IMPACT OF PVA FIBER AS FINE AGGREGATE REPLACEMENT IN ALKALI-ACTIVATED FLY ASH ON FLOW RATE, MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND DRYING SHRINKAGE
Keywords:
Alkali-activated materials, Slag, Fly ash, Fiber, Drying shrinkageAbstract
This study focuses to discuss the performance of alkali-activated mortar (AAM) reinforced by
Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) fiber as a replacement of fine aggregate. Drying shrinkage is a major problem of
alkali-activated mortar (AAM). Therefore, in order to reduce shrinkage and improve the performance of the
mortar; the Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) fiber was introduced to replace the fine aggregate. An experimental test,
including flow rate, compressive strength, modulus elasticity, poison’s ratio, flexural strength and rate of
drying shrinkage, was performed to investigate the performance of AAM with various percentage of PVA fiber.
Based on the test, it was obtained that the utilization of PVA fiber as a fine aggregate replacement shows a
slight decrease in the flow rate compared to plain AAM. The density of PVA AAM reinforced-fiber of five
mixtures is almost similar to plain AAM with the differences lower than 2%. The use of PVA at levels ranging
from 0% to 2%, with a level increment of 0.5% by volume, as fine aggregate replacement increased
compressive strength, but decreased flexural strength. The replacement of fine aggregate with a certain value
of PVA, which are 0.5% by volume, reduces the drying shrinkage of mortar. However, adding PVA more 0.5%
by volume to the mortar increases the drying shrinkage.