Flexural behavior of vinylon fiber-reinforced polymer-modified mortars

Considerable research work has been done on the properties of various fiber-reinforced polymer-modified mortars (including pastes) till now. Especially, vinylon fibers have a strong bond to cement matrixes, a higher alkali resistance than other fibers and a good deformability. Therefore, the vinylon fiber-reinforced polymer-modified mortars are expected to show a good performance. In this paper, vinylon fiber-reinforced polymer-modified mortars (VFRPMM) are prepared with various water-cement ratios, polymer-cement ratios and fiber contents, and tested for flexural behavior. It is concluded from the test results that the strength, toughness and deformation in flexure of VFRPMM are improved with increasing fiber content and polymer-cement ratio. In particular, the flexural toughness of VFRPMM increases markedly with a raise in the fiber content. Accordingly, it is considered that the vinylon fibers can be used as effective reinforcements for polymer-modified mortars.