Sustainable use of recycled fine aggregates in steel fiber-reinforced concrete: Fresh, flexural, mechanical and durability characteristics

Abstract

Recycling construction waste is a viable tactic for advancing environmentally friendly building methods. With regard to concrete applications, the purpose of this research is to determine whether it is feasible to use recycled fine concrete aggregates (RFA) in lieu of natural fine aggregates (NFA) and to lessen the environmental impact of natural resource depletion and landfill space. A sustainable steel fiber-reinforced concrete was created by replacing NFA with RFA at the replacement ratio of 0 %, 50 %, and 100 %. Steel fibers (SF) were also included to mixes at three different contents of 0, 25 and 50 kg/m³ in order to further improve the qualities of the concretes. Thus, the aim of this paper is to appraise how the addition of FRA affects the mechanical, freeze-thaw, fresh, and non-destructive qualities of concrete. Nine concrete mixtures were cast, and tests were made to evaluate the following properties: flowability, fresh concrete unit weight, tensile and compressive strengths, elastic modulus, surface hardness, crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD), freeze and thaw performance, sulfate resistance and abrasion. Moreover, microstructure properties of concrete were also analyzed. The outcomes revealed that the mechanical, flexural, and durability performances of the concrete mixtures were enhanced by substituting RFA for NFA. The mixture with 50%RFA and 50 kg/m³ SF gained maximum compressive strength of 44.82 MPa which was 20.7 % greater than the reference mixture (RFA0F0). The mixture containing 100 % RFA and 25 kg/m³ SF had the highest elastic modulus and showed an approximately 33 % augmentation in elastic modulus as per the reference mixture. The mixture with 100%RFA and 50 kg/m³ SF exhibited the largest tensile strength indicating 60 % tensile strength enhancement as per the reference mixture. Combined use of RFA and 50 kg/m³ SF in concrete mixtures had the best abrasion and freeze-thaw resistance. SF incorporated concrete mixtures with RFA exhibited worse sulfate resistance. This study contributed significantly to global resource efficiency and environmental preservation by shedding light on the sustainable use of RFA and SF in the making of concrete. The results made important contributions to global research and promote environmentally friendly building methods all throughout the world.