Gonzalo Martinez-Barrera (a, c), Witold Brostow (c), Carmina Menchaca-Campos (b), Susana Hernandez-Lopez (a) and Enrique Vigueras-Santiago (a)

(a) Laboratorio de Investigacion y Desarrollo de Materiales Avanzados (LIDMA), Facultad de Quimica, Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico
Km. 12 de la carretera Toluca-Atlacomulco, San Cayetano 50200, Mexico
(b) Centro de Investigacion en Ingenieria y Ciancias Aplicadas (CIICAp), Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca< Morelos 62210, Mexico; and Center for the Study of Matter at Extreme Conditions (CeSMEC), Florida International Universiti, Miami Folrida 33199
(c) Laboratory of Advanced Polymers and Optimized Materials (LAPOM), Department of Materials Science, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203-5310, USA; Denton, TX 76203, USA; brostow@unt.edu

ABSTRACT

Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) contains fibers physi­cally mixed with gravel, sand, cement, and water. So far, adequate mechanical performance of FRC has been ob­tained at high cost and using complex technologies; important here is the geometry and surface character­istics of the polymers. We have modified polymeric-fiber surfaces by using gamma radiation. Irradiated polypro­pylene (PP) fibers were submitted to 0, 5, 10, 50, and 100 kGy of gamma irradiation dosages. First, tensile strength of PP fibers was evaluated, and then fibers blended at 0, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0% in volume with Portland cement, gravel, sand, and water. The highest values of compres­sive strength were obtained with irradiated-fibers at 10 kGy and 1.5% in volume of fiber. The result is 101 MPa, as compared to 35 MPa for simple concrete without fibers.