Effect of Alternate Wetting and Drying on SIFCON

A Study on the Effect of Alternate Wetting and Drying on the Strength Properties of SIFCON Produced from Waste Coiled Steel Fibres

Dr Ashish K Gurav, Director, Dhananjay Mahadik Group of Institutions, Vikaswadi, Kagal, Kolhapur and Dr. K. B. Prakash, Department of Civil Engineering K.L.E. Society's College of Engineering and Technology Belgaum, Karnataka

Slurry Infiltrated Fibre Reinforced Concrete (SIFCON), is special form of Fibre Reinforced Concrete (FRC) containing high percentage of fibres in which coarse aggregates are absent.

In production of SIFCON steel, fibres are Prepacked in the form or in the mould to its full capacity, rather than being mixed and then cast or sprayed along with concrete. After placement of fibres, fine-grained cement based slurry is poured or pumped into the fibre network, infiltrating the air space between the fibres while conforming to the shape of the form or mould. External vibrations can also be used to aid infiltration of the slurry. SIFCON utilizes the fibres in the range of 6-20% by volume fraction as against usual range of 1-3 % for fibre reinforced concrete. Due to such a high percentage of fibres tremendous improvement in strength properties can be expected.