THE EFFECT OF POLYVINYL ALCOHOL (PVA) FffiER TO THE TENSILE STRENGTH OF CONCRETE

This study is focusing on the tensile strength of PYA (polyvinyl alcohol)
fiber-reinforced concrete. By designing mix compositions, a high performance
composite can be produced with a small amount of short fibers. Concrete is a material
which has high compressive strength, but the tensile strength is only about I 0 per
cent of the compressive strength. The project includes the study of PYA fiber by
doing research through journals and books and laboratory experimental works. For
each percentage of PYA fiber (0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0%), 12 cylindrical
specimens with dimension of200 x 100 are made for split tensile test. The specimens
are fairly distributed for tests at 3'd day, 7'h day, 28th day and 60'h day. The specimens
were subjected to wet curing for hydration process. The polyvinyl alcohol fibers form
a strong bond with cementitious matrix due to their hydrophilic nature and geometric
characteristics. The experimental results show that formulations containing PYA
fibers presented higher tensile strength. The optimum PYA content in achieving the
highest tensile strength of the concrete is found to be I% of the cement content. The
addition of I% PYA fiber results to the tensile strength enhancement of 27% at 28th
day. The workability of the concrete mix decreases with higher PYA fiber content
based on research done.