Evaluating the Impact of Fibre types and Curing Conditions in Strengthening Pre-Damaged Geopolymer Concrete Beams with FRP Sheets
Abstract
The increasing demand for sustainable and durable construction materials has led to the development of fibre-reinforced geopolymer concrete (FRGPC), which offers improved mechanical properties compared to conventional concrete. This study investigates the mechanical behaviour of FRGPC beams under cyclic loading, focusing on the effects of different fibre types, steel, polypropylene, and glass, and curing conditions (heat curing at 40% humidity and steam curing at 100% humidity). The beams were tested under cyclic loading after being pre-damaged to 50% of their ultimate load and strengthened using fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets. The results show that steam curing improves the compressive strength of FRGPC by approximately 78%, 60%, and 76% for steel, polypropylene, and glass fibres, respectively, compared to heat curing. Tensile strength also increased by about 30% for steam-cured specimens. Among the fibre types, steel-reinforced FRGPC exhibited the highest energy absorption, with a 25% increase in load-carrying capacity and energy absorption under steam curing, compared to heat curing. Polypropylene fibres showed the lowest improvement, with only a 20% increase in energy absorption. The application of FRP sheets enhanced the stiffness of the beams by 15% to 30%, depending on the fibre type, with steel fibre-reinforced beams showing the best performance.
Letters in High Energy Physics (LHEP) is an open access journal. The articles in LHEP are distributed according to the terms of the creative commons license CC-BY 4.0. Under the terms of this license, copyright is retained by the author while use, distribution and reproduction in any medium are permitted provided proper credit is given to original authors and sources.
Terms of Submission
By submitting an article for publication in LHEP, the submitting author asserts that:
1. The article presents original contributions by the author(s) which have not been published previously in a peer-reviewed medium and are not subject to copyright protection.
2. The co-authors of the article, if any, as well as any institution whose approval is required, agree to the publication of the article in LHEP.
