacting concrete; polypropylene fibers; concrete shrinkage; cracks