Influence of glass fibers on mechanical and durability performance of concrete with recycled aggregates

Abstract

Plain cement concrete has inferior performance in tension and a very high carbon footprint. These issues can be minimized by simultaneous incorporation of fibers and recycled aggregates in concrete. This research paper investigates the influence of glass fiber (GF) reinforcement on mechanical and durability performance of concrete made with recycled coarse aggregate (RCA). In this study, three types of concrete mixes are produced using 0% RCA, 50% RCA, and 100% RCA, and in each of these three mixes, 0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1% volume fractions of GF are used. Mechanical performance of concrete mixtures is evaluated on the basis of compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength. Durability performance is evaluated on the basis of porosity, sorptivity coefficient, and chloride penetration. The results of testing show that 50% RCA concrete outperforms the plain natural coarse aggregate (NCA) concrete at 0.5% GF in overall mechanical performance (compressive, split tensile, and flexural strength). Whereas, both 50% RCA and 100% RCA concrete with 0.25% GF perform better than plain NCA concrete in split tensile and flexural strength. All permeability-based durability properties are negatively influenced by increasing RCA and GF content. Higher dosages (>0.5%) of GF are more detrimental to the durability of concrete than the lower dosages of GF (<0.5%).