Mechanical properties of micro-steel fibre reinforced magnesium potassium phosphate cement composite

This paper presents the mechanical properties of micro-steel fibre (MSF) reinforced magnesium potassium phosphate cement (MPPC) composites with multi-composite retarder. The compressive strength, flexural strength, flexural toughness and flexural ductility of the MSF reinforced MPPC composite (MSFRMC) were experimentally explored. The variables of the experiment included sand-cement mass ratio, water-cement mass ratio, curing time and fibre volume fraction. In addition, the effect of different types of cement on the mechanical properties of MSF reinforced composites was investigated. It was found that with the increase of water content in the MPPC paste, the average compressive strength, flexural strength and flexural toughness of MSFRMC decreased significantly and the ductility of MSFRMC increased slightly. With the increase of MPPC content in the paste, the flexural toughness of MSFRMC increased significantly and the flexural ductility of MSFRMC increased moderately. With the increase of the addition of MSF, the compressive strength, flexural strength, flexural toughness and flexural ductility of MSFRMC improved significantly. The compressive strength, flexural strength, flexural toughness and flexural ductility of MSFRMC were high at the early stage of curing, especially during the first 3 days. The addition of MSF in MPPC composite improved the compressive strength, flexural toughness and flexural ductility significantly more than the addition of MSF in sulphoaluminate cement and ordinary Portland cement composites.