Comparison of Mechanical Properties of Lightweight and Normal Weight Concretes Reinforced with Steel Fibers

Compared to conventional concrete, lightweight concrete is more brittle in nature however, in many situations its application is advantageous due to its lower weight. The associated brittleness issue can be, to some extent, addressed by incorporation of discrete fibers. It is now established that fibers modify some fresh and hardened concrete properties. However, evaluation of those properties for lightweight fiber-reinforced concrete (LWFC) against conventional/normal weight concrete of similar strength class has not been done before. Current study not only discusses the change in these properties for lightweight concrete after the addition of steel fibers, but also presents a comparison of these properties with conventional concrete with and without fibers. Both the lightweight and conventional concrete were reinforced with similar types and quantity of fibers. Hooked end steel fibers were added in the quantities of 0, 20, 40 and 60kg/m³. For similar compressive strength class, results indicate that compared to normal weight fiber-reinforced concrete (NWFC), lightweight fiber-reinforced concrete (LWFC) has better fresh concrete properties, but performs poorly when tested for hardened concrete properties.