International Journal of Futuristic Trends in Engineering and Technology

ISSN: 2348-5264 (Print), ISSN: 2348-4071 (Online)

Vol. 1 (10), 2014

Need of Experimental Studies on Variation of Additives

on Basalt Fiber Fly Ash Concrete
(Paper ID: 10ET30112014016)

Tushar H. Kaswala

Prof. Satyen Ramani

M.E. Student, Civil Engineering Department

SAL Institute of Technology & Engineering Research
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
tusharkaswala@gmail.com

Civil Engineering Department

SAL Institute of Technology & Engineering Research
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
satyen.civil.engg@gmail.com

Abstract : Construction Industry is always concerning to find new

and better materials for improvement of properties of concrete to
manufacture new or improved products. Concrete possesses very low
tensile strength, low resistance to cracking and also low ductility.
Fiber reinforced concrete is the most widely used concept in
construction industry. Basalt continuous filaments are produced from
parent basalt rocks by melting and extrusion process. Basalt fibers are
non toxic, alkali resistant and also have good thermal properties. This
study is a trial of giving some highlights and works done on the use
of basalt fibers to make improved concrete.
Keywords: Basalt fiber fly ash concrete, mechanical properties,
alkaline water, basalt fiber, lime water

I. INTRODUCTION
Conventional concrete is the extremely used material but there are
numerous drawbacks such as very less tensile strength, nature of
brittle failure, low crack resistance, etc. Hence the fiber reinforced
concretes used generally in present scenario to achieve improved
properties against conventional concrete. The fibers used in
construction industry are like Glass fibers, carbon fibers, steel fibers,
aramid fibers, basalt fibers, etc.
Basalt fibers are the mainly harmless to environment and it is natural
material, i.e. volcanic rocks. Basalt is a volcanic rock which is the
condensed form of volcanoes or volcanic lava and from this volcanic
lava, by extrusion process, continuous filaments of fibers are
generated and then the fibers are chopped in various lengths as per
requirement and use. Basalt fibers have a lower density than
compared to steel and hence the use of fibers makes the concrete
lighter and durable. Basalt fibers are non combustible and explosion
proof and also in coming contact with other chemicals they produce
no chemical reaction which is harmful to health or environment.
Hence, it can be concluded that use of basalt fiber in concrete
produces an eco friendly and durable concrete.
In India, basalt rock originates in too much area and hence the fiber
becomes cheaper than other fiber like carbon fiber and glass fiber. It
has some excellent properties like thermal insulation and sound
insulation, non flammable, non corrosive, etc. The moisture content
of basalt fiber is very less i.e. less than 1%. The usage of fiber can be
done either as a filament or staple fibers. The fibers can be added
either as a percentage of total volume of composite or added as a
weight of cement.

2)

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

1)

Experimental design analysis of ultra fine fly ash, lime water,

and basalt fiber in mix proportion of high volume fly ash
concrete- Mochamad Solikin, Sujeeva Setunge
and

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54

Indubhushan Patnaikuni : This research was based on the

analysis of three factors in mix proportion of high volume fly
ash concrete to produce high strength concrete. Compressive
strength of cylinders was tested at 28 days and 56 days. Three
factors taken were Raw fly ash (Class-F) and ultra fine fly ash
(UFFA), Tap water and lime water and Conventional concrete
and basalt fiber concrete which was used in whole research
work. Each factor was taken as per two levels i.e. low and high.
The grade of concrete was 80 Mpa. The content of basalt fiber
taken was 1% of total concrete volume. 3 grams of hydrated
lime powder was dissolved in 1 liter tap water. The water binder
ratio was taken 0.3. The combinations taken was (1) UFFA with
out basalt fiber and using tap water (2) UFFA with basalt fiber
and using lime water (3) Raw fly ash with basalt fiber using tap
water (4) Raw fly ash without basalt fiber using lime water.
Compressive strength of combinations (1), (2), (3) & (4) was
70.90, 73.78, 52.97, 66.69 in Mpa respectively at 28 days. At 56
days it was 74.72, 78.84, 57.23, 71.97 for combinations (1), (2),
(3) & (4) respectively. At 28 days all the combinations did not
meet the designed strength 80 Mpa while at 56 days
combination (2) had met nearly the designed strength. Also
verification of mix proportion was done by mixes (A) UFFA
without basalt fiber using lime water & (B) Normal cement
without basalt fiber using tap water. Both mixes satisfied the
mix design of 80 Mpa at 28 days. It was concluded that the use
of basalt fiber decreases the compressive strength of concrete
and lime water increases the compressive strength of high
volume UFFA concrete with compared to normal concrete at the
age of concrete at 28 days and beyond. Also concluded that lime
water gives better reaction to the silica in fly ash compared with
hydrated lime, while basalt fiber decreases compressive
strength.
Effect of basalt fiber on mechanical properties of concrete
containing fly ash and metakaolin- Elba Helen George, B.
Bhuvaneshwari2, G. S. Palani, P. Eapen Sakaria, Nagesh R. Iyer
: In this research, the mechanical properties of M-50 grade of
concrete with and without basalt fibers were tested. Fly ash
(Class-F) and metakaolin was added 2.5% by weight of cement
and added as an admixture. The basalt fiber taken was fixed 1%
of the total mass of concrete. Fibers used in this study had length
of 12 mm and diameter of 13 m. The compressive strength
without fiber and with fiber was 53.61 Mpa and 52.65 Mpa at 28
days respectively. Which shows that the compressive strength
decreased when used fibers. Four point bending method was
adopted for flexural strength. The split tensile and flexural
strength without fiber was 3.21 & 4.05 and with fiber was 4.53
& 6.06 in Mpa. Workability of the mix was reduced due to the
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International Journal of Futuristic Trends in Engineering and Technology

ISSN: 2348-5264 (Print), ISSN: 2348-4071 (Online)
Vol. 1 (10), 2014

3)

4)

5)

addition of basalt fibers. Hence, basalt fibers improved split

tensile and flexural strength but decreased compressive strength.
An experimental study on the effectiveness of chopped basalt
fiber on the fresh and hardened properties of high strength
concrete- Ali Elheber Ahmed Elshekh, Nasir Shafiq, Muhd
Fadhil Nuruddin, Ahmed Fathi and Fareed Ahmed Memom : In
this paper, fresh and hardened properties of basalt fiber concrete
were investigated. Two mixes were made, in which one mix was
made with 100% cement and another mix was made with 80%
cement and 20% fly ash (Class-F). Fiber content taken was 0,
0.25, 0.75, 1, 2 and 3% by weight of binder material. The fibers
used had length of 25 mm and diameter of 18 m. Readings for
compressive strength were taken at 3, 7, 28, 56 & 90 days
respectively and for splitting tensile & flexural strength it was
taken at 28 and 90 days. It was concluded that the time of
mixing was increased as an increased content of fiber. The
workability of HSC was decreased when increased fiber content.
The loss of the workability was potentially substituted when
used 20% cement replaced by fly ash. No aggregate segregation
was observed and the mix was fully homogeneous. Fiber
percentage 0.25, 0.50 & 0.75 respectively showed a little effect
on the slump of two group mixes (Without fiber and with fiber).
It was also concluded that compressive strength was reduced
with increased fiber. Tensile strength was increased when
increased with fiber content. When fibers were 1%, 2% & 3%
used with the mix contained 100% OPC HSC the splitting
tensile strength was found 10%, 18% and 20% increased and
when used with the mix contained 80% cement and 20% fly ash
it was found 15%, 25% & 28% increased at 90 days. Toughness
and ductility were also improved. Also, tensile to compressive
strength and flexural to compressive strength ratio were
observed and found to continuous increment with increased fiber
content.
Compressive behavior of basalt fiber reinforced compositeSmriti Raj : In this study the compressive strength, slump value,
average density test, stress strain behavior and failure mode was
studied with using basalt fiber reinforced composite and normal
concrete. The concrete grade was M-50. The fibers taken were
0, 0.3, 0.5, 1 & 2% of the total volume of mixture. The length of
fibers was 23 mm and diameter was 16 m. Composite mix
contained cement, fly ash (class F), silica fume, quartz powder,
ennore sand. It was concluded that slump value was decreased
with increased fiber content. Increased in density by adding
fibers. The compressive strength without fiber was 58 Mpa
whereas with fiber percentage of 0.3, 0.5 and 2, the strength
increment varied between 11% to 12%. The maximum
compressive strength achieved was 65.86 Mpa at the 0.5% of
fiber dosage. Modulus of elasticity value without and with fibers
was 20 Gpa & 34 Gpa respectively. Failure of composite mix
was found brittle. Optimal volume fraction defined was 0.5%
which showed 12% increased in compressive strength.
Performance of basalt fiber in concrete- Gorde Pravin Jaysing,
Deepa A. Joshi : This study was done to investigate the effect of
different proportion of fiber on concrete and the optimum
dosage of fiber was found. Basalt fibers used were 0, 0.25, 0.50,
0.75% and the grade of concrete was M-40. Fly ash (F-class)
was used. 15% of cement was replaced by fly ash. Mechanical
properties were investigated in this study. Compressive strength
with fiber amount 0%, 0.25%, 0.50% & 0.75% was 49.98,
63.51, 56.64 & 47.93 in Mpa respectively at 28 days. Splitting
tensile strength with fiber amount 0%, 0.25%, 0.50% & 0.75%

Akshar Publication 2014

was 4.565, 5.700, 5.640 & 5.205 in Mpa respectively at 28 days.

Flexural strength with fiber amount 0%, 0.25%, 0.50% & 0.75%
was 4.3, 6.3, 5.8 & 5.16 in Mpa respectively at 28 days.
Optimum percentage of basalt fiber found was 0.25%. It was
concluded that performance of concrete was higher at 0.25% and
then it gets decreased slowly.
6) Study on the compressive and split tensile strength properties
of basalt fiber concrete members- Arivalagan. S : In this study
the compressive strength and splitting tensile strength was
carried out for concrete grade M-20 & M-30 without fiber and
with fiber. The test was done at 7, 14 and 28 days respectively.
Basalt fiber concrete had gain compressive strength 20% - 24%
more of both grades with compared to controlled concrete at 7
days, 19% - 29% more at 14 days and 23% - 25% more at 28
days. Splitting tensile strength of basalt fiber concrete was 35%
and 25% more than controlled concrete for M-20 and M-30
respectively at 7 days, 39% and 45% more than controlled
concrete for M-20 and M-30 respectively at 14 days, 37% and
47% more than controlled concrete for M-20 and M-30
respectively at 28 days. It was concluded that all cylinders
showed a good ductile behavior. The strength difference
between basalt fiber concrete and normal concrete became high
distinct in the beginning age of curing. The final compressive
strength and tensile strength was 120% and 123% more than
controlled concrete for M-20 and M-30 respectively at 28 days
& 123% and 125% more than controlled concrete for M-20 and
M-30 respectively at 28 days.
7) Thermal and mechanical properties of basalt fiber reinforced
concrete- Tumadhir M., Borhan : The thermal and mechanical
properties of basalt fiber reinforced concrete were investigated
in this study. Basalt fiber volume fractions used were 0.1, 0.2,
0.3 and 0.5 % by total mix volume. Compressive strength,
splitting tensile strength and heat transfer properties were
studied in the research work. The fiber used had length of 25.4
mm and diameter of 13 m and concrete grade was M-35. The
water binder ratio was kept 0.55. The compressive test was done
at 7, 28 and 90 days respectively. Tensile strength test was done
at 28 days. It was concluded that the compressive strength was
increased with increase of fiber till 0.3% and then it was slightly
decreased when fiber increased above 0.3%. The compressive
strength was reduced 12% at 0.5% of fiber content. There was
slight increase in splitting tensile strength with increase of fiber
till 0.3% then it was decreased with 0.5% basalt fiber. The
modulus of elasticity value was increased with the increase of
fiber content till 0.3% then it decreased when 0.5% fibers were
used. When fiber content was increased the thermal conductivity
decreased at all temperature levels.

III. CONCLUSION
1)
2)

3)
4)

55

The workability of concrete becomes lower as the increment of

fiber content in the concrete mix.
The compressive strength of concrete becomes lower with
compared to controlled concrete when increase of fiber content
while in some studies it is showed that the compressive strength
increases with some percentage of fiber but after that it
decreases.
The splitting tensile strength and flexural strength increases as
the increase of fiber content.
Lime water increases the compressive strength of concrete as it
gives better reaction to the silica in fly ash compared with
hydrated lime.
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International Journal of Futuristic Trends in Engineering and Technology

ISSN: 2348-5264 (Print), ISSN: 2348-4071 (Online)
Vol. 1 (10), 2014
5)

6)

As per done pilot study, by trial and error method and also by
suggested in research paper it is found that the optimum dosage
of the basalt fiber is 0.25% added by weight of cement. The
study was done by taking 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75% and 1%.
The compressive strength of basalt fiber concrete increases at
later stage when fly ash is partially replaced with cement and
also lime water as mixing water increases the compressive
strength at later stage when using fly ash.

REFERENCES
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[2]

[3]

[4]
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[8]

Mochamad Solikin, Sujeeva Setunge and Indubhushan Patnaikuni,

Experimental design analysis of ultra fine fly ash, lime water, and
basalt fiber in mix proportion of high volume fly ash concrete,
Pertanika j. science & Technology 21(2): 589 600 (2013).
Elba Helen George, B. Bhuvaneshwari2, G. S. Palani, P. Eapen Sakaria,
Nagesh R. Iyer, Effect of basalt fiber on mechanical properties of
concrete containing fly ash and metakaolin, International Journal of
Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology, volume 3,
special issue 5, July 2014.
Ali Elheber Ahmed Elshekh, Nasir Shafiq, Muhd Fadhil Nuruddin,
Ahmed Fathi and Fareed Ahmed Memom, An experimental study on
the effectiveness of chopped basalt fiber on the fresh and hardened
properties of high strength concrete, Research journal of applied
sciences, engineering and technology 7(16): 3304-3311,2014.
Smriti Raj, Compressive behavior of basalt fiber reinforced
composite, International journal of structural analysis and design,
Volume 1: issue 1.
Gorde Pravin Jaysing, Deepa A. Joshi, Performance of basalt fiber in
concrete, International journal of Science and research, Volume 3 Issue
5, May 2014.
Arivalagan. S, Study on the compressive and split tensile strength
properties of basalt fiber concrete members, Global Journal of
Researches in Engineering Civil and Structural Engineering, volume 12:
Issue 4 version 1, 2012.
Tumadhir M., Borhan, Thermal and mechanical properties of basalt
fiber reinforced concrete, World Academy of Science, Engineering and
Technology, vol: 7, 2013.
Kunal Singha, A short review on basalt fiber, International Journal of
Textile Science 2012, 1(4): 19-28.

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