The Significance of Multi-Size Carbon Fibers on the Mechanical and Fracture Characteristics of Fiber Reinforced Cement Composites

One of the main challenges of using a high fiber volume content in a cement composite is the narrow margin of fiber volume content beyond which fibers can cause an adverse effect on the mechanical properties. In this paper, the significance of fiber size distribution and fiber volume content of different proportions of chopped and milled carbon microfibers are investigated. The mixes' flowability showed improvement with altering the fiber size distribution despite having a high fiber content. Uniaxial compression cylinders and unnotched and notched beams were cast and then tested at 7 and 28 days of age. It was found that the compressive strength is significantly affected by fiber size distribution more than fiber volume content. On the other hand, the modulus of rupture and fracture toughness are proportional to the fiber volume content with little effect of fiber size distribution. Finally, neither high fiber volume content nor altered fiber size distribution significantly affected the elastic modulus of the fiber cement composites.