Study on the Eccentric Compressive Performance of Steel Fibre Reinforced Coal Gangue Concrete Columns

Abstract

Coal gangue is the waste created in the coal mining process and can be utilised as a coarse aggregate in construction projects to solve the environmental problems it causes. To study the mechanical properties of steel fibre reinforced coal gangue concrete (SFCGC) columns under eccentric compression, two natural aggregate concrete (NAC) columns and eight SFCGC columns were designed and fabricated for eccentric compression loading tests. The variables involved in the tests include gangue substitution rate (0%, 30%, 50%, 70%), steel fibre volume content (SFVC) (0%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%), and eccentricity (0.25, 0.5). The experimental work and theoretical analysis were used to investigate the failure mode, cracking, and ultimate bearing capacity of SFCGC columns. The effects of various variation parameters on the longitudinal strain, concrete strain, transverse displacement, crack width, and bearing capacity were analysed in detail. The digital image correlation (DIC) technique was used to compare with the conventional observation and to analyse the cracking trend of the specimens. The testing results revealed that the damage pattern of SFCGC columns under eccentric compression was similar to that of NAC columns. The eccentricity significantly affected the damage pattern (or bearing capacity) of SFCGC columns. The effect of the coal gangue replacement rate on the lateral displacement corresponding to the ultimate load can be neglected under the same eccentricity. The incorporation of steel fibres effectively inhibited the development of cracks in the columns, with an average increase in crack load and ultimate load of 7.36% and 17.1%. The equations were also established to determine the crack width and bearing capacity of the studied SFCGC columns, and the theoretical predictions agreed with the experimental results.