Mechanical Properties of Concrete Reinforced with Hybrid BFRP Minibars and Micro Fibers: Experimental Study and Evaluation
Zhiyuan Chen1, Fusheng Niu2,3, Zheng He1, Xinyi Wei2,3, Xin Wang1,*, Weining Lu2,3, Xiuwen Zhao1, Zhibin Zhou2,3, Zhishen Wu1,*, Hua Wang2,3
1 Key Laboratory of C & PC Structures Ministry of Education & National and Local Unified Engineering Research Center for Basalt Fiber Production and Application Technology, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
2 China Railway Tunnel Group Co., Ltd., Guangzhou, China
3 Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Intelligent Monitoring and Maintenance of Tunnel Structure, Guangzhou, China
* Corresponding Author: Xin Wang. Email: 
; Zhishen Wu. Email: 
Structural Durability & Health Monitoring https://doi.org/10.32604/sdhm.2026.085312
Received 08 May 2026; Accepted 28 August 2026; Published online 20 September 2026
Abstract
Corrosion of steel fibers and limited understanding of hybrid reinforcement mechanisms hinder the application of fiber-reinforced concrete in aggressive environments. This study presents a combined experimental and analytical investigation into the mechanical performance of a novel multi-scale hybrid fiber-reinforced concrete incorporating corrosion-resistant basalt fiber-reinforced polymer (BFRP) minibars alongside various micro fibers. A comprehensive experimental program, including compression and splitting tensile tests on multiple hybrid combinations, was conducted to systematically evaluate the effects of fiber type, volume fraction, and elastic modulus. Analytically, a modified hybrid reinforcement index model was developed and correlated with mechanical properties, revealing that a quadratic function provides a more accurate fit than traditional linear models. Furthermore, the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method was applied for a multi-criteria performance evaluation integrating mechanical and economic indicators. Results demonstrate that compressive and splitting tensile strengths are increased from 51.87 to 68.48 MPa and from 3.18 to 4.73 MPa, by 32.0% and 48.7%, respectively, with the optimum mixture containing 0.75% micro steel fibers and 1.25% BFRP minibars. The reinforcement index was found to have an optimal range of 0.3–0.5 for maximizing performance. The findings highlight the innovation of using a modified reinforcement index coupled with TOPSIS-based multi-objective assessment, offering a reliable framework for the design of durable and high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete for long-life infrastructure applications.
Keywords
BFRP minibar; fiber reinforced concrete; hybrid reinforcement; reinforcing index; TOPSIS evaluation
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