Influence of Polyethylene and Stainless Steel Fibres on Compressive and Tensile Behaviour of High-Performance Fibre-Reinforced Cementitious Composites

High-Performance Fibre-Reinforced Cementitious Composites (HPFRCC) is a class of materials studied extensively for applications in structural rehabilitation of existing structures and in design of new structures. These materials have high mechanical strength, pseudo-strain-hardening behaviour and low porosity due to a highly dense microstructure of the cementitious matrix. Furthermore, they guarantee great durability by adding microfibres in the proper ratio, which limits the crack opening. This paper deals with the mechanical properties assessment of HPFRCC mixtures designed with locally available materials. Different HPFRCC mix designs were considered with a very compact cementitious matrix reinforced with two different types of microfibres: high-density polyethylene fibres and hooked stainless steel fibres considering 1% or 2% of the volume contents. The influence of the fibre contents on the compressive and tensile strengths, the strain-hardening performance and the fracture energy are discussed.