Experimental Study of Cement Alkali-Resistant Glass Fiber (C-ARGF) Grouting Material

Mixing alkali-resistant glass fiber (ARGF) into grouting slurry can prevent the development of cracks; thus, understanding the properties of ARGF grouting material is important for applications in engineering. Two types of ARGFs (Cem-FIL®60 and Anti-Crak®HD) were selected as mixing materials, and their performance was tested in four areas, namely, compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, and impervious performance, under four different mixing amounts of fiber (0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1.0%). Results demonstrate that the addition of ARGF increased the compressive strength and tensile strength of the grouting slurry, and the best performance was at 0.5%. The effect on the flexural strength and impervious performance was related to the mixing amount, and the fiber may have induced a counter-effect for certain amounts of added ARGF. Mixing ARGF could increase the early strength ratio of grout; however, a high early strength ratio did not necessarily result in high strength, as the flexural strength did not change synchronously with the early strength ratio; a similar pattern was found for the impermeability. Cem-FIL®60 had a better effect on the properties of grouting materials than Anti-Crak®HD. These results were successfully applied in the water-plugging and reinforcement engineering of a karst tunnel.