This document discusses the effects of adding basalt fiber to concrete at different percentages (0.5%, 1%, and 1.5%) on the compressive and split tensile strength of the concrete. Cubes and cylinders were cast from M40 grade concrete mixes containing different amounts of basalt fiber. Testing at 28, 56, and 90 days found that compressive and split tensile strength increased up to 1% basalt fiber content but decreased at 1.5%. The 1% basalt fiber mix performed best, demonstrating that basalt fiber can improve concrete strength up to an optimal level.

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F
Strength of Concrete Containing Basalt Fibre
Parvez Imraan Ansari1
, Rajiv Chandak2
,
1
Student M.E. Structural Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering Jabalpur Engineering College Jabalpur,
India
2
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering Jabalpur Engineering College Jabalpur, India
ABSTRACT
This paper presents the comparative study of effect of basalt fibre on compressive and split tensile strength of
M40 grade concrete. The basalt fibre was mixed in concrete by (0.5%, 1%, and 1.5%) of its total weight of
cement in concrete. Results indicated that the strength increases with increase of basalt fibre content up to 1.0%
beyond that there is a reduction in strength on increasing basalt fibre. The results show that the concrete
specimen with 1.0% of basalt fibre gives better performance when it compared with 0.5%and 1.5% basalt fibre
mix in concrete specimens.
Keywords – Concrete, basalt fibre, Pozzolana, Compressive Strength, Split Tensile Strength.
I. INTRODUCTION
Concrete is the most widely used man-made
construction material in the world and is second to
water as the most utilized substance on the planet. A
major portion of this concrete volume is occupied by
coarse and fine aggregate. The demand for aggregate
is enormous in liberalization, privatization and
globalization, and in the construction of important
infrastructure projects like Expressways, Airports,
nuclear plants etc. The increased extraction of coarse
and fine aggregate from the natural resources is
required to meet this high demand. The increasing
use of natural fine aggregate creates an ecological
imbalance. Thus, partial replacement of fine
aggregate is vital in construction industries.
Aggregates are the most important constituents in the
concrete mix that help in reducing shrinkage and
impart economy to concrete production. Most of the
aggregate used are naturally occurring aggregates.
Basics of cement, fly ash, pozzolana and physical and
chemical properties of cement have been studied to
precede the project easily. The test methods available
to find out Physical and Chemical properties of fly
ash based Portland pozzolana cement have been
studied. To identify the importance of this blended
cement, comparison of Physical and Chemical
properties of fly ash based Portland pozzolana
cement with normal Ordinary Portland cement is
proposed. From that it can be easily identified the
importance of this locally manufactured special fly
ash based Portland pozzolana cement in many
applications in the construction industry.[1] Basalt is
a natural material that is found in volcanic rocks. It is
mainly used (as crushed rock) in construction,
industrial and high way engineering. One can also
melt basalt (13000- 17000c) and spin it into fine
fibres. High quality fibres are made from basalt
deposits with uniform chemical makeup. The
production of basalt and glass fibres is similar.
Crushed basalt rock is the only raw material required
for manufacturing the fibre. [2-4, 5-7]
Basalt is a type of igneous rock formed by the rapid
cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It is the
most common rock in the Earth’s crust. Basalt rock
characteristics vary from the source of lava, cooling
rate, and historical exposure to the elements.
Experimental investigations o the cube and cylinder
of concrete beams with and without basalt fibre
carried out. They made using each grade of concrete
as normal concrete and basalt concrete(M20 &
M30).From this study it is estimated that onset
onwards basalt concrete specimens increasing
strength when compared to control concrete. From
the research it was proposed that, the usage of Basalt
fibres in low cost composites for civil infrastructure
applications gives good mechanical properties like
strength and lower cost predicted for basalt fibres. [8]
Studying the effect of using wide range volume
fractions of short basalt fibre on the mechanical
properties of Portland cement concrete is required. In
addition, the effect of using this type of fibre on the
thermal properties of concrete has not been paid
attention in the previous researches. Fibres are
usually used in concrete to control cracking due to
plastic shrinkage and to drying shrinkage. They also
reduce the permeability of concrete and thus reduce
bleeding of water. Some types of fibres produce
greater impact, abrasion, and shatter–resistance in
concrete.
RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS

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II. EXPERIMENTAL
INVESTIGATION
PREPARATION AND CASTING OF TEST
SPECIMENS
All the concrete mixtures were mixed in the
laboratory. For each concrete mix specimens having
size 150x150x150-mm cubes and cylinders 150 mm
dia and 300-mm length were casted for the
determination of compressive and split tensile
strength. A design mix of M-40 was used and basalt
fibre was added at 0.5%, 1.0%and 1.5% respectively
by the weight of cement. Specimens were casted in
three layers and were compacted using a vibrator.
They were unmolded after 24 hours, and were
transferred to a water tank for 28, 56 and 90 days of
testing.
Table-1 Details of cube specimens
S.No. Basalt Fibre No. of specimens Specimen size
(mm)
B-0 0.0% 3 150mm x 150mm x150mm
B-0.5 0.5% 3 150mm x 150mm x150mm
B-1.0 1.0% 3 150mm x 150mm x150mm
B-1.5 1.5% 3 150mm x 150mm x150mm
Table-2 Details of cylindrical specimens
S.No. Basalt Fibre No. of specimens
Diameter of Specimen
(mm)
B-0 0.0% 3 150mm
B-0.5 0.5% 3 150mm
B-1.0 1.0% 3 150mm
B-1.5 1.5% 3 150mm

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Fig.1 – Testing of cylinder specimen Fig.2- Testing of cube specimen
III. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND
DISCUSSION
Based on their mix proportions, the test were
conducted for compressive strength and split tensile
strength of basalt fibre concrete cubes and cylinders
specimens. Cubes were casted for compressive
strength with different ratios of basalt fibre (i.e.
0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5%) with respect to cement weight.
On the other hand cylinder specimens were made for
performing split tensile strength test same as above
basalt fibre concrete mix (i.e. 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5%)
with respect to cement weight. According to test
results specimen having 1.0% basalt fibre show
maximum value of compressive strength and split
tensile strength when it compared with plane concrete
mix proportion.
IV. RESULTS
After curing of concrete specimen at 28, 56 and
90 days the average compressive strength and
average split tensile strength are shown in
observation table-3 and table-4. The table gives an
increase in compressive strength and split tensile
strength at 1.0% basalt fibre.
Table-3 Average compressive strength of specimen
S. No.
Cube
Specimen
Designation
(sets)
No. of
cube
specimens
Avg. compressive
strength (N/mm2
)
28 days
Avg. compressive
strength (N/mm2
)
56 days
Avg. compressive
strength (N/mm2
)
90 days
1 B-0 3 50.72 51.59 52.32
2 B-0.5 3 52.02 53.33 54.65
3 B-1.0 3 54.78 55.51 56.53
4 B-1.5 3 51.01 52.02 53.04

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Table-4 Average split tensile strength of specimen
S. No.
Cylinder
Specimen
Designation
(sets)
No. of cylinder
specimens
Avg. split tensile
strength of
specimen (N/mm2)
28 days
Avg. split tensile
strength of
specimen
(N/mm2)
56 days
Avg. split tensile
strength of
specimen (N/mm2)
90 days
1 B-0 3 2.97 3.11 3.39
2 B-0.5 3 3.39 3.74 3.96
3 B-1.0 3 4.19 4.48 4.95
4 B-1.5 3 2.68 2.92 3.01
Fig-3 Compressive strength of specimens

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Fig-4 Average split tensile strength of specimen
V. DISCUSSION
According to the test result strength of
specimens with 1.0% basalt fibre is at maximum
value. Specimen having more than and less than
1.0% of basalt fibre gives a decrement in strength.
VI. COCLUSIONS
Based upon the results of experimental study
with different percentage of basalt fibre in the
concrete mix (M-40) carried out the following
conclusions can be drawn:-
1. Increase in percentage of basalt fibre up to 1.0%
compressive strength of concrete increases as
compared with compressive strength of plain
concrete.
2. Also at 1.0% of basalt fibre split tensile strength
of concrete also increases as compared with split
tensile strength of plain concrete.
3. It was also observed that up to 1.0% use of basalt
fibre in Portland pozzolana concrete (PPC) the
concrete gain it maximum compressive and split
tensile strength blow 1.0% basalt fibre in
concrete mix strength decreases, therefore 1.0%
of basalt fibre in concrete mix design is the
optimum value.
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[1] D.L.N.B. Jayawardane, U.P.A.S. Ukwatta,
W.M.N.R Weerakoon1, C.K. Pathirana
‘Physical and Chemical Properties of Fly
Ash based Portland Pozzolana Cement’
[2] ‘Aketoma – Basalt fabrics, tubes, prepregs,
rods etc.’ http://www.laseroptronix.com
[3] Jiri Militky, Vladimir Kovacic;‘ Ultimate
Mechanical Properties of Basalt Filaments’,
Text. Res.J.66 (4), 225-229 (1996)
[4] Stephen Cater; ‘Editorial’, International
Composites News, (40) March (2002)
[5] Tengiz Chantladze; ‘Industrial assimilation
of the effective type of fibre with multi
component charge’, http://www.tctv.ne.jp
[6] ‘Basaltex, The thread of stone’,
http://www.basaltex.com
[7] Bednár M., Hájek M.; ‘Hitzeschutztextilien
aus neuartigen Basalt-Filamentgarnen’,
Technische Textilien, 43 (November), 252-
254 (2000)
[8] By Arivalagan.S, Compressive and Split
Tensile Strength Properties of Basalt Fibre
Concrete Members