COMPARISON OF FIBER REINFORCED AND CARBON NANOTUBE MODIFIED CEMENT MORTARS

Abstract: Brittleness of concrete has been tailored to higher bending attribute thanks to reinforcement elements which mostly include steel bars and several types of fibers. Inclusion of fibers into cementitious matrix has become a well-known practice in terms of improving engineering properties. Recent developments in nanotechnology products have led to the utilization of nano-scale materials in cementitious composites for different purposes. Among nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes (CNT) possess superior properties for the benefit of the mechanical properties compared to conventional additives. Taking into consideration the fact that there is an alikeness between the micro-scale and bulk structure of the material, uniting both scales in an engineering manner is significant especially in the use of nanomaterials. In this paper, researchers performed an experimental study on the reinforcing of cement-based materials. To do this, CNTs were incorporated homogeneously in cement mortars. Also, conventional fiber reinforced cement mortars were produced by using polymeric fibers together with specimens that do not contain any reinforcing elements as reference. Produced specimens were tested under compression and flexural loadings. Results of each mixture were discussed in terms of basic engineering properties taking into account of microstructural investigations.