Experimental Analysis on the Frost Resistance of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete

The frost resistance of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) was studied based on the fast freeze thaw tests in water and in a 3.5% sodium chloride solution, with different mass fraction of steel fiber in concrete at 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0%, respectively. The effects of the number of freeze thaw cycles and the volume fraction of steel fiber on the mass lose rate, the splitting strength loss rate and the dynamic modulus of elasticity of SFRC were analyzed. The reinforcement mechanism of the steel fiber under the action of freeze and thaw was also discussed. Moreover, mercury intrusion method and SEM analysis were carried out to study the pore size distribution features and the performance of microstructure on the impact of frost resistance of SFRC. The results show that adding an appropriate amount of steel fiber into concrete can reduce the pore porosity and improve the compactness of concrete. Furthermore, the presence of steel fiber proves to shrink the porosity and improve evidently the frost resistance of concrete. It is also shown that the steel fiber content has a great influence on the frost resisting property of SFRC. The best performance of SFRC can be achieved when the volume fraction of steel fiber is 1.5%.