Road Materials and Pavement Design

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The effect of basalt fibre on the mechanical

performance of concrete pavement

Alireza Sarkar & Majid Hajihosseini

To cite this article: Alireza Sarkar & Majid Hajihosseini (2019): The effect of basalt fibre on the
mechanical performance of concrete pavement, Road Materials and Pavement Design, DOI:
10.1080/14680629.2018.1561379

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/14680629.2018.1561379

Published online: 06 Jan 2019.

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Road Materials and Pavement Design, 2018
https://doi.org/10.1080/14680629.2018.1561379

The effect of basalt fibre on the mechanical performance of concrete

pavement
Alireza Sarkara∗ and Majid Hajihosseinib
a Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Art, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad Univer-
sity, Tehran, Iran; b Faculty of Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran,
Iran

(Received 3 May 2018; accepted 30 November 2018 )

Despite the many benefits of using basalt fibre in plane concrete, there has only been a lim-
ited number of research found in the literature concerning basalt fibre reinforced concrete
pavements. Hence, the aim of this research study was to evaluate the effect of basalt fibres
in improving the mechanical properties of plain concrete pavements. In this regard, flexural,
split tensile, compressive and durability tests were conducted to examine the role of these
fibres. The experiments were conducted at two fibre lengths (12 and 24 mm), three fibre
dosages (4, 8 and 12 kg/m3 ), two aggregate gradations and two mix designs. Test results
showed that using the basalt fibre in Portland cement specimens increases the compressive
strength between 4.3% and 9.4%. However, the effect of this fibre on the mechanical proper-
ties of Portland cement concrete completely depends on the length and weight of the fibre and
aggregate gradation. Overall, basalt fibre can lead to adverse effects or in the best condition a
small improvement in split tensile and compression strength. The greatest effect of this fibre is
increasing the concrete flexural strength up to 20%. Also, these fibres do not play an effective
role in decreasing the effect of chlorine ion (or chloride) on cement concrete.
Keywords: basalt fibre; concrete pavement; compressive strength; flexural strength; tensile
strength

Introduction
The occurrence of cracks on concrete pavements has led to the use of various types of fibres
in concrete pavements. Based on the previous studies, fibres can increase fatigue resistance
and toughness of concrete. They might also reduce the crack propagation rate in pavements
by increasing tensile and flexural strengths, as well as ductility (Ayub, Shafiq, & Nuruddin,
2013; Lipatov, Guntnikov, Manylov, Zhukovskaya, & Lazoryak, 2015). Among different fibres,
basalt fibres have attracted the attention of different researchers due to its suitable properties such
as high chemical stability, high temperature stability, environmental durability, non-flammable,
non-toxicity and resistance to moisture absorption and corrosive materials (Fiore, Scalici, Di
Bella, & Valenza, 2015).
The concrete reinforced with basalt fibre has significant advantages due to its high resistance
to cracking, freezing and thawing, shrinkage and impermeability (Bi & Wang, 2010). Also, Yao,
Zhu, Zhang, Li, and Mobasher showed that basalt fibres can increase toughness and maximum
strain of concrete (2016).

*Corresponding author. Email: sarkar@srbiau.ac.ir

© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

2 A. Sarkar and M. Hajihosseini

Due to the proper flexibility of basalt fibres, these fibres are well spread in the concrete
mixture without segregation and loss of their shape (Ayub et al., 2013; Hulin, Lauridsen,
Hodicky, Schmidt, & Stang, 2015). The tensile strength of concrete containing basalt fibre
increases as the length and amount of fibres increase (Ma, Qiu, Cheng, & Wang, 2010). The
previous studies suggest that 22 mm is the best length of fibres to achieve the best stiffness
(Jiang, Fan, Wu, & Chen, 2014). The studies conducted by Ayub et al. showed that basalt
fibres can increase the corresponding strain of maximum compressive strength in a range from
4.85% to 12.24%. In addition, these fibres increase toughness up to 3.8% (Ayub, Shafiq, &
Khan, 2015). Examining the effect of length and percentage of basalt fibres on concrete sam-
ples confirmed that the optimal increase in compressive strength and modulus of rupture of
concrete can be achieved at a fibre amount of 8 kg/m3 . Also, these studies showed that with
the increase of the length and amount of fibres, the concrete flow reduced (Lyer, Kenno, &
Das, 2015).
Other researchers indicated that basalt fibres can reduce the magnitude of shrinkage, restrict
the growth of cracks occurred and increase the pre-cracking strength (Branston, Das, Kenno, &
Taylor, 2016a; Branston, Das, Kenno, & Taylor, 2016b).
There are many numbers of research found in the literature concerning basalt fibre rein-
forced concrete. However, no previous research was conducted using basalt fibres in concrete
pavements.

Objective and scope

After studying the positive results of previous studies, the motivation for the use of basalt fibre
increased in concrete pavements in this geographical area. It was therefore necessary to carry out
new research studies on the impact of these fibres on the concrete pavements made of materials
available in this area. In the present study, 28-day concrete samples reinforced with basalt fibre
were analysed by using data from different tests. The tests conducted were concerned mainly with
compressive strength, four-point bending, split tension and penetration of chlorine ion which
were determined in accordance with ASTM C39, ASTM C78, ASTM C496 and ASSHTO T277,
respectively.

Experimental procedure
Materials used and properties
At the start of the test programme, the amount of basalt fibre used was considered about 3 kg/m3
for the length of 12 and 24 mm. This amount of fibre dosage in kg/m3 of concrete was the min-
imum value used in the technical literature (Jiang et al., 2014). The comparison of the tests
results on control samples and reinforced-sample containing 3 kg/m3 basalt fibre showed that
this amount of fibre had no positive effect on the results. Therefore, the amount of fibre dosage
used in specimens was increased in accordance with other studies.
At this stage of the research study, the construction of concrete samples was continued
with various aggregate gradations. Ingredients used were Portland cement, aggregates and
basalt fibre with a length of 12 and 24 mm. Table 1 shows the physical and chemical prop-
erties of Portland cement used for fabricating specimens. Also, the physical properties of the
aggregates are tabulated in Table 2. The type of aggregates used was silica with two maxi-
mum sizes of 12 mm and 19 mm (Figure 1). Fineness modulus of fine aggregates is 2.2 and
the percentages of flat and elongated particles in coarse aggregates were 20.92 and 11.72,
respectively.
 Road Materials and Pavement Design 3

Table 1. The properties of used Portland cement.

Chemical properties %

CaO 64.24
SiO2 20.68
Al2 O3 4.97
Fe2 O3 3.69
MgO 1.53
SO3 1.98
K2 O 0.82
Na2 O 0.4
LOSS on ignition 1.35
Specific gravity 3.1
Specific surface (cm2 /g) 3050
Initial setting time (min) 165
Final setting time (min) 280
Compressive strength (MPa) 3 days 26.5
7 days 35
28 days 45

Table 2. Physical properties of aggregate materials.

Special Water absorption of Water absorption of Los Sand
Type of weight coarse grained fine grained Angeles equivalent
gradation (g/cm3) aggregate (%) aggregate (%) (LA) (%) value (%)

A 2.304 1.16 2.5 15 90

B 2.364 1.16 2.4 15 90

Figure 1. Gradations of designated aggregates.

In this research, the samples marked with the letter A were fabricated by weight ratios
of 1:2.3:2.2 (cement:fine aggregate:coarse aggregate), the water to cement ratio of 0.52 and
common aggregate gradation applied in this geographical area. Also, samples B were made
4 A. Sarkar and M. Hajihosseini

Table 3. Ingredients and characteristics of each mixture.

Applied fibre Coarse grained aggregate

Mix des- Fine grained
Series ignation Length (mm) Weight (kg) aggregate < 10 mm 10–20 mm Cement (kg)

A0 0 0 962 75 697 400

A A1 24 4 962 75 697 400
A2 24 8 962 75 697 400
A3 24 12 962 75 697 400
B0 0 0 581 151 978 400
B B1 12 4 581 151 978 400
B2 12 8 581 151 978 400
B3 12 12 581 151 978 400

based on studies conducted by Lyer et al. with a weight ratio of 1:1.4:2.8 (cement:fine aggre-
gate:coarse aggregate) and water to cement ratio of 0.5 (2015). Table 3 shows the characteristics
of the ingredients of each mixture.
Figure 2 shows the basalt fibre samples used in this research. Also, physical and mechanical
properties of this fibre are tabulated in Tables 4 and 5.

Figure 2. Basalt fibre sample in laboratory.

Table 4. Chemical composition of basalt fibres

chopped stands provided by the supplier.

Chemical composition Percentages

SiO2 51.6–59.3
Al2 O3 14.6–18.3
CaO 5.9–9.4
MgO 3.0–5.3
FeO + Fe2 O3 9.0–14.0
TiO2 0.8–2.25
Na2 O + K2 O 0.8–2.25
Others 0.09–0.13
 Road Materials and Pavement Design 5

Table 5. Mechanical properties of basalt fibre used in concrete.

Properties Details

Fibre type RBR18 – T10/24

Thickness (μm) 18
Fibre length (mm) 24, 12
Tensile strength (MPa) 1100
Elastic modulus (GPa) 89
Specific gravity (kg/m3 ) 2520–2970
Elongation (%) 3.15

Testing programme and sample fabrication

Preparation of test specimens for alkaline environment
Before starting the experiments, in order to investigate the effect of the alkaline environment of
concrete on basalt fibre, based on ASTM C289, 5 g of each of fibre lengths, 12 and 24 mm, was
placed in caustic soda with a concentration of 1 molar (NaOH) and at an ambient temperature
of about 25°C. After one week, the fibre was pulled out of solution and dried at a tempera-
ture of 105°C. After examining the shape of fibre samples by using SEM (Scanning Electron
Microscopy) and weighing samples, it was found that the alkaline environment has no effect on
basalt fibres.

Preparation of Portland cement specimens

To investigate the influence of basalt fibre on the concrete matrix, a seven-day compressive
strength of Portland cement samples (i.e. cement samples without aggregate) with a certain
amount of basalt fibre was determined, based on standard test method ASTM C109. For this pur-
pose, 9 samples, three at each of three fibre content, were constructed in laboratory: one group
without fibre and other groups with 6 kg/m3 of basalt fibres with lengths of 12 and 24 mm. These
cement samples were placed in a mould, 5 × 5 × 5 cm3 , and kept for 24 h. After removing them
from the mould, the samples were cured in a pool of water for one week and the strength of
samples was then determined by conducting the related test.

Preparation of test specimens for flexural, compression and split tensile testing
To investigate the effect of basalt fibre on the mechanical property of concrete pavements, two
mixture groups, A and B, were examined at each of three fibre dosages of 4, 8 and 12 kg/m3
with fibre lengths of 12 and 24 mm and without fibre. By taking 3 repetitions for an experimental
condition, 12 reinforced samples were tested in each experiment (i.e. a total of 108 reinforced
samples).
For the construction of concrete samples, a mixer with a capacity of 0.50 m3 was used. The
mixing process began by mixing dry fine and coarse aggregates and continued for 2 min. After
adding Portland cement, the mixing process continued for 2 more minutes in the dry state. Basalt
fibres were also added to the dry mixture and after adding water to the mixture gradually, fresh
concrete was mixed for 5 min to guarantee the dispersion of fibres in the concrete mixture. In
order to cure the cement concrete, all samples were placed in a pool of water with a temperature
of 22°C.
Compressive strength tests were conducted by using a pressure jack on samples of
15 × 15 × 15 cm3 according to ASTM C39. The applied vertical load in this test is at a rate
of 680 kg/m2 /s (kilograms per square meter per second).
6 A. Sarkar and M. Hajihosseini

A four-point bending test was also conducted according to ASTM C78 on the beam specimens
with dimensions of 10 × 10 × 40 cm3 . For this test, the samples were placed on two supports
posed at a distance from 5 cm from the edges of the sample. A vertical force was applied on the
beam samples, between two blades at a distance of 10 cm from two edges of the beam. In this
case, the load is applied uniformly and without sudden changes.
The concrete split tensile strength at 28 days, as determined by ASTM C496, should be per-
formed using cylindrical samples, 10 cm in diameter and 20 cm in height. In this test, the samples
were placed horizontally along the longitudinal axis and the linear load was applied vertically
along the diagonal direction with the rate of 1 kN/min. The maximum load tolerated by each
sample was measured and recorded.
According to Figure 3, the length and thickness of basalt fibre were determined by using SEM
in secondary mode with an accelerating voltage of 20 kV within fractured concrete and cement
samples (Table 6). In order to ensure representative measurements, 30 images were analysed. The
results showed that physical changes of the fibre, including reducing the length and thickness,
are reduced by increasing the aggregate size in the concrete.
Therefore, there is a correlation between the physical properties of basalt fibre after mixing
and the available aggregate size in the concrete mixture. This correlation can be due to more
space between aggregates when using the large size aggregates.

Figure 3. Basalt fibre dimension in concrete sample.

Table 6. Dimensions of fibre used in concrete samples by SEM.

Properties of primary fibre Properties of fibre after mixing

Size of the largest aggregate Length (μm) Thickness (μm) Length (mm) Thickness (nm)

19 12 18 2.87–3.52 217–388.5
12 24 18 1.65–1.75 151–174
0 12 18 1.06–1.54 136–141.4
 Road Materials and Pavement Design 7

Preparation of test specimens for Rapid Chloride Migration test

To examine the effect of basalt fibre on the durability of concrete, the RCM (Rapid Chloride
Migration) test was conducted on concrete samples according to RCMT-ASSHTO T277. For
this reason, one concrete sample without fibre and two concrete samples containing the amount
of fibre 4 and 8 kg/m3 of concrete was constructed by a cylindrical mould, 10 cm in diameter and
20 cm in height. After curing the samples in a pool of water for 90 days, the samples were cut
to tablets with a thickness of 5 cm and were placed in cells of an RCM testing device. Samples
were placed on the one side in the vicinity of sodium chloride solution (NaCl) and on the other
side in the vicinity of sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH) for 24 h. After removal of the cells,
samples were broken along the diagonal direction and impregnated with a silver nitrate solution
(AgNO3). The penetration of chlorine ion into samples was measured at 7 points. The results of
all tests will be presented in the next section.

Analysis of the test results

Compressive test of Portland cement sample
The effect of increasing the amount of fibre length on the compressive strength of Portland
cement samples (i.e. Portland cement samples without aggregate) is shown in Figure 4.
As shown in Figure 4, adding a certain amount of fibres to Portland cement samples increases
compressive strength by 4.3% and 9.4% in specimens with fibre lengths of 12 and 24 mm, respec-
tively. In addition, compressive strength is increased by about 5% as the length of fibres is
doubled.

The results of concrete sample tests

The results obtained from the RCM, four-point bending, split tensile and compression tests on
different samples are presented in Tables 7 and 8.

Figure 4. The effect of fibre length on the compression strength of Portland cement samples.

Table 7. Comparison of penetration of chlorine ion in three samples.

Amount of fibre in concrete Average chloride ions’ penetration (10−12 m/s)

0 16.33
4 17021
8 16.04
8 A. Sarkar and M. Hajihosseini

Table 8. Results of conducted tests.

Concrete sample Compression (kg/cm2 ) Split tensile (MPa) Bending (MPa) Slump (mm)

A0 344 3.55 5.9 9

A A1 297 3.03 5.4 7
A2 350 3.25 5.6 5
A3 346 3.35 5.97 4
B0 379 4.46 4.96 15
B B1 373 2.8 5.53 10.5
B2 366 3.06 5.96 10
B3 363 3.42 5.36 8

According to Table 7, the results of the RCM test indicate no significant effect of basalt fibre
on the durability of concrete.
After studies conducted by Lyer et al. (2015), modulus of rupture of concrete samples with
dosages of 4, 8 and 12 kg/m3 of basalt fibres was changed to − 3%, 7.3% and 15%, respectively,

Figure 5. Variation of bending strength with the amount of basalt fibres.

Figure 6. Variation of compressive strength with the amount of basalt fibre.

 Road Materials and Pavement Design 9

and compressive strength had been changed to14.4%, 20% and 20%, respectively, in comparison
with samples without fibre. Based on the test results of the present research study, in comparison
with specimens without fibre, compressive strength − 2%, − 3.5% and − 4%, tensile strength
− 40%, − 30% and − 19% and bending strength 12%, 20% and 6% were changed, respectively.
As shown in Figure 5, the flexural strength of samples made of a fibre length of 12 mm
increases up to 20% in the amount of 8 kg/m3 of concrete. Also, this strength is decreased again
as the amount of fibre is increased.
The results showed that using a fibre length of 24 mm for fibre dosages of 4 and 8 kg/m3
decreases flexural strength, while fibre length of 12 mm can increase this parameter. It can be
stated that basalt fibre, by turning into smaller pieces and penetrating into cavities and creating
a bridge between the concrete pores, develops a homogeneous body that increases the bending
strength of concrete.

Figure 7. Variation of tensile strength with the amount of basalt fibre.

Figure 8. Variations of concrete slump.

10 A. Sarkar and M. Hajihosseini

Figure 9. The comparison of fracture surface: (a) samples containing basalt fibre and (b) samples without
basalt fibre.
 Road Materials and Pavement Design 11

As mentioned previously, according to technical literatures, the fibre length is selected, based
on maximum aggregate size. Thus, with the increase in the maximum aggregate size, the cavities
of the concrete samples become larger and creating the bridge between the concrete pores
becomes more difficult.
According to Figure 6, the compressive strength of concrete samples has decreased by increas-
ing the amount of fibre, and in the best case, the amount of fibre length of 24 mm has no
significant effect on increasing the compressive strength of concrete samples.
Regarding the absence of aggregate in cement samples and considering the role of basalt fibres
in increasing the compressive strength of these samples, it can be argued that in concrete samples
fibres prevent the complete interlock of aggregates together.
The split tensile strength of all reinforced concrete samples has decreased in comparison with
samples without fibre (Figure 7). This reduction in strength was maximum for the fibre length of
12 mm.
According to Figure 8, increasing the amount of basalt fibre in concrete samples decreases
the concrete slump. Also, the rate of reduction in concrete slump increases as the length of fibre
increases.
By examining the fracture surface of samples under the bending test (Figure 9), it was
observed that the samples without the fibres had been broken in a diagonal direction, whereas
this phenomenon was observed for samples containing fibre in the vertical direction.
Generally, depending on the ability of energy absorption, there are two failure modes possi-
ble: ductile and brittle. Ductile failure is usually associated with significant deformation prior to
failure with energy absorption and the samples break at an angle of about 45° relative to the axis
of tension followed (diagonal direction). On the other hand, in the brittle fracture, there is usu-
ally no significant deformation prior to failure and energy absorption is at low level. Fast crack
propagation in perpendicular direction to the applied tensile stress with a relatively flat surface
is a conspicuous feature of this kind of fracture (vertical direction) (Dieter, 1986). Therefore,
it can be concluded that concrete pavements containing basalt fibres become more brittle and
susceptible to cracking.

Conclusions
In summary, based on the results of this research study, the following findings can be concluded:

• Basalt fibre in the vicinity of water and an alkaline environment undergoes no physical
and chemical changes, while this fibre within concrete mixture in the vicinity of aggregate
material and cement paste bears some physical changes, so that they are not visible to the
naked eye.
• Adding basalt fibre to concrete samples has no effect on reducing the chlorine ion
penetration, chloride resistance and capillary absorption of concrete.
• The use of basalt fibres in the Portland cement samples increases the compressive strength
of them which is indicative of compatibility of cement and basalt fibre.
• Using basalt fibre reduces the compressive strengths of concrete pavement and, in the best
condition, has no effect on the compressive strengths of concrete. However, the effect of
basalt fibre on the split tensile test results is always negative and dependent on the length
and weight of the basalt fibre.
• Basalt fibre has the greatest effect on increasing the concrete flexural strength up to 20%
(using a fibre length of 24 mm for fibre dosage of 8 kg/m3 ); the effect is completely
dependent on the length and weight of the fibre and aggregate gradation.
• Adding the basalt fibre to fresh concrete mixtures decreases workability of them.
12 A. Sarkar and M. Hajihosseini

• Using basalt fibres in concrete mixtures can lead to cracking susceptibility of concrete
pavements.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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