Enhancing the performance of hyposludge concrete beams using basalt fiber and latex under cyclic loading

An attempt has been made to study the influence of basalt fiber and latex on the behaviour of hypo sludge based concrete beams under cyclic loading. Two sets of four geometrically similar specimens were cast to study the deflection behaviour of beams. The analysis and study of parameters such as ultimate load carrying capacity, crack pattern, energy dissipation, stiffness degradation and ductility were conducted in this investigation. A preliminary investigation showed that the durability properties decreased when hypo sludge was added to concrete. To enhance the durability, SBR latex was added to one set of four specimens. Results indicate that the addition of basalt fibers and latex to the hypo sludge based concrete beams showed significant improvement in ultimate load carrying capacity, stiffness, energy dissipation and ductility compared to the control concrete beams. The specimen (LHSBFC) with 10% hypo sludge, 0.25% Basalt fiber and 10% SBR latex showed an increase of 1.82% load carrying capacity, 2.65% stiffness, 21.84% ductility, 16% energy dissipation when compared to the control concrete beam.