Mechanical and Post-Cracking Performance of Recycl
Mechanical and Post-Cracking Performance of Recycl
Mechanical and Post-Cracking Performance of Recycl
* s3636562@student.rmit.edu.au
Abstract. Reuse of concrete waste in novel construction is becoming very important topic
nowadays. This study focuses to examine the post-cracking and mechanical performance,
fracture behavior, and micro-structure of fiber strengthened recycled aggregate concrete (RAC).
For this purpose, crack mouth opening diameter (CMOD) tests were conducted on twenty-seven
notched beam specimens (550 x 150 x 150 mm) having three replacement levels (i.e., 0, 50 and
100%) of recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) and three synthetic fiber dosages (i.e., 0, 0.5 and
1%). Different mechanical properties of all mixes were also examined following ASTM
standards. Drop in the mechanical performance of RAC was noticed at higher RCA replacement
levels. However, synthetic fiber reinforced RAC showed better performance as compared to
plain RAC. Results also depict positive influence of synthetic fiber addition on the residual
flexural tensile strength of concrete. Approximately, 129% and 380% rise in toughness index
and fracture energy was also observed for 1% fiber incorporation in RAC. Moreover, scanning
electron microscopic analysis also confirmed the synthetic fiber-mortar bond. Therefore,
synthetic fibers enhance the post-cracking and mechanical performance of fiber reinforced RAC
resulting into more ductile and energy absorbing sustainable concrete.
1. Introduction
Concrete is widely utilized in different construction projects around the globe, which is produced after
using a huge quantity of natural resources. Concrete aggregates constitute around 60-75% of all the
volume of concrete [1]. Annual consumption of natural coarse aggregates (NCA) in concrete production
is about 20 billion tons and is predicted to double itself in the next 30 years [1]. On the other hand, huge
amount of waste is produced from construction and demolition (C&D) activities worldwide. For
instance, China and Australia produce 200 Mt [2] and 13.7 Mt [3] C&D waste each year. Similarly, US,
Europe and Japan produce 900 Mt of construction and demolition waste per year [4]. Best possible
solution of the problem is to reuse this construction and demolition waste to yield recycled concrete
aggregates (RCA). Consequently, landfilling problems as well as exhaustion of natural resources may
be reduced to a great volume.
A lot of studies are available in the open literature regarding the utilization of different wastes in the
novel construction materials [5-15]. Recycling of C&D waste in the form of RCA to produce recycled
aggregate concrete (RAC) have also been investigated by many researchers in the past [1, 4, 7, 16, 17].
Reduction in mechanical performance of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) was reported in previous
studies due to inferior properties of RCA [18, 19]. Approximately, 25%, 23%and 24% decrease in the
compressive, flexural strength and split tensile strength was observed in fully RCA incorporated RAC [1,
7, 19]. Variety of RCA treatment techniques have been proposed by researchers to improve RAC
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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 829 (2020) 012003 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/829/1/012003
properties, including surface modification of RCA through carbonation or other techniques [20],
removing adhered mortar from RCA [17], modifying RAC mixing method [21-23] ,utilization of
contentious materials and incorporation of different fibers in RAC fibers [24-26]. Increase in the
mechanical properties was reported in the fiber reinforced RAC. For example, 13%, rise in the
compressive strength was observed for 0.75% steel fiber dosage [27]. Similarly, 4 and 31% surge in the
flexural strength and split tensile strength was also reported after incorporating 1% synthetic fibers [28].
Moreover, improved flexural performance and impact resistance of fiber strengthened concrete was also
reported due to utilization of synthetic fibers [29]
Nowadays different types of synthetic and steel fibers are utilized in variety of construction projects.
Synthetic fibers are used in different types of constructions for example tunnel linings and industrial
pavements due to lighter in weight, cheaper in cost, better distribution in concrete, improved impact
resistance and durability as compared to steel fibers [16, 30]. Synthetic fibers have been reported very
useful for normal concrete due to the associated better performance of resulting fiber reinforced concrete.
However, there is a scant literature available on the effect of synthetic fibers on the properties of RAC.
Consequently, more research is required to explore the mechanical and post-cracking properties of
synthetic-fiber strengthened RAC. The aim of this study is to explore the post-cracking and mechanical
properties of synthetic-fiber incorporated RAC. For this reason, nine different concrete mixes were
prepared and tested with 0, 50 and 100% RCA replacement and 0, 0.5 and 1% synthetic fiber dosage.
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4 6 8 10 12 14
Particle Size (mm)
RCA used in this study had less than 1% 30% contaminants and brick pieces respectively. Therefore,
RCA can be categorized under class 1B [31-33]. Local sand from river source having specific gravity
value of 2.65 and Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) were used throughout the study. Polypropylene
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ICBMC 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 829 (2020) 012003 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/829/1/012003
synthetic fibers were used in this study had length, equivalent diameter, young’s modulus and density 57
mm 0.65 mm and 14 GPa and 0.91 kg/m3 respectively (figure. 2).
A total of nine concrete mixes with three RCA replacement levels (0,50 and 100%) and three fiber
dosages (0, 0.5, 1%) were prepared and tested to investigate the performance of synthetic fiber
reinforced RAC (table 1). Oven dried aggregates were used in this study and additional amount of water
was mixed to concrete mixes depending upon the water absorption capacity of the aggregates.
Where, Fj and Rj are the and load and residual flexural tensile strength at different CMOD (i.e. 0.5, 1.5,
2.5 and 3.5 mm). Similarly, b, l and Hsp are the width of beam, span of beam and the height of beam
exclusive of the depth of notch, respectively. The fracture energy (Gf) of concrete samples was
determined using Equation 2 [38].
Wo +mgδ
Gf = (2)
A
Where W0 denotes the area underneath the load-CMOD curve (N/m), mg is the beam weight among its
supports (kg), δ is the peak deflection (m) and A is the area of fracture equivalent to [b(d - ao)] (m2), b,
d and ao are the breadth, height of the notched beam specimen and height of notch, respectively.
Toughness of all the fiber-reinforced samples were calculated using ratio of area underneath
load-CMOD diagram of fiber-reinforced and plain concrete specimen [39]. Moreover, Philips XL30
scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to investigate the micro-structure of fiber reinforced and
plain concrete specimens.
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ICBMC 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 829 (2020) 012003 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/829/1/012003
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ICBMC 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 829 (2020) 012003 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/829/1/012003
Plain concrete specimens showed brittle type of failure. However, synthetic fiber reinforced specimens
absorbed energy by bridging the cracks resulting in better post-peak behavior in the load-CMOD
diagram. Moreover, through the descending branch of load-CMOD curve, synthetic fiber reinforced
samples retrieved some of the load due to bond between concrete and fiber surface [44]. Comparable
tendency was detected in past study [45]. Higher elongation potential, better bonding with the cracked
concrete and medium tensile strength of synthetic fibers results into more energy absorption for large
displacements leading towards better post cracking performance of concrete [46]. Therefore, synthetic
fibers improve the ductility and post-peak behavior of resulting concrete specimens.
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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 829 (2020) 012003 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/829/1/012003
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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 829 (2020) 012003 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/829/1/012003
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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 829 (2020) 012003 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/829/1/012003
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