Experimental Investigation on Effect of Carbon Nanotubes and Carbon Fibres on the Behavior of Plain Cement Mortar Composite Round Bars under Direct Tension

Abstract

This paper investigates the behavior of reinforced cement mortar composite round bars with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and carbon fibers (CFs). The percentage of CFs was fixed at 2.25 wt% of cement, while the percentage of MWCNTs was fixed at 0.5, by wt% of cement. Dispersion of both MWCNTs and CFs was carried out using ultrasonic energy method. Composite round bars were tested under direct tension in order to evaluate their mechanical properties such as ultimate load, deflection criteria, and stress-strain behavior. These results were then compared with the results of plain cement control round bars. From the study, it is shown that the load carrying capacity of composite bars under direct tension is substantially higher than the plain controlled bar.