Performance of basalt fibre reinforced concrete and resistance to shrinkage, cracking, and fatigue

To improve the fatigue life, concrete is reinforced with green basalt fibres (BFs). The shrinkage of a BF reinforced concrete (BFRC) during drying was investigated, and the reasons for its small deformation due to shrinkage were explained in terms of early evaporation and water storage capacity for 28 d. The results showed that evaporation during the early stage of curing was much less for BFRC than ordinary concrete; it was reduced by approximately 30% after 0.6 h. With the passage of time, the water storage capacity of BFRC gradually decreased but was still greater than that of ordinary concrete, especially the upper layer of concrete exposed to air, which had a good effect on the shrinkage of BFRC during drying. In this study, the crack expansion pattern of BFRC under wheel loading was investigated. The results showed that BFRC remained in good working condition when there were penetrating cracks in the base concrete. As a result of its water retention properties and friction between fibres and the matrix, the initial number of microcracks was reduced in the BFRC. While the initial cracks in ordinary concrete gradually expanded under loading, the BFs dispersed stress and deflected crack development, thus improving the fatigue performance of BFRC.