A study on magnesium phosphate cement mortars reinforced by polyvinyl alcohol fibers

Abstract This paper studies the influence of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers on the mechanical and water resistance properties of fiber-reinforced magnesium phosphate cement (FR-MPC) mortar composites. The dosage of fiber was kept at 0%, 0.13%, 0.25%, 0.5% and 0.75% respectively. The increase in fiber content gradually reduced the fluidity of FR-MPC composites. The addition of PVA fibers increased the water absorption, porosity, and loss in mass. The compressive, three-point flexural, four-point flexural, and splitting tensile strength were improved with the addition of PVA fibers. In all cases, an amount of 0.5% PVA fiber was found as an optimum dosage. Fracture toughness and ductility performance were enhanced due to inclusion of fibers. However, there was a continuous decrease in water resistance with the increase in fiber content. Observations by SEM revealed that fibers show non-uniform distribution at a high dosage of 0.75%, which also corroborated with the findings of mechanical properties.