In this paper, a practical reactive powder concrete mixture ratio is created on the basis of an orthogonal experiment. Previous studies have combined the compressive and splitting tensile strengths of four categories of reactive powder concrete (RPC) for major materials. These categories include water/binder ratio, silica fume volume content, sand/binder ratio, and dosage of fly ash volume. The optimal mixing proportion of each factor was determined by analyzing the compressive strength of the RPC matrix. For this purpose, steel fiber was used as a reinforcing agent. The compressive and splitting tensile strength test results of steel fiber RPC were analyzed by comparing compound, standard, and natural curing. This was conducted to explore the improvement effect of different steel fiber contents on compressive performance, especially tensile strength of the RPC matrix. According to the results, the optimal steel fiber content was found to be 4% under the three curing conditions. The effect of compound curing on early strength was found to be greater in RPC than by natural or standard curing. However, the effect of late improvement is not obvious. Although standard curing is slightly stronger than natural curing, the performance under the latter can still meet engineering requirements.

On the basis of determining the optimum content of polypropylene fiber reactive powder concrete (RPC), the influence of different steel fiber content on the compressive strength and splitting tensile strength of hybrid polypropylene-steel fiber RPC was studied. The particle morphology and pore parameters of hybrid polypropylene-steel fiber RPC were analyzed by combining scanning electron microscope (SEM) with image-pro plus (IPP) software. The results showed that the RPC ductility can be further improved on the basis of polypropylene fiber RPC, the compressive strength and splitting tensile strength of polypropylene fiber. The optimum content of hybrid polypropylene-steel fiber RPC is 0.15% polypropylene fiber, 1.75% steel fiber. Hybrid polypropylene-steel fiber RPC is mainly composed of particles with small particle size. The particle area ratio first increased and decreased with the increase of steel fiber content, and the maximum steel fiber content is 1.75%. The pore area ratio first decreased and increased with the increase of steel fiber content, and the pore area ratio is the smallest when the steel fiber content is 1.75%. The calculation methods of polypropylene fiber content and steel fiber content and 28-day RPC compressive strength and splitting tensile strength are proposed to select polypropylene fiber content and steel fiber content flexibly according to different engineering requirements, which can provide important guidance for the popularization and application of RPC in practical engineering.

This study investigated four factors (water/binder ratio, silica fume, fly ash, and sand/binder ratio) using the orthogonal experimental design method to prepare the mix proportions of a manufactured sand reactive powder concrete (RPC) matrix to determine the optimal matrix mix proportions. On this basis, we assessed the compressive and splitting tensile strengths of different steel fiber contents under natural, standard, and compound curing conditions to develop an economical and reasonable RPC for various engineering requirements. A calculation method for the RPC strength of the steel fiber contents was evaluated. The results showed that the optimum steel fiber content for manufactured sand RPC is 4% under natural, standard, and compound curing conditions. Compared with standard curing, compound curing can improve the early strength of manufactured sand RPC but only has a small effect on the enhancement of late strength. Although the strength of natural curing is slightly lower than that of standard curing, it basically meets project requirements and is beneficial for practical applications. The calculation formula of 28-day compressive and splitting tensile strengths of manufactured sand RPC steel fiber at 0%–4% is proposed to meet the different engineering requirements and the flexible selection of steel fiber content.

Natural, standard, and compound curing are adopted to study the effect of different curing systems on the reinforcement of carbon fiber in reactive powder concrete (RPC). This work systematically studies the changes in RPC compressive and tensile strengths under different curing systems. Taking age, fiber content, and curing system as parameters, Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) microscopic methods are used to study the influencing mechanism of carbon-fiber content and curing systems on RPC. The calculation methods of the RPC strength of different carbon-fiber contents are studied. Results show that the optimum carbon-fiber content of carbon-fiber RPC is 0.75% under the natural, standard, and compound curing conditions. In comparison with standard curing, compound curing can improve the early strength of carbon-fiber RPC and slightly affect the improvement of late strength. The strength is slightly lower in natural curing than in standard curing, but the former basically meets the requirements of the project and is beneficial for the practical application of this project. The calculation formula of 28-day compressive and splitting tensile strengths of carbon-fiber content from 0% to 0.75% is proposed to select the carbon-fiber content flexibly to satisfy different engineering requirements.

Permafrost and seasonal permafrost are widely distributed in China and all over the world. The failure of soil is mainly shear failure, and the strength of soil mainly refers to the shear strength. The two most important parameters of shear strength are cohesion and angle of internal friction. In order to ensure the sustainability of road construction in seasonal permafrost area, the microstructure of subgrade soil was observed and analyzed. First, three subgrade soils with different plasticity indices were prepared for triaxial test and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Then, these specimens underwent freezing–thawing (FT) cycles and were obtained shear strength parameters by triaxial shear test. Next, the microstructure images of soil were obtained by SEM, and the microstructure parameters of soil were extracted by image processing software. Finally, the correlation method was used to analyze the dependence between the shear strength parameters and the microstructure parameters. Results revealed that subgrade soils with a higher plasticity index had higher cohesion and lower angle of internal friction. In addition, with the increase of the number of FT cycles, the diameter and number of soil particles and pores tend to increase, while the roundness, fractal dimension and directional probabilistic entropy of particles decreased. With the increase of the plasticity index, the particle and pore diameter decreased, but the particle and pore number increased. Besides, particle roundness had the greatest influence on the cohesion and angle of internal friction of shear strength parameters.

Polypropylene fibers are added to concrete to improve the toughness of the material. Manufactured sand and fly ash with high content are used to reduce the impact on the environment and cost. The response surface method (RSM) was used to design the test and study the mechanical and bending properties of polypropylene-fiber-reinforced high-performance concrete (PPFHPC). Three process variables, including the content of polypropylene fiber (1%, 1.5%, and 2%), content of fly ash (45%, 60%, and 75%), and water-binder (W/B) ratio (0.27, 0.3, and 0.33), were considered as factors. The compressive strength, flexural strength, flexural-compressive ratio, splitting tensile strength, and first-crack strength and bending strength of thin plate were evaluated. The prediction model established by the RSM showed the correlation and predictability between the response and the factors, and the corresponding relationship equation between the factors and the response was obtained. Results of multiobjective optimization indicated that the optimal three factors (content of PPF, FA, and W/B) were 2%, 62%, and 0.27. The established model can be used to predict the basic mechanical properties and bending properties of materials. This test laid a theoretical foundation for the development of PPFHPC materials.