The Toughness of Polypropylene Fiber-Reinforced Foam Concrete under Various Uni- and Tri-Axial Compression Loads

Foam concrete has recently become a key construction material in terms of meeting the special needs of modern engineering applications such as thermal insulation, absorption of static and dynamic loads. In this study, the effect of polypropylene fiber content and various uni- and tri-axial compression loads on the toughness response of polypropylene fiber-reinforced foam concrete was investigated. Up to a certain strain level (0.1 mm/mm), the ultimate compression stress of specimens under uni- and tri-axial loading increased from about 1 MPa to 16 MPa with the increased target densities of foam concrete. There was a strain-hardening capability of low-density foam concrete while the specimens failed by strain-softening in the high-density series. The optimum fiber amounts were found to be 3.9%, 4.6%, and 6.4% for low, medium, and high target densities of foam concrete, respectively. At low-density series, the bubbles were observed to be relatively bigger and mostly merged with each other. A reduction in foam content (vice versa, increasing target density of mixture) and the presence of fiber resulted in smaller pore size and a more homogenous distribution of them in the matrix. In conclusion, the desired pore structure and efficient bridging of fibers in the matrix allowed the production of favorable foam concrete with higher toughness.