Performance of oxygen/argon plasma-treated steel fibres in cement mortar

Miller, HD; Akbarnezhad, A; Mesgari, S; Foster, SJ

Performance of oxygen/argon plasma-treated steel fibres in cement mortar

Miller, HD Akbarnezhad, A Mesgari, S Foster, SJ

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Publisher:: Elsevier BV
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Cement and Concrete Composites, 2019, 97, pp. 24-32
Issue Date:: 2019-03-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Miller, HD
dc.contributor.author	Akbarnezhad, A
dc.contributor.author	Mesgari, S
dc.contributor.author	Foster, SJ
dc.date.accessioned	2020-05-08T03:49:58Z
dc.date.available	2020-05-08T03:49:58Z
dc.date.issued	2019-03-01
dc.identifier.citation	Cement and Concrete Composites, 2019, 97, pp. 24-32
dc.identifier.issn	0958-9465
dc.identifier.issn	1873-393X
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/140577
dc.description.abstract	© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Steel fibres are used widely to control initiation and growth of cracks in concrete. However, the bond between steel fibres and the cement matrix in steel fibre-reinforced concrete (SFRC) is almost always purely physical. A viable approach to reduce cracking in fibre-reinforced concrete is to supplement the physical bond between fibres and cement matrix with a relatively uniform chemical bond along the fibres’ surface. However, despite the promising results reported for other types of fibres, little attention has been paid to chemical surface treatment of steel fibres to improve their ability to bond with concrete. In this study, an oxygen/argon plasma treatment process is investigated as a potential technique to improve the bond between steel fibres and a cementitious matrix. Several variations in treatment parameters are made in order to identify the optimal treatment conditions. The results of X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and surface energy measurements confirm that plasma treatment can significantly increase the fibres’ surface energy and consequently the strength of the fibre-cement bond. The improved bond between steel fibres and concrete is confirmed by the results of fibre pull-out tests, as well as the reduced average crack size observed in restrained drying shrinkage tests. Moreover, the results indicate considerable decrease in the volume of permeable voids in SFRC due to plasma treatment of steel fibres.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Elsevier BV
dc.relation.ispartof	Cement and Concrete Composites
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2018.12.015
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
dc.subject	0904 Chemical Engineering, 0905 Civil Engineering, 1202 Building
dc.subject.classification	Building & Construction
dc.title	Performance of oxygen/argon plasma-treated steel fibres in cement mortar
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	97
utslib.for	0904 Chemical Engineering
utslib.for	0905 Civil Engineering
utslib.for	1202 Building
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	false
dc.date.updated	2020-05-08T03:49:56Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	97
utslib.start-page	24

Abstract:

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Steel fibres are used widely to control initiation and growth of cracks in concrete. However, the bond between steel fibres and the cement matrix in steel fibre-reinforced concrete (SFRC) is almost always purely physical. A viable approach to reduce cracking in fibre-reinforced concrete is to supplement the physical bond between fibres and cement matrix with a relatively uniform chemical bond along the fibres’ surface. However, despite the promising results reported for other types of fibres, little attention has been paid to chemical surface treatment of steel fibres to improve their ability to bond with concrete. In this study, an oxygen/argon plasma treatment process is investigated as a potential technique to improve the bond between steel fibres and a cementitious matrix. Several variations in treatment parameters are made in order to identify the optimal treatment conditions. The results of X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and surface energy measurements confirm that plasma treatment can significantly increase the fibres’ surface energy and consequently the strength of the fibre-cement bond. The improved bond between steel fibres and concrete is confirmed by the results of fibre pull-out tests, as well as the reduced average crack size observed in restrained drying shrinkage tests. Moreover, the results indicate considerable decrease in the volume of permeable voids in SFRC due to plasma treatment of steel fibres.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/140577