The influence of concrete additives on the thermophysical properties change after freeze-thaw cycle

In recent years we can see a rise in synthetic materials, mainly fibers, used for producing building materials. Concrete as one of the most widely used building material is brittle and has also poor energy absorption. These might be well improved using steel or fibers. Synthetic fibers are manufactured from polypropylene nylon or polyvinyl alcohol, which is expensive and damaging to the environment. Hence great attention is given to the usage of recycled plastics instead of the manufactured one. Natural fibers reinforcement is found as the solution for low-cost building material in developing countries where they are locally available and cheap to acquire. The use of natural fibers in developed countries has not been accepted as an alternative to synthetic fibers despite the increased pressure on achieving sustainable construction, although their usage has a long history. Let us only mention the Egyptians using straw fibers to reinforce mud blocks for building walls. In this paper, we compare the thermophysical properties of cement-based materials with synthetic fibers and horse manure fibers. We measured these properties before and after the freeze-thaw cycles. The minimal change of thermophysical properties after freeze-thaw cycles was observed for the sample with 10% horse manure fibers.