Cement-based corrugated sheets reinforced with polypropylene fibres subjected to a high-performance curing method

[Display omitted] •High-performance curing provided a level of new properties on the corrugated sheets.•Accelerated carbonation curing reduced the permeability of the corrugated sheets.•Corrugated sheet reached better mechanical performance with accelerated carbonation.•Lower drying shrinkage was obtained after the accelerated carbonation.•Water tightness test with image analysis helped to detect defects and cracks. This work proposes and evaluates a curing method based on the accelerated carbonation (AC) for cement-based corrugated sheets reinforced with polypropylene (PP) fibres produced by the Hatschek process. These corrugated sheets were experimentally evaluated in order to identify how the AC affects the fibre-cement composites. The obtained performance was compared with air-cured corrugated sheets reinforced with PP fibres and air-cured corrugated sheets reinforced with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibres. The AC conferred a high carbonation degree (86%) increasing bulk density (13%) and decreasing apparent porosity (22%) and water absorption (28%) by means of calcium carbonate formation. The modulus of elasticity (10.7 GPa) and limit of proportionality (8.3 MPa) doubled in comparison with air-cured corrugated sheets. The Darcian (k1) and non-Darcian (k2) permeability coefficients were retrieved from the Forchheimer’s equation. The clogging of the permeable pores caused by the AC resulted in a reduction of 49% and 95% in k1 and k2, respectively. The drying shrinkage halved (1 mm/m) by the influence of AC which clogged pores with carbonates in the range 0.06–1.50 µm. Water-tightness test and its evaluation through digital image analysis showed a reduced moistened area in the AC cured corrugated sheets (22% lower) and enabled the identification of the cracks, which have a great influence on water tightness and permeability. The AC mitigated defects and conferred lower permeability and higher physical–mechanical performance in comparison to the air-cured PP and PVA reinforced corrugated sheets.