Performance of sustainable self-compacting fiber reinforced concrete with substitution of marble waste (MW) and coconut fibers (CFs)

Abstract

Self compacting concrete (SCC) is special type of concrete which is highly flowable and non-segregated and by its own mass, spreads into the formwork without any external vibrators, even in the presence of thick reinforcement. But SSC is also brittle nature like conventional concrete, which results in abrupt failure without giving any deformation (warning), which is undesirable for any structural member. Thus, self-compacting concrete (SCC) needs some of tensile reinforcement to enhance tensile strength and prevent the unsuitable abrupt failure. But fiber increased tensile strength of concrete more effectively than compressive strength. Hence, it is essential to add pozzolanic materials into fiber reinforced concrete to achieve high strength, durable and ductile concrete. This study is conducted to assess the performance of SCC with substitutions of marble waste (MW) and coconut fiber (CFs) into SCC. MW utilized as cementitious (pozzolanic) materials in percentage of 5.0 to 30% in increment of 5.0% by weight of binder and concrete is reinforced with CFs in proportion of 0.5 to 3.0% in increment of 0.5% by weight of binder. Rheological characteristics were measured through its filling and passing ability by using Slump flow, Slump T50, L-Box, and V-funnel tests while mechanical characteristics were measured through compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexure strength and bond strength (pull out) tests. Experimental investigation show that MW and CFs decrease the passing ability and filling ability of SCC. Additionally, Experimental investigation show that MW up to 20% and CFs addition 2.0% by weight of binder tend to increase the mechanical performance of SCC. Furthermore, statistical analysis (RSM) was used to optimize the combined dose of MW and CFs into SCC to obtain high strength self-compacting concrete.