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Steel moulds in the form of a rigid cubical shell were developed in order to investigate single steel fibre pull-out resistance in concrete with expansive additive under restrained hardening conditions. The cubical shell (100 x 100 x 100 mm) with wall thickness of 5 mm was designed with two openings – a small 4 mm hole for fibre embedment in concrete and a larger opening for filling the concrete. Standard beam (100 x 100 x 400 mm) and cube (150 x 150 x 150 mm) samples were also manufactured and hardened under and without restrained conditions, where the restraint was realised by rigid standard steel moulds. All the restrained conditions realized by either the developed cubical steel shell (for single fibre pull-out) or existing beam and cube moulds simulate internal (from steel fibres in concrete) and external (from friction against sub-base) restraints that hinder expansion of the concrete due to the use of special expansive additives in a flooring slab structure installed on ground. Samples with a single hooked-end steel fibre (50 mm long and 0.75 mm in diameter), with and without expansive additive were manufactured and tested in the developed mould geometry. The results show that restrained expansion in concrete with expansive additives positively affects concrete compressive strength, single fibre pull-out and flexural behaviour. Concrete compressive strength increases by 7.5 %, single fibre delamination resistance increases by 24 %, the peak pull-out load by 10.8 % while the flexural strength increases by 3.1 %.

Polypropylene (PP), nylon and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) micro-fibres with different geometries were used at 1 vol. % dosage to investigate rheological and mechanical properties of cementitious composites to be used for thin overlays. Slump-flow and visual stability index methods were used to characterise the rheological properties. Single crack tension and bending studies were carried out to evaluate the tensile and bending strength, as well as the post-cracking behaviour. The results show that fibre geometry (L/d ratio and specific surface area) has a pronounced influence on the fresh state rheological properties of the cementitious composites. The results also surprisingly indicated that the nylon fibres are able to significantly increase the pre-cracking tensile and bending strength. All tested composites showed tensile strain softening and insignificant deflection hardening after cracking and a major strength loss. The results indicate single crack tension method to be the most appropriate for evaluation of mechanical properties of cementitious composites used for thin overlays.

Results of damage and failure investigation in a concrete reinforced by short polymeric fibers are reported in the present work. Two types of fibers were used in experiments 30 mm and 6 mm long. Pull-out experiments were realized, for fibers oriented under different angles to pulling out force direction. Detailed experimental data analysis was performed. Prisms with different concentrations of fibers were fabricated and tested for four point bending. Two numerical models were used for fiber concrete prisms mechanical behavior modeling under four point bending. Modeling results were compared with experimental data.

Short composite fibres are a relatively new product for concrete disperse reinforcement. In this experimental research, 14 different composite fibres were developed and single fibre pull-out micromechanics was investigated. Three main groups of composite fibre were—composite glass fibres (GF), composite carbon fibres (CF) and hybrid fibres (HF). Composite fibre manufacturing consisted of glass, carbon or combined fibre filament preparation, impregnation with epoxy resin, epoxy curing, quality control and cutting in short discrete macro- fibres. All three composite fibre groups were manufactured with straight, uneven and undulated geometries. Fibre surface finish was smooth and rough. Uneven fibre geometry was achieved by not aligning all fibre filaments in fibre tow. Undulated geometry was a result of interlaced fibres. The rough fibre outer surface finish was achieved by adding an extra layer of epoxy resin containing fine quartz grains. All macro-fibres were cut in 50 mm length. Single fibre pull-out samples with a pre-defined crack between two concrete parts were prepared to investigate fibre pull-out behaviour. Fibre pull-out laws were obtained and analysed. Composite fibre improvement geometry and surface with roughening outer surface made a huge impact on fibre pull-out resistance.

Traditional fiberconcrete structures have fibres in the mix oriented in all spatial directions, distributed in the struc­tural element volume homogenously, what not easy to obtain in practice. In many situations, structurally more effective is the insertion of fibres into the concrete structural element body by forming layers, with a predetermined fibre concentration and orientation in every layer. In the present investigation, layered fibre concrete is under investigation. Short steel fibres were at­tached to flexible warps with the necessary fibres concentration and orientation. Warps were placed into the prismatic mould separating them by concrete layers without fibres. Prisms were matured and tested under four-point bending. The bending-affected mechanical behaviour of cracked fibre concrete was simulated numerically by using a developed struc­tural model. Comparing the simulation results with experimental data, material micromechanical fracture mechanisms were analysed and evaluated.

Operative determination of consistence of self-compacting concrete mixes at plant or in construction conditions is an important problem in building practice. The Abram's cone, the Vebe's device, the U-box siphon, L-box or funnel tests are used in solving this problem. However, these field methods are targeted at determination of some indirect parameters of such very complicated paste-like material like concrete mix. They are not physical characteristics suitable for the rheological calculations of the coherence between the stress and strains, flow characteristics and the reaction of the concrete mix in different technological processes. A conical plastometer having higher precision and less sensitive to the inaccuracy of the tests in construction condition has been elaborated at the Concrete Mechanics Laboratory of RTU. In addition, a new method was elaborated for the calculation of plasticity limit τ0 taking into account the buoyancy force of the liquid or non-liquid concrete mix. In the present investigation rheological test of the concrete mix by use the plastometer and the method mentioned earlier was conducted for different self-compacting and not self-compacting concrete mixes.

Novel steel molds in form of a rigid cubical shell were developed in order to investigate single steel fiber pull-out resistance in concrete with expansive additive under restrained hardening conditions. The developed steel molds simulate internal (from steel fibers) and external (from friction against sub-base) restraints that hinder expansion of the concrete in a flooring slab structure installed on ground. Samples with a single hooked-end steel fiber, with and without expansive additive were manufactured and tested in the developed mold geometry. The results show that restrained concrete expansion positively affects single fiber pull-out behavior, i.e. fiber delamination resistance is increased by 29.7 % and pull-out peak load by 10.8 %.