Mechanical Properties of Chopped Basalt Fiber-Reinforced Cement-Based Composites

To study the mechanical properties of chopped basalt fiber-reinforced cement-based composites, 84 compressive specimens, 72 flexural specimens and 140 tensile specimens were designed and tested. The effects of water-cement ratio, fiber content, fiber length and surface alkali resistant coating treatment on the basic mechanical properties of chopped basalt fiber-reinforced cement-based composites were studied. The results showed that the addition of chopped basalt fibers could effectively improve the compressive, flexural and tensile failure modes of cement-based composites. The compressive strength of the composite decreased with the increase of the content of chopped basalt fibers and the decrease of fiber length. The 28 d compressive strength of the experimental group with the fiber length of 12 mm and the volume content of 2% decreased by 28.8%. In addition, the inclusion of chopped basalt fibers could significantly improve the flexural strength and tensile strength of cement-based composites. When the fiber length was small, the low content had a more significant effect on the flexural strength and tensile strength of the composites, and when the fiber length was large, the high content was more significant. The flexural strength and tensile strength of 28 d composites with 2% volume content of 12 mm fibers and 0.5% volume content of 6 mm fibers increased by 97.6% and 41.4%, respectively, and the tensile strength increased by 200.7% and 230%, respectively.