Investigating the effects of disc shaped thumb tacks as a "fiber" reinforcement on various concrete properties

In a continuing effort to improve the performance of concrete material as the most widely used building material, this research presents the experimental results on the effect of adding different dosages of Disc shaped Steel Fibers (hereinafter designated as DSF) on some of the mechanical properties of concrete. Mechanical properties investigated included; the stress - strain behavior, compressive strength, tensile strength, toughness and the modulus of elasticity. Cubical and cylindrical specimens were prepared from concrete containing different dosages of DSF and plain concrete. DSF dosages used in this research were; 1, 2 and 3% by weight. Two curing periods were investigated; 7 days and 28 days. After curing for both curing periods, specimens were then tested under uniaxial compression and splitting tensile. The laboratory results showed that the DSF addition has improved all the investigated mechanical properties of concrete over the two curing periods. This improvement was found to be more significant to the compressive strength and the modulus of elasticity. The more the DSF dosage used the more the improvement to the investigated mechanical properties was noticed. The 3% DSF dosage addition showed the best improvement to the mechanical properties investigated among the other DSF percentages. Findings of this research might have a direct impact on actual construction practices and is of a direct value to construction professionals. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.