Effects of adding sisal and glass fibers on the mechanical behaviour of concrete polymer

In this study, we investigated the influence of the addition of sisal and glass fibres on the mechanical properties of polymer concrete (PC). These types of concrete are used in many modern civil engineering applications. The prismatic specimens sized according to ASTM C580-02 were elaborated with a PC constituted by 14% constant mass of polyester resin matrix, a granular skeleton based on sand and powder marble. The reinforcement with 60% sand and 26% marble powder adopted in this investigation is the best formulation found in previous authors work. This composition was reinforced by 1 and 2% of sisal and glass fibres, the first one having lengths of 6 mm or 12 mm, however, the second unidirectional cut into bands. These specimens were subjected to 3-point bending monotonic loading. The results obtained were discussed and compared with those obtained for control beams without fibres reinforcement. It is important to note that the incorporation of the glass fibre contributes to an increase of the ultimate load of the polymer composite material produced, however, the addition of the sisal fibre lead to its decreases. In addition, the incorporation of 2% of sisal fibre having 6 mm length leads to a reduction of 26% of the mass of the specimens.