Acoustic emission characteristics and crack resistance of basalt fiber reinforced concrete under tensile load

Brazilian splitting tests were carried out to study the influence of basalt fiber content on the acoustic emission (AE) characteristics and crack resistance of concrete. The relationship between AE characteristic parameters (counts and energy) and cumulative events with basalt fiber content in basalt fiber reinforced concrete (BFRC) was studied. The statistical analysis methods of AE signals (average frequency and RA) were used to determine the crack modes (tensile crack or shear crack) of BFRC. The surface horizontal strain and its standard deviation of BFRC were measured by digital image correlation (DIC) technology to study the crack resistance of BFRC. Results show that an appropriate basalt fiber content (0.39%) can effectively improve the tensile strength and reduce the strength of AE characteristic parameters and the magnitude of cumulative events. In the failure process of BFRC, the proportion of tensile crack reaches the minimum when the fiber content is 0.39%, but the shear cracks is on the contrary. An appropriate basalt fiber content (0.39%) can improve the fracture tortuosity and reduce horizontal strain and its standard deviation, which further shows that basalt fiber can effectively improve the crack resistance of concrete.

Automated summary

The study found that an appropriate amount of basalt fiber can increase the tensile strength of concrete, reduce the strength of acoustic emission parameters and cumulative events, and improve crack patterns. Additionally, the suitable amount of basalt fiber can also decrease horizontal strain and its standard deviation, further enhancing the crack resistance of concrete.