Mix Proportioning of Fiber Reinforced Self-compacting Concrete Adopting the Compressible Packaging Method: Comparison of Two Methods

Fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete (FRSCC) is a material that combines the advantages of self-compacting concrete and fiber-reinforced concrete, which can act on two problems of conventional concrete, improving concrete in the fresh state eliminating the need for vibrations with its high workability, in addition to increasing the ductility and toughness of the concrete due to the inclusion of the fiber. This material can be used in structures with high reinforcement rates, allowing a more efficient concreting and, at the same time, reducing the reinforcement rate. There are several ways to dosage self-compacting concrete, one of the most accurate being is the Compressible Packaging Method (CPM). This method is based on the solution of packaging dry mixtures in all components used in the concrete dosing. However, FRSCC dosage studies using CPM are still incipient. There are some ways to consider the effect of fiber on concrete, one approach assesses the effect of fibers considering a perturbed volume that they can generate in the mixture, another simulates the effect of fibers through the concept of equivalent diameter. This work examined these two methods, comparing the compactness results obtained experimentally for 3 types of steel fiber and one synthetic fiber, seeking to evaluate what is the most efficient way to consider the effect of the fibers on the CPM. The results showed that the two approaches can be used for dosage of the FRSCC, however, for larger fiber volumes (0.09% for synthetic fiber and 2% for steel fiber), the second mentioned approach presented the best results.