Structures 27 (2020) 664–672

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Effect of mix design methods on the mechanical properties of steel fibre- T

reinforced concrete prepared with recycled aggregates from precast waste
Emmanuel Ejiofor Anikea,⁎, Messaoud Saidanib, Adegoke Omotayo Olubanwob, Mark Tyrera,
Eshmaiel Ganjiana
a
Centre for Research in the Built and Natural Environment, Coventry University, 3 Gulson Road, Coventry CV1 2JH, UK
b
School of Energy, Construction and Environment, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: This research investigates the impact of mix design methods on the mechanical characteristics of steel fibre-
Recycled aggregate concrete reinforced concrete (SFRC) made with recycled aggregates (RA) obtained from a precast waste concrete. The
Steel fibre experimental campaign was carried out in two phases. In phase I, three types of steel fibre (SF) differing only in
Optimization shape were examined. Then, eight mixes were formulated, considering a range of SF volume ratios from 0.125%
Mix design
to 1.5%, using both normal and the Equivalent mortar volume (EMV) mix design methods. In phase II, a re-
Precast waste
ference mix and two recycled aggregate concrete mixes were developed, one designed with normal method and
the other with the EMV technique and incorporating their associated optimum SF content obtained in phase I.
The results show that the mechanical properties of SFRC proportioned with the EMV approach is not adversely
affected and that water absorption capacity of the concrete is improved with this method compared to the
traditional method. Also, mix design method adopted for recycled concrete affects the optimum SF volume ratio.

1. Introduction concrete manufacture. The reason is not farfetched from that the finer
material has a higher amount of mortar than its RCA counterpart [10],
Recycling of concrete waste remains an important step in the pur- resulting in aggregates of high absorption capacity and a concrete of
suit of global environmental sustainability [1]. This is because, the use reduced workability [11]. Nevertheless, the use of 20% RFA has no
of recycled aggregates (RA) not only saves the diminishing natural re- detrimental effects on workability [12]. A few accounts of some studies
sources but also offers a relief to the pressure imposed on landfills [2]. that utilized RCA as well as RFA is presented here.
By RA here is meant the combination of recycled fine aggregate (RFA) Pedro et al. [9] used RA obtained from a precast waste, of mean
and recycled coarse aggregate (RCA), hence, except where otherwise compressive strength of 74.5 MPa (at unknown age but more than
stated in this work, RA implies the union of RFA and RCA. Similarly, 28 days old) to investigate the influence of RA (incorporated at various
natural aggregate (NA) is regarded here as a combination of natural fine percentages, up to 100%) on recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) prop-
aggregate (NFA) and natural coarse aggregate (NCA). This emphasis is erties. They showed that compressive and tensile strengths of the RAC
necessary as these acronyms have been used interchangeably in some are 16% and 38.2% lower, respectively, compared to those of the re-
literature without clear definitions, thereby misleading some inter- ference concrete made of NA. Their finding agrees with that of
pretation of results. However, most studies in the past concentrated Khoshkenari et al. [2] who reported up to 32% decrease in the tensile
more on the replacement of coarse aggregate with RCA [3–8], thus strength of RAC prepared with 100% replacement of NA. Both studies
undermining the possibility of incorporating RFA for the production of recorded a higher reduction in the tensile strength of RAC than in the
concrete suitable for structural applications. According to Pedro et al. compressive strength. On the other hand, Khatib [13] noted a further
[9], there is a serious restriction or even ban in the use of RFA for cementing action after 28 days of curing, which resulted in a higher rate

Abbreviations: AMV, attached mortar volume; BAC, blended aggregate concrete; CDW, construction and demolition waste; EMV, equivalent mortar volume; HPC,
high performance concrete; NA, Natural aggregate; NC, natural concrete; NCA, natural coarse aggregate; NFA, natural fine aggregate; NVA, natural virgin aggregate;
RA, recycled aggregate; RAC, recycled aggregate concrete; RCA, recycled coarse aggregate; RFA, recycled fine aggregate; SF, steel fibre; SFRC, steel fibre-reinforced
concrete; SFRBAC, steel fibre-reinforced blended aggregate concrete; SFRRAC, steel fibre-reinforced recycled aggregate concrete
⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: anikeboy@[Link] (E.E. Anike), cbx086@[Link] (M. Saidani), adegoke.olubanwo2@[Link] (A.O. Olubanwo),
ac5015@[Link] (M. Tyrer), cbx111@[Link] (E. Ganjian).

[Link]
Received 18 November 2019; Received in revised form 17 April 2020; Accepted 20 May 2020
2352-0124/ © 2020 Institution of Structural Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
E.E. Anike, et al. Structures 27 (2020) 664–672

of strength development for the concrete made with RFA, relative to demolition.” Such a RA obtained from these activities would be more
that of the control with NA. Corinaldesi and Moriconi [14] who in- contaminated than those sourced from comparable precast waste
vestigated the influence of mineral additives on the properties of 100% (whose concrete is described as very good without contaminants [34]
RAC, upheld that concrete of satisfactory characteristics can be attained and of a considerable superior quality compared to RA from other
with RA, using a suitable mix proportioning method. sources [34,35]). Hence, for RA obtained from a precast waste, Eq. (1)
Ajdukiewicz and Kliszczewicz [15] designed a high performance can be reduced to:
concrete (HPC) using RA derived from demolished concrete of mod-
RA = NVA + Dry mortar (2)
erate to high strength (35–70 MPa), of which the authors knew the
history of all the six structures involved. They concluded that RA However, irrespective of RA source, a number of factors have
sourced from quality concrete is useful for making HPC, however, they hampered its use in concrete making, especially for structural purposes.
advised against the use of RFA for certain reasons not mentioned. An- These include but are not limited to: (i) the variability in quality of RA
other study by Tu et al. [16] showed that RA could be applied to HPC [36–38], (ii) fragments of dry mortar attached to or present in RA
purposes, provided that the physical properties of RA satisfy the re- [39,40], (iii) no universally accepted mix design method for RAC
commendations for HPC. Liu and Chen [17] also reported a shortfall in [37,41]. Nonetheless, finding a suitable mix design method for RAC
both compressive and tensile strengths at all ages of high strength mixes would help in tackling these challenges.
concrete developed using RA. As a result, this study aims to determine the impact of mix design
Furthermore, the addition of steel fibre (SF) in RAC mixes has recently methods on the mechanical properties of RAC produced with SF and RA
been investigated for normal, self-compacting and high performance obtained from a precast reject. This is essential because the above
concretes [18–24]. Only one out of these studies included RFA, and lit- Equation (2) suggests that RA from a precast waste is a hybrid material.
erature on the combined effect of SF and RFA in concrete is still scarce. But Thus, the use of traditional mix design method meant for normal concrete
the quantity of RFA produced during the crushing process of concrete consisting of NA, would result in a RAC of poor quality. Conversely, the
rubble is about twice that of the RCA and the idea of partial replacement of properties of RAC designed by an alternative mix proportioning method
NA restricts the full-scale integration of concrete waste in concrete pro- developed by Fathifazl et al. [40] were improved relative to those pre-
duction [17,25]. Therefore, there is a need to further investigate steel pared by comparable normal method. This new mix design technique
fibre-reinforced concrete (SFRC) prepared with both RCA and RFA. forms the basis for the present research in which both conventional and
The mix design methods most appropriate to RCA re-use has been unconventional mix design methods are investigated experimentally. The
debated at length and consequently, the focus of this research is to conventional concrete was designed according to the American Concrete
examine the effects of two such methods on the mechanical and dur- Institute (ACI) guidelines, while the unconventional concrete was pre-
ability properties of RAC incorporating SF. To this end, three types of SF pared with the technique proposed by Fathifazl et al. [40] known as the
which differ only in shapes (straight, hooked-ended and undulated) as “Equivalent mortar volume” (EMV) method. Although studies in the past
well as the SF volume fractions appropriate to each mix design have shown that the inclusion of SF in concrete enhances the mechanical
methods, were investigated. Compressive strength, splitting tensile properties of the concrete [19,20,22–24,42], no study to date (at least to
strength, flexural strength and water absorption capacity are the the authors’ knowledge) has been carried out on SFRC using the EMV mix
properties of hardened concrete studied here. Also, all the important proportioning principles.
aggregates characteristics required for the design of the mixes were This research is important because, a change in mix design method,
duly obtained using the relevant codes of practice. will affect the optimum SF content that gives the best performance. In
essence, two optimization processes are conducted, one for each mix
2. Background design method, to determine the amount of SF that best improves the
characteristics of the RAC.
Generally, RA is sourced from construction and demolition waste
(CDW), returned ready-mix or precast waste [26–28]. From a combi- 3. Experimental program
nation of views, RA can be defined as a mixed materials of wood, re-
inforcements, bricks, concrete, soil, polymers, unbound stones, natural 3.1. Materials
virgin aggregate (NVA) with dry mortar held together by a weak bond
[29–31]. This definition encompasses the various elements found in the Apart from water and steel fibres, other materials used in this re-
sources of RA and, if all the elements but concrete and NVA are con- search were supplied by a precast concrete beam company. The RCA
sidered as impurities, then RA can be represented mathematically as: and RFA were obtained by crushing the precast waste in a Rubble
Master Compact Crusher 70Go!™ and the resulting product was subse-
RA = NVA + Dry mortar + Impurities (1)
quently sieved. The NA used are also the original aggregates in the
The level of impurity in equation (1) depends mainly on the source concrete rubble, and according to the company, every mix batch for
of the RA [32]. For instance, Thomas et al. [33] defined CDW as “waste production met a minimum cube strength of 40 MPa after 24 h. CEMEX
generated in new construction, repair, remodelling, renovation and CEM I 52.5R cement with the properties given in Table 1 and Sika

Table 1
Physical and chemical properties of cement.
Physical properties:

Fineness (m2/kg) Initial setting time Expansion§ Loss on

(mins) (mm) ignition (%)
527 96 0.8 2.86

Chemical composition by weight (%):

SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO SO3 Na2O(eq) Cl FL C3S C2S C3A C4AF
19.99 4.75 2.91 63.77 1.13 3.56 0.65 0.05 2.02 47.84 26.3 8.33 9.67

Note: CEM I, 52.5R, §BS EN 196 – 1.

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Table 2
Properties of natural and recycled aggregates.
Property NFA RFA NCA RCA

Size fraction (mm) Size fraction (mm) Size fraction (mm) Size fraction (mm)

0.075/0.57 0.57/2.47 2.47/4.75 0.075/0.57 0.57/2.47 2.47/4.75 4.75/10.00 10.00/14.00 4.75/10.00 10.00/14.00

Specific gravity:
Oven-dry 2.62 2.57 2.48 1.78 1.96 2.15 2.60 2.62 2.30 2.30
SSD 2.63 2.60 2.52 2.10 2.20 2.34 2.63 2.64 2.42 2.42
Apparent 2.66 2.65 2.57 2.62 2.57 2.66 2.67 2.66 2.62 2.61
Water absorption (%) 0.6 1.1 1.4 18.1 12.1 8.9 0.9 0.6 5.4 5.1
Fineness modulus 2.87 2.71 4.08 3.54
Voids content (%) – – 41 39 43 44
Loose bulk density (kg/m3) – – 1450 1479 1207 1171
Dry-rodded density (kg/m3) – – 1543 1586 1300 1293
Attached mortar volume (%) – – – – 51 52

Note: SSD = Saturated surface-dry.

ViscoCrete 335 superplasticizer conforming to BS EN 934-2 [43] were

used for this study.
The fine aggregates (natural and recycled) for all concrete mixes
were graded into three size fractions as follows: 0.075/0.57 mm, 0.57/
2.47 mm and 2.47/4.75 mm. On the other hand, the coarse aggregates
were graded into two size fractions viz: 4.75/10.00 mm and 10.00/
14.00 mm. The result of the characterization of the aggregates are
presented in Table 2 and their particles size distributions are shown in
Figs. 1 & 2.
The specific gravity of both fine and coarse RA is lower than those of
their corresponding NA. It should be noted that, whereas the oven-dry
specific gravity of NFA increases with decrease in particles size, the
reverse is the case for the RFA. Hence, the differences in the specific
gravity of NFA and RFA, in the size order: 0.075/0.57 mm, 0.57/
2.47 mm and 2.47/4.75 mm are 32%, 24% and 13% respectively, in
favour of NFA. The specific gravity of NCA is 12% higher compared to
Fig. 2. Particles size distribution of coarse aggregates.
that of RCA, however, their values are independent of size fractions.
The average absorptions of NFA and RFA are 1% and 13% respec-
tively. While the absorption of the former increases with the particles 3.2. Composition and production of concrete
size, that of the latter decreases as the particles size increases. This
property of RFA highlights the reason why its usage for concrete pro- The experimental campaign was divided into two phases and con-
duction is limited. The average absorptions of NCA and RCA are in- crete in each phase was designed to meet a target strength of 40 MPa.
dividually 0.8% and 5.3%. Both the loose bulk and dry-rodded density The objective in phase I was to optimize SF volume fractions using both
of fine and coarse RA are found lower than those of their comparable conventional and the EMV mix design methods. For this purpose, a total
NA, while the voids content of RA is higher than that of the NA. of 8 concrete mixes were formulated as shown in Table 5. In the con-
Three types of steel fibre that differ only in shape, as shown in ventional method, the RAC mix consisted of 100% RA and was designed
Fig. 3, were investigated in this research. They have similar properties according to the British Department of Environment (DoE) approach
as described in Tables 3 & 4. [44]. Five different SF volume ratios (0.125%, 0.25%, 0.5%, 1.0% and
1.50%) were integrated in the mix, in turn, and the cube specimens
produced were subjected to compression testing after 7 days of curing
by water immersion. At this stage, having ascertained the mix with
optimum SF content (see Section 4.1), the same mix was duplicated to
investigate the performance of each of the three SF used in this study.
Similarly, three mixes composed of three SF volume fractions (0.25%,
0.50% and 0.75%) were prepared using the EMV mix proportioning
method. These mixes consisted of 60% RA and 40% NA by volume for
both fine and coarse aggregates, and the resulting concretes were tested
in compression after 7 days of curing.
With the optimum SF volume ratio known, three mixes were de-
signed in phase II as given in Table 6, to investigate the effects of mix
design method on the properties of RAC incorporating SF. In a related
investigation by the authors [25], it was found that the American
Concrete Institute (ACI) method [45] is preferred to the corresponding
DoE approach, for the preparation of RAC mix. Hence, the ACI mix
design approach was adopted in this phase. It should be noted however,
that the preference was based mainly on the utilization of a lesser
amount of cement by the ACI method compared to the DoE approach.
Fig. 1. Particles size distribution of fine aggregates.

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Fig. 3. 60 mm steel fibres: (a) Straight (b) Hooked ended (c) Undulated.

So, natural concrete (NC) (referred to as the ‘reference mix’) and steel Table 4
fibre-reinforced recycled aggregate concrete (SFRRAC) were designed Composition of steel fibres.
according to the ACI guide. Whereas the former constituted entirely of Material Chemical composition (%)
NA, the latter was made up of 100% RA plus 1% SF content obtained in
the first phase of the experiment. The third mix was designed with the Carbon steel C Si Mn P S Cr Ni Cu Fe
0.7 0.22 0.55 0.015 0.006 0.02 0.01 0.03 Balance
EMV technique, comprising of both NA and RA with the addition of
0.5% SF content and labelled steel fibre-reinforced blended aggregate
concrete (SFRBAC).
For all mixes (both in phase I & II), NA were used in their oven-dry method, the attached mortar is treated as a proportion of the total
form while the RA were used in the moisture condition as received from mortar in RAC. This implies that the overall mortar volume of RAC is a
the supplier. The fine aggregates content in each mix, according to the combination of the old (attached mortar) and new pastes. Therefore,
three size fractions stated in Section 3.1, is 50%, 33.3% and 16.7% the EMV approach ensures that the preparation of the RAC mix is
respectively, while that of the coarse aggregates is 70% and 30%, re- carried out to have total paste akin to that of NC mix made of virgin
spectively. These ratios were found appropriate for the desired con- natural aggregates. The sequence of this method, including an addi-
sistency (finishing) of fresh concrete and similar particles size gradation tional step for the incorporation of RFA (applied in the current study),
between NA and RA. Water-to-cement ratio of 0.42 was kept constant has been discussed in detail in a similar study [25]. There is a feasibility
(see Table 6) for all mixes in stage two, irrespective of the design me- of 100% replacement if, and only if, the theoretical AMV is greater than
chanism used. the real value obtained using the procedure described in the work of
A series of trial mixes were conducted at both stages of the ex- Abbas et al. [46]. The maximum AMV used in the present study was
periments. This was to establish the amount of superplasticizer needed obtained using the expression:
for each mix, in order to achieve comparable workability, as the pre-
SG NCA
sence of both RA and SF reduced the flowability of concrete. The trial AMVmax % = 1 NC
VDR NCA × × 100
mixes also helped to determine the combination of coarse aggregates
SG RCA (3)
that gave concrete of desirable homogeneity and surface finishing when NC
VDR NCA represents the dry-rodded volume of the NCA in NC, SG
NCA

poured into the moulds. Mixing of concrete constituents was done in a is the specific gravity of NCA and SG RCA is the specific gravity of RCA.
mechanical mixer, in the manner described in Tam and Tam [38]. The
fresh concrete was compacted in the relevant moulds in different layers 3.3. Tests
using a vibrating table. The type of concrete mix as well as the shape of
specimens influenced the number of layers required to attain full The mechanical properties of hardened concrete and workability of
compaction. Cube specimens of NC were compacted in 2 layers while fresh concrete were investigated according to the relevant standards
those of SFRRAC and SFRBAC were done in 3 layers. For the cylinders, presented in Table 7. The determination of aggregates properties given
the plain and the SFRC were compacted in 3 and 5 layers respectively. in Table 2 was carried out in line with the following guidelines:
Both the SFRC and the NC were compacted in a single layer for the
prisms. ▪ Sieve analysis of fine and coarse aggregates: ASTM C136 – 14 [47]
▪ Bulk density and voids in aggregates: ASTM C29/C29M – 17a [48]
3.2.1. Overview of the EMV method ▪ Specific gravity and absorption of fine aggregate: ASTM C128 – 15
The EMV technique utilizes the attached mortar present in the RCA [49]
in its design approach. The real attached mortar volume (AMV) of the ▪ Specific gravity and absorption of coarse aggregate: ASTM C127 –
RCA is used to determine the substitution level of NCA, by comparing 15 [50]
its value with the theoretical AMV calculated from Eq. (3). In this ▪ Attached mortar volume of the RCA: Abbas et al. [46]

Table 3
Properties of steel fibres.
Steel fibre types Length (mm) Diameter (mm) Aspect ratio Cross section Tensile strength (MPa)

Straight 60 1.0 60 Circular 1900

Hooked-ended
Undulated

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Table 5
Phase I – Concrete mixes and the results of the optimization of steel fibres using both normal and the EMV methods.
Mix ID Design method Mix Proportions (kg/m3) w/c Slump (mm) ACS§ (N/mm2)

Water Cement NCA RCA NFA RFA SPβ SFµ (%)

Mix 1 DoE 205 525 0 750 0 890 3.70 0.125 0.39 155 39.3
Mix 2 DoE 205 525 0 750 0 890 3.70 0.250 0.39 165 40.8
Mix 3 DoE 215 550 0 750 0 890 3.85 0.500 0.39 155 40.4
Mix 4 DoE 225 575 0 750 0 890 4.03 1.000 0.39 120 44.0
Mix 5 DoE 225 575 0 750 0 890 4.03 1.500 0.39 65 45.8
Mix 6 EMV 153 364 493 754 203 305 2.50 0.250 0.42 150 39.9
Mix 7 EMV 153 364 493 754 203 305 3.00 0.500 0.42 165 47.9
Mix 8 EMV 153 364 493 754 203 305 3.20 0.750 0.42 170 44.6

Note: w/c = water-to-cement ratio.

β
Superplasticizers added as percentage of cement content.
µ
Steel fibres added as percentage of concrete volume.
§ Average compressive strength for 6 cubes.

4. Results and discussion 4.3. Mechanical properties of concrete – Phase II

4.1. Optimization of steel fibres – Phase I 4.3.1. Hardened density

The average density of 15 specimens tested for each mix showed
The mix proportions for the optimization process of SFRRAC and that the NC has a greater density when compared with the SFRRAC and
SFRBAC are given in Table 5 while Fig. 4 shows the compressive SFRBAC. The NC, SFRRAC and SFRBAC showed density values of
strength responses for each SF volume ratio considered. It can be ob- 2370 kg/m3, 2230 kg/m3 and 2350 kg/m3, respectively. This result
served that, SF either increased or decreased the compressive strength shows that the density of RAC is still lower than that of the conventional
of concrete, depending on volume fraction of the SF used. In the present concrete irrespective of the addition of SF. This is because of the por-
study, 1% SF content was chosen as the candidate for SFRRAC on the osity and lightweight nature of the dry mortar adhering to the RA.
basis of strength, cost and workability (measured in terms of slump
value). This is similar to the volume fraction used in an investigation
carried out with double hooked-ended SF of aspect ratio of 65, using the 4.3.2. Compressive strength
conventional mix design method [19]. For the SFRBAC, 0.5% SF con- In phase I of the experiments, the results show that the compressive
tent offered the best result of the three volume ratios considered. It can strength of concrete is affected by the quantity of SF. On one hand,
therefore be deduced that mix design method for SFRC affects the op- there is an enhancement in strength of recycled concrete containing SF,
timum SF volume ratio since certain SF content causes a reduction ef- if the appropriate volume fraction of the SF is used. The mix design
fect on the compressive strength of the concrete as well as workability method adopted also contributes to this trend. On the other hand, ad-
of the fresh concrete. In addition, Table 8 shows that the mix with the dition of high volume of SF causes “balling effect” in concrete leading to
undulated SF gave the highest strength and was therefore selected for a reduction in strength.
the phase II of the experiment. The compressive strength obtained for all mixes at different ages in
phase II is presented in Fig. 5. As expected, there is a strength devel-
opment with age, notwithstanding the mix design approach and type of
4.2. Fresh properties of concrete – Phase I & II
aggregate used. Although the target strength was achieved by all the
mixes, both RA and mix proportioning method impacted on the com-
The workability of the concrete mixes was measured in terms of
pressive strength of SFRRAC and SFRBAC when compared with NC.
slump value. The inclusion of RA and SF as well as mix design method
This is due to two interfacial transition zone present in the recycled
affected the workability of concrete. The fragments of the dry mortar
concrete, one formed between the RA and the residual mortar and the
present in RA increased the water demand for recycled concrete. It can
other between the RA and the fresh mortar [58], resulting in a lower
be observed from Table 5 that the addition of SF required more su-
strength paste relative to a normal concrete. The SFRRAC designed with
perplasticizer to maintain similar slump values with the other mixes.
the orthodox method showed approximately 12% more strength at
This statement is in agreement with the findings of previous researchers
7 days than its companion SFRBAC designed with the EMV method.
[19–21]. Also, despite using lesser optimum SF content, the use of EMV
This variation, however, was reduced to only 4% at 28 days and it
mix proportioning method induced up to 68% additional super-
should be recalled (from Table 6) that the EMV technique used about
plasticizer in relation to its parallel ACI method. This can be traced to a
30% lesser cement content than the conventional method.
higher aggregate content and lesser amount of water in the mix de-
veloped with the EMV guidelines.

Table 6
Phase II – Dry-weight composition of concrete mixes.
Concrete Mix Design method Mix Proportions (kg/m3) w/c

Water Cement NCA RCA NFA RFA SPβ SF

NC ACI 213 507 856 0 707 0 1.27 0.00 0.42

SFRRAC ACI 213 507 0 754 0 534 3.80 78.50 0.42
SFRBAC EMV 153 364 493 754 203 305 12.00 39.25 0.42

Note: w/c = water-to-cement ratio.

β
Superplasticizers added as some percentage of cement content.

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Table 7
Test information for fresh and hardened concrete.
Phase Property Specification Specimens

Size and shape Duplicates* Age (days)

I Workability BS EN 12350 – 2 [51] – – –

Compressive strength BS EN 12390 – 3 [52] 100 mm Cubes 6 7
II Workability BS EN 12350 – 2 [51] – – –
Density BS EN 12390 – 7 [53] 100 mm Cubes 5 28
Compressive strength BS EN 12390 – 3 [52] 100 mm Cubes 15 7, 28, 56
Tensile strength BS EN 12390 – 6 [54] 150 × 300 mm Cylinders 3 28
Flexural strength ASTM (C78[55]; C1609 [56]) 150 × 150 × 500 mm Prisms 2 28
Water absorption BS 1881 – 122 [57] 100 × 200 mm Cylinders 3 28

*Number of specimens for each mix.

Table 9
Results of the test on hardened concrete.
Concrete Mix Splitting tensile Flexural strength Water absorption
strength (MPa)
(MPa) Std (%) Std

NC 3.80 5.04 2.71 3.1 0.00

SFRRAC 6.15 5.27 1.06 6.1 0.13
SFRBAC 4.20 4.20 1.07 3.4 0.15

thereby improving post-cracking resistance and toughness of the con-

crete [24]. Even with up to 30% lower cement content in the case of
SFRBAC compare to NC, the SFRBAC still gave a higher value of tensile
strength. An underlying factor was the higher amount of super-
Fig. 4. Optimization of steel fibre for SFRRAC and SFRBAC mixes.
plasticizer as reported by Soares et al. [34] who noted about 39% im-
provement in tensile strength when superplasticizer was added to
Table 8 concrete mix. The results presented in Table 9 reveal that this property
Results of the test on steel fibre types.
of concrete is affected by mix design approach. A significant difference
Steel fibre type Compressive strength (N/mm2) Std Slump (mm) of approximately 32% exists between SFRRAC and SFRBAC, in favour
of the former. Obviously, from Table 6, the quantity of SF involved in
Straight 42.0 1.64 117
SFRRAC mix is doubled that in SFRBAC mix. Thus, the observed result
Undulated 45.2 1.81 125
Hooked-ended 43.7 1.20 120 is expected. However, the SFRC failed with almost no visible cracks
while their parallel unreinforced NC failed catastrophically, splitting
Std = standard deviation. into two as shown in Fig. 6.

4.3.4. Flexural strength

According to the results presented in Table 9, both SF and mix de-
sign method influenced the flexural strength of the concrete. The pre-
sence of SF in SFRRAC designed with the conventional method resulted
in about 4% improvement in the flexural strength relative to the re-
ference mix prepared with NA. On the other hand, unlike the tensile
splitting strength, the use of EMV mix design for the steel fibre-re-
inforced concrete (i.e. SFRBAC) reduced flexural strength by up to 17%
in comparison with the NC. Comparing SFRRAC and SFRBAC, a dif-
ference of approximately 20% in flexural strength is recorded in favour
of SFRRAC. This can be attributed to greater amount of optimum SF
content engendered by the use of the traditional method. However, in
terms of failure mode, the NC specimens failed in a brittle manner while
the SFRC (regardless of the mix design method) exhibited a ductile
Fig. 5. Compressive strength of concretes tested at different ages. failure mode as shown in Fig. 7. The ductility is stimulated by the
presence of SF in the latter [59]. The crack patterns developed by
SFRRAC and SFRBAC as in Fig. 7 reveal that SFRRAC has a higher re-
4.3.3. Tensile splitting strength
sistance. This is because its mix contains more SF (that is 1% by volume
The tensile splitting strength of all the mix studied are presented in
of concrete) than that of SFRBAC (which is 0.5% by volume of con-
Table 9. It can be observed that the presence of SF in RAC greatly
crete). The load versus displacement diagram of the fibre-reinforced
improved this property of the concrete. Also, concretes containing RA
concretes in Fig. 8 shows that the specimens reached their ultimate load
had higher tensile splitting strength than the conventional concrete
without sudden failure, unlike the NC specimens (with no SF) which
prepared with NA. Nevertheless, SFRRAC and SFRBAC showed 38%
failed at the instance of the maximum load. It can also be seen that a
and 10% higher strength relative to the NC, respectively. This is mainly
higher SF volume fraction results in a greater peak load. This is con-
as a result of the inclusion of SF, which bridges cracking propagation
sistent with the results published by Gao et al. [21].

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Fig. 6. Tensile failure mode: (a) NC (b) SFRC.

4.3.5. Water absorption

Water absorption capacity by immersion was studied after 28 days
of curing the concrete specimens (see Fig. 9). The results presented in
Table 9 show that the absorption of RAC incorporating SF is affected by
the mix design method and suggest that this durability property of
concrete is improved with the EMV technique. In comparison with the
NC, the SFRRAC and SFRBAC had higher absorptions in excess of 49%
and 8.8% respectively. This is expected since SFRRAC is made of 100%
replacement ratio with both fine and coarse RA as opposed to 60%
substitutions for the SFRBAC. Also, the inclusion of SF increases pore
density [60], hence the SFRRAC with an optimum SF volume ratio of
1% has higher porosity than does SFRBAC with an optimum SF content
of 0.5%, thus a higher water absorption. Soares et al. [34] explained
that water absorption is dependent on pore structure of the aggregates
and the amount of water contained in the concrete itself. However, in
this research, the same quantity of water was used for both NC and Fig. 8. Load-displacement plot of steel fibre-reinforced recycled concretes
SFRRAC mixes as shown in Table 6. Therefore, it can be concluded that prepared by the conventional and the EMV methods.
the high-water absorption of RAC is mainly as a result of the porosity of

Fig. 7. Flexural failure mode: NC, SFRRAC and SFRBAC respectively.

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Fig. 9. Set-up for water absorption capacity test by immersion; (a) Side view (b) Top view.

of better properties (except for water absorption capacity) than its

equivalent EMV approach.
- The contribution of SF to the mechanical properties of concrete is
highest in the tensile splitting strength and, irrespective of the mix
design method used, the tensile splitting strength of steel fibre-re-
inforced recycled concretes is higher than that of the normal con-
crete. This is attributed to the ability of SF to restrict cracking
propagation, thus sustaining more load.
- Although the rate of water absorption of the recycled concretes
produced using either methods appears the same, the actual ab-
sorption of steel fibre-reinforced recycled aggregate concrete man-
ufactured by the conventional approach, is 44% higher than that of
steel fibre-reinforced blended aggregate concrete prepared with the
EMV approach because of the higher amount of recycled aggregates
Fig. 10. Rate of water absorption of concrete mixes at 28 days. in the former. Overall, the presence of recycled aggregates and SF
raised the water absorption capacity of the resulting concretes by up
the RA. to 49% above their comparable normal concrete produced with
The Fig. 10 shows the rate of water absorption of the concretes natural aggregates.
observed under some cumulative immersion periods, up to 120 min.
Obviously, from the slopes of the plots, it can be deduced that the rate Declaration of Competing Interest
of absorption decreases with time. Although the SFRRAC specimens
have a higher water absorption relative to those of SFRBAC, they have The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
an identical rate of absorption. This is evident in their gradients and can interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ-
be attributed to the same amount of RCA in both mixes. ence the work reported in this paper.

5. Conclusions Acknowledgements

Investigations into the effect of conventional and the Equivalent The authors acknowledge the contributions of Litecast Homefloors
mortar volume (EMV) mix design methods on recycled aggregate con- Limited and Dalian HARVEST Metal Fibres Co. Limited who supplied
crete (RAC) mixes incorporating steel fibre (SF) is presented and ana- the materials used for this research free of charge.
lysed in this paper. The following conclusions are drawn from the study:
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