Using steel and polypropylene fibres to improve the performance of concrete sleepers

The extensive use of concrete sleepers in transportation and railway projects highlights the significance of repairing and maintaining such elements. The performance of concrete sleepers strengthened with steel and polypropylene (PP) fibres was investigated in this study. A series of compressive tensile and flexural strength tests was carried out on 120 cylindrical and prismatic specimens made from eight design mixes with 1% fibre content. The results indicated that the best mix design in terms of compressive and tensile strengths contained 1% steel fibres and no PP fibres, while the highest flexural strength was achieved with 0·6% steel fibres and 0·4% PP fibres. Moreover, it was found that the inclusion of fibres in concrete sleepers can reduce the amount of prestressed reinforcing bars by 40% and prevent the generation of deep cracks. The combined use of steel and PP fibres was found to enhance flexural strength by 3·5 times.