*3.3. Mixing and Fabrication of Specimens*

OPC, fine aggregate, water, superplasticizer, and additional silica fume were mixed to prepare a slurry. The water binder ratio was 0.35. First, the cylindrical mold with diameters of 100 mm and heights of 200 mm were filled with steel fiber with respect to volume fraction. Randomly sprinkled steel fibers in the mold should not overfill the depth of mold and level up as much as possible [25,26]. The slurry as prepared after mixing the contents was poured until no more bubbles were seen to ensure infiltration of slurry into the fibers because the void has negative effects on the strength of the concrete. The amount of high-performance water reducing agent was set to 2.5% of the binder weight [25,26]. To reduce the material separation and achieve the required strength, fine aggregates (50% of binder weight) and silica fume (15% of cement weight) were added [25,26]. Table 4 shows SIFRCCs mixing.

**Table 4.** SIFRCCs (high-performance slurry-infiltrated fiber-reinforced cementitious composite) mixing proportion.


To analyze the compressive behavior characteristics of the SIFRCCs for fiber volume fractions of 4% (312 kg per cubic meters), 5% (390 kg per cubic meters), and 6% (468 kg per cubic meters), cylindrical specimens with diameters of 100 mm and heights of 200 mm were fabricated with respect to the mixing ratio of each variable, as listed in Table 4. Figure 2 shows the fabrication of specimens.

**Figure 2.** Fabrication of specimens.
