Performance evaluation of hybrid fiber-reinforced concrete incorporating carbon and polypropylene fibers
Keywords:
Carbon fiber, Polypropylene fiber, Flexural strength, Splitting tensile strength, Crack resistance, Ductility, Fiber dosage optimizationAbstract
Concrete cracks easily because it’s brittle. To fix that, engineers have been mixing fibers into it for years. In this work, we tested three options: concrete with carbon fibers, with polypropylene fibers, and with both combined. We cast samples with different fiber amounts and tested them for compression, bending, and splitting tension. Adding fibers clearly helped. The concrete cracked less, absorbed more energy, and didn’t fail as suddenly compared to plain concrete. Load capacity and toughness also went up. The best results weren’t always from the hybrid mixes. A mix with 0.5% carbon fibers plus 0.4% polypropylene gave the highest flexural strength at 614 psi. But for splitting tensile strength, 0.5% polypropylene by itself won at 425 psi. So, the right fiber choice depends on what you need the concrete to do. Overall, fibers changed the concrete from brittle to ductile. That makes it tougher, more resilient, and better for demanding structural jobs.
References
Akbulut, Z. F., Tawfik, T. A., Smarzewski, P., & Guler, S. (2025), Advancing hybrid fiber-reinforced concrete: Performance, Crack resistance mechanism and future innovations, Buildings, 15(8), 1-33. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15081247
Arunachalam, A., & Jayakumar, K. (2015). Influence of polypropylene fibres on the mechanical and durability properties of high performance concrete. Proceedings of the International Conference FIBRE CONCRETE, 2015-Janua (April), 42–51.
Bagherzadeh, R., Pakravan, H. R., Sadeghi, A. H., Latifi, M., & Merati, A. A. (2012). An investigation on adding polypropylene fibers to reinforce lightweight cement composites (LWC). Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics, 7(4), 13–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/155892501200700410
Chen, Z., Fan, H., Zheng, W., Zhang, S., Wu, X., Fu, T., & Yu, D. (2024), Influence of modified PVA fibers on Ultra high performance concrete and its enhancing mechanism. Polymers, 16(23), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16233449
Ghugal, Y. M., & Deshmukh, S. B. (2006). Performance of alkali-resistant glass fiber reinforced concrete. Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, 25(6), 617–630. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731684405058273
Gul, A., Alam, B., Iqbal, M. J., Ahmed, W., Shahzada, K., Javed, M. H., & Khan, E. A. (2021). Impact of length and percent dosage of recycled steel fibers on the mechanical properties of concrete. Civil Engineering Journal (Iran), 7(10), 1650–1666. https://doi.org/10.28991/cej-2021-03091750
Kim, Y. J., Hu, J., Lee, S. J., & You, B. H. (2010). Mechanical properties of fiber reinforced lightweight concrete containing surfactant. Advances in Civil Engineering, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1155/2010/549642
Maruthachalam, D., & Nadu, T. (2013). Mechanical Properties of Hybrid Fibre reinforced Concrete with Available of Rural. 2(4), 1–5.
Mishra, N. (2024). Impact of polypropylene fibers on the properties of concrete. Journal of Construction Engineering, Technology & Management, 14(3), 55-60. https://journals.stmjournals.com/jocetm/article=2024/view=193083/
Muthukumar, M., & Mohan, D. (2004). Optimization of mechanical properties of polymer concrete and mix design recommendation based on design of experiments. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 94(3), 1107–1116. https://doi.org/10.1002/app.21008
Parveen, & Sharma, A. (2013). Structural behaviour of fibrous concrete using polypropylene fibres. International Journal of Modern Engineering Research, 3(3), 1279–1282.
Shende, A. M., Pande, A. M., & Pathan, M. G. (2012). Experimental Study on Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete for M-40 Grade. International Refereed Journal of Engineering and Science, 1(1), 43–048. www.irjes.comwww.irjes.com
Singh, S. P., Singh, A. P., & Bajaj, V. (2010). Strength and flexural toughness of concrete reinforced with steel - polypropylene hybrid fibres. Asian Journal of Civil Engineering, 11(4), 495–507.
Vibhuti, R. B. (2013). Mechanical Properties of Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Concrete for Pavements. 2319–2322.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Muhammad Junaid Iqbal, Waheed Ur Rahman, Ateeq Ur Rauf, Zia Ur Rahman, Nayab, Iftikhar Ahmad
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Please click here for details about AJSET's Licensing and Copyright policies.
