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

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.