Tensile Behavior of Hybrid Steel-Polyethylene Reinforced Slag-Based Engineered Geopolymer Composites

This paper reports the results of an experimental investigation conducted on the tensile behavior of Hybrid Fiber Engineered Geopolymer Composites (HF-EGC) synthesized by the alkali activation of slag. The hybridization was achieved by combining different volume fractions of steel (ST) and polyethylene (PE) fibers, while maintaining the total fiber volume fraction at 2%. The tensile response including strain hardening and multiple cracking behaviors of HF-EGC was evaluated. The workability and compressive strength of all EGCs were also assessed. It was found that the workability and compressive strength of all EGCs increased when increasing the ST volume fraction included in the hybrid composite. All slag based HF-EGC exhibited tensile strain hardening behavior with multiple cracks where the hybridization showed no significant effect on the ultimate tensile strength of the composites. However, the ST volume fraction was related to the first cracking tensile strength while the PE volume fraction was directly related to the strain capacity of the composite.