Applicability Evaluation and Development of High Strength Spacer with Plastic Fiber and Slag Cement

Spacer is a construction material for maintaining cover depth and steel installation, however several problems like staining, leakage, and cracking are currently issued due to performance degradation and unsatisfactory dimensional stability of spacer. Plastic composite is widely used for prevention of brittle failure in cement based material, which yields improvement of crack resistance and ductile failure. This study is for development and applicability evaluation of high strength spacer with slag cement for environmental load reduction and plastic composite like polypropylene fiber, nylon fiber, and glass fiber. For this work, unit weight of 4 different plastic fibers are evaluated through preliminary tests. Physical tests including compressive, flexural, and tensile strength and durability tests including absorption, permeability, length change, crack resistance, carbonation, and freezing and thawing are performed. Through various tests, optimum plastic fiber is selected and manufacturing system for high strength spacer with the selected fiber is developed. Dimensional stability of the developed spacer is evaluated through field applicability evaluation.