A design approach for the mechanical properties of polypropylene discontinuous fiber reinforced cementitious composites by extrusion molding

Polypropylene discontinuous fiber reinforced cementitious composites were prepared by extrusion molding and tested in uniaxial tension to determine the mechanical properties such as ultimate composite strength and strain, and the critical volume fraction for multiple cracking. It was shown that the experimentally determined critical fiber volume fraction reasonably agreed with the theoretical value predicted by a micromechanics model. The extruded fiber composites yielded the ultimate composite strength of 9.0 MPa and composite strain of 0.55% at the fiber volume fraction of 7.4%. Our experimental results suggest that there is an optimal fiber aspect ratio and fiber volume fraction for enhancing the fracture properties. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.