Workability analysis of steel fiber reinforced concrete using slump and ve-be test

Abstract

This works present an experimental study addressing the workability of fiber reinforced concrete (FRC). Only conventional measurements, such as slump and Ve-Be test, were used to evaluate the effect of the fiber content in the mixture. The fiber content shows to be of great influence in the concrete mobility reducing the slump and increasing exponentially the Ve-Be time. The fibers act as a barrier to coarse aggregates movement reducing the materials mobility. So, increasing the aggregate size or the fiber aspect ratio the flowability of the material will be reduced. In order to reduce that effect, an increase in the mortar content and/or in the initial slump could provide better workability conditions. The results showed that the Ve-Be test is not applicable to concrete with plastic consistency. On the other hand, slump test could not be adequate for stiff concretes that will be consolidated by intense vibration.