See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: [Link]
net/publication/269632491
High performance concrete using recycled aggregate, Microsilica and synthetic
macro fibre
Conference Paper · November 2014
CITATION READS
1 102
3 authors:
Ajibola Tijani Jian Yang
University of Birmingham Shanghai Jiao Tong University
5 PUBLICATIONS 5 CITATIONS 225 PUBLICATIONS 5,861 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE
Samir Dirar
73 PUBLICATIONS 1,004 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE
Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:
Construction Safety View project
Progressive collapse analysis of precast concrete structures View project
All content following this page was uploaded by Ajibola Tijani on 16 December 2014.
The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.
Proc. of the Second Intl. Conf. on Advances In Civil, Structural and Mechanical Engineering- CSM 2014.
Copyright © Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, USA .All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-63248-054-5 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-054-5-113
High performance concrete using recycled aggregate,
Microsilica and synthetic macro fibre
[Ajibola Tijani, Jian Yang, and Samir Dirar]
Abstract—The conventional ballasted rail track system
incorporating steel tendon in prestressed concrete sleepers is
predominantly used throughout the railway network in the UK.
I. Introduction
Despite its benefits, the associated demerits and the need to High Performance Concrete is characterised with high
revolutionise rail transportation in the UK necessitated this strength, workability and durability derived from cement
investigation. The objective was to determine physical and replacement materials like microsilica, fly ash, and ground
mechanical characteristics of recycled aggregate concrete granulated blast furnace slag (ggbs) incorporated in the
incorporating synthetic macro fibre and mineral admixtures to concrete mix with chemical admixture (superplasticiser). High
develop a low maintenance and corrosion-free prestressed Performance Concrete (HPC) consists of essential concrete
concrete sleepers which is a high strength structural application. materials selected to produce properties of concrete such as
These materials were incorporated with varying percentage low permeability and high strength for the intended function
replacement (i.e. 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% & 100% respectively) of
of the structure. The long term cost benefits of high
natural coarse aggregate by recycled aggregate, 54mm forta-
performance concrete outweighed the greater economy of
ferro synthetic macro fibre dosage (0.11% and 0.5%), 5% dosage
of Microsilica and 0.4% High Range Superplasticiser by weight
initial procurement. Microsilica enhances durability of
of cement. A total of 621 concrete samples (cubes, cylinders & concrete with high resistance to critical environment, thus
prisms) were subjected to workability test, density measurement, effectively protecting embedded steel bars in the concrete. In
modulus of elasticity, compressive strength, flexural strength, order to ensure that rail transportation remain more eco-
and tensile splitting strength test in four different phases. Results friendly, the paradigm in construction of railways
obtained from phases 1, 2, and 3 indicate reduction in infrastructure like pre-stressed concrete sleepers would have to
workability, density, modulus of elasticity, compressive strength, shift from the existing conventional method using natural
tensile splitting strength, and flexural strength of recycled aggregates and cement which is a significant source of global
aggregate concrete without mineral and chemical admixtures as CO2 emissions, to the use of recycled coarse aggregates,
the percentage content of recycled coarse aggregate increased cementitious materials like fly ash, and mineral admixture
compared with the control concrete samples and no significant such as microsilica which in the long term would mitigate the
effect was observed from dosage of synthetic macro fibre. The problems of depletion of natural resources, waste disposal,
addition of microsilica and superplasticiser to the concrete mix in other environmental issue related to rail transportation and
phase 4 brought about great improvement in workability, achievement of low maintenance and corrosion-free ballasted
density, compressive strength, flexural strength, and tensile rail track system. Synthetic macro fibre was envisaged to
splitting strength and this was evident from 1, 7, and 28 curing enhance the mechanical properties of recycled aggregate
days’ strengths respectively. This enhanced strength could be
concrete and this would be assessed. Attempt would be made
associated with the densifying quality and pozzolanic action of
to increase the optimum use of recycled coarse aggregate
microsilica. Recycled aggregate concrete without fibre dosage
(phase 2) performed satisfactorily up to 25% replacement, while
currently between 25% and 30% as specified by BS8500-1 [1]
50% replacement produced 97% of the target compressive and BS8500-2 [2] respectively to 50% without any cause for
strength, which indicates the possibility of raising the current concern.
recommended optimum use of recycled aggregate in concrete
production from 25% to 50%.
Keywords—Ballasted rail track system; Synthetic macro
fibre; Prestressed concrete sleepers; Compressive strength.
II. Mix Design and Experimental
Materials
Ajibola Tijani, Jian Yang, and Samir Dirar
University of Birmingham A. Materials
United Kingdom
The design target compressive strength and water-cement
ratio (w/c), obtained from Building Research Establishment’s
(BRE) design of normal concrete mixes were 50MPa and 0.37
respectively.
Table 1 illustrates the types of materials used for the
production of concrete in the laboratory for all the phases.
231
Proc. of the Second Intl. Conf. on Advances In Civil, Structural and Mechanical Engineering- CSM 2014.
Copyright © Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, USA .All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-63248-054-5 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-054-5-113
TABLE 1. CONCRETE MATERIALS TABLE 5. CONCRETE MIX DETAILS –PHASE 4
Materials Type Recycle Coarse Aggregate (%) 0 25 50 75 100
Cement CEM II/B-V 32,5N (Portland - fly ash cement)
Cement 583 583 583 583 583
Sand (kg/m³) 603 603 603 603 603
54mm Forta- Ferro. Virgin copolymer /
Synthetic macro Gravel (kg/m³) 904 678 452 226 0
polypropylene, Specific gravity of 0.91, and tensile
fibre RCA. (kg/m³) 0 226 452 678 904
strength from 570 -660MPa
Synthetic Macro Fibre (kg/m³) 1 1 1 1 1
Microsilica Elkem Microsilica Grade 940-U Water (kg/m³) 230 230 230 230 230
Microsilica (kg/m³) 29.2 29.2 29.2 29.2 29.2
Recycled coarse Maximum size of 10mm, sourced from demolition Superplasticiser (kg/m³) 2.33 2.33 2.33 2.33 2.33
aggregate debris by Coleman and company, Birmingham, UK
B. Mix Design
Tables 2 – 5 shows details of concrete mixes used in the
laboratory work. Fibre contents added were 0%, 0.11% III. Tests
(1kg/m³) and 0.5% (4.5kg/m³) by weight of concrete
respectively.
A. Compressive Strength Test
TABLE 2. CONCRETE MIX DETAILS –PHASE 1 Concrete samples were subjected to uniaxial compression
in order to determine the failure stress of the test samples
using Avery-Denison compression testing machine at a
Recycle Coarse Aggregate (%) 0 25 50 75 100 constant loading rate of 2.4kN/s. The test was conducted in
accordance to BS EN 12390-4:2000 [3] using three concrete
cube samples of dimension 100 mm per concrete mix at 1, 7,
Cement 583 583 583 583 583
Sand (kg/m³) 603 603 603 603 603
and 28 days curing age respectively.
Gravel (kg/m³) 904 678 452 226 0
RCA. (kg/m³)
Synthetic Macro Fibre (kg/m³)
0
0
226
4.5
452
4.5
678
4.5
904
4.5
B. Tensile Splitting Strength Test
Water (kg/m³) 230 230 230 230 230 This test was carried out using Denison testing machine in
order to determine the indirect tensile strength of the concrete
samples. Three concrete cylinder samples of 100mm diameter
and 200mm high were tested for each concrete mix at 1, 7, and
TABLE 3. CONCRETE MIX DETAILS –PHASE 2
28 days curing age respectively. Tensile splitting strength test
was conducted in accordance to BS EN 12390-6. [4]
Recycle Coarse Aggregate (%) 0 25 50 75 100
C. Flexural Strength Test
Cement 583 583 583 583 583 Flexural strength test was carried out in compliance with
Sand (kg/m³) 603 603 603 603 603 BS EN 12390-57 [5] to determine the flexural strength of
Gravel (kg/m³) 904 678 452 226 0 hardened concrete at 1, 7, and 28 days curing age respectively.
RCA. (kg/m³) 0 226 452 678 904 The test was conducted using three concrete prism samples of
Synthetic Macro Fibre (kg/m³) 0 0 0 0 0
Water (kg/m³) 230 230 230 230 230
dimension 100 x 100 x 500mm for each concrete mix.
TABLE 4. CONCRETE MIX DETAILS –PHASE 3
IV. Results and Discussion
Recycle Coarse Aggregate (%) 0 25 50 75 100 A. Compressive Strength Test
Figure 1 illustrates the results of compressive strength at
28 days for all the phases of concrete mixes shown in tables 2
Cement 583 583 583 583 583
Sand (kg/m³) 603 603 603 603 603 – 5 respectively.
Gravel (kg/m³) 904 678 452 226 0
RCA. (kg/m³) 0 226 452 678 904
Synthetic Macro Fibre (kg/m³) 1 1 1 1 1
Water (kg/m³) 230 230 230 230 230
232
Proc. of the Second Intl. Conf. on Advances In Civil, Structural and Mechanical Engineering- CSM 2014.
Copyright © Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, USA .All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-63248-054-5 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-054-5-113
Figure 1. 28 days compressive strength Figure 2. 28 days tensile splitting strength
Results revealed that the mix with microsilica addition
produced the highest compressive strength due to the C. Flexural Strength Test
densifying property and pozzolanic action of microsilica. The Figure 3 illustrates the 28 days flexural strength of all the
control concrete achieved strength of about 54MPa while the concrete mixes from phase 1 – phase 4.
mix with microsilica produced approximately 71MPa at 28
days. It was also observed that the strength of recycled
aggregate concrete made with 50% and 75% recycled coarse
aggregates respectively exceeds the target compressive
strength of 50MPa at 28 days while 100% replacement
produced 92% of the target strength. Concrete mix with no
fibre addition produced better results than other mix with fibre
inclusion and implies that synthetic macro fibre does not have
significant effect on compressive strength of concrete.
B. Tensile Strength Test
Tensile splitting strength at 28 days for all the concrete
mixes is presented in figure 2. It could be observed that tensile
splitting strength decreased with an increase in percentage
content of the RCA in the mixture. Concrete samples with no
dosage of fibre produced the least tensile strength while
concrete mix with higher dosage shows increased tensile
strength. The increase was due to the bridging ability of fibre
to absorb energy in the concrete to prevent cracking. These
findings agreed with reported findings by Bagherzadeh [Link]
[6]. The reduction in tensile strength with an increasing
content of RCA was due to porous nature of recycled coarse
aggregate and this correlates with the strength reduction
pattern reported by Evangelista and Brito [7].
Figure 3. 28 days flexural strength
233
Proc. of the Second Intl. Conf. on Advances In Civil, Structural and Mechanical Engineering- CSM 2014.
Copyright © Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, USA .All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-63248-054-5 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-054-5-113
It was observed that concrete mix without any dosage of Lightweight Cement Composites (LWC),” Journal of Engineered Fibers
fibre reduced considerably while samples with addition of and Fabrics, vol. 7, pp. 13-21, 2012.
fibre indicate a better increase in strength although flexural [7] L. Evangelista, and J. De Brito, “Mechanical behaviour of concrete
made with fine recycled concrete aggregates,” Cement and Concrete
strength decreased with increase in percentage replacement of Composites, vol. 29, pp. 397-401, 2007.
natural coarse aggregate by recycled coarse aggregate. This [8] R. Kumutha, and K. Vijai, “Effect of Recycled Coarse Aggregates in
finding was similar to findings by Kumutha, R. & Vijai, [8]. Properties of Concrete,” Journal of Green Building, vol. 3, pp. 130-137,
2008.
About Author (s): Ajibola holds a Master of Engineering (MEng) honours
V. Conclusion degree in Civil Engineering with Industrial Experience from University
of Birmingham and currently in the 3rd year of PhD programme at the
The following were observed; same institution. Worked with Buro Happold Birmingham while on
industrial experience programme and contributed to the completion of
1) Physical and mechanical characteristics of recycled the structural design of the New Library of Birmingham integratesd with
aggregate concrete decreased significantly with increase repertory Theatre.
in percentage content of recycled coarse aggregate in “Recycled aggregate concrete
phases 1 – 3 of the concrete design mix; without fibre dosage (phase 2)
2) Addition of synthetic macro fibre has no significant effect performed satisfactorily up to 25%
on compressive strength of the concrete mix in all phases; replacement, while 50%
replacement produced 97% of the
3) Significant satisfactory performance was observed up to target compressive strength, which
25% recycled coarse aggregate contents without fibre indicates the possibility of raising
dosage in phase 2 of the laboratory work, while 50%
the current recommended optimum
contents produced about 97% of the target compressive
strength; use of recycled aggregate in
concrete production from 25% to
4) Addition of mineral admixture (Microsilica) and chemical 50%”.
admixture (superplasticiser) greatly improved physical
and mechanical properties of all the concrete mix in phase
4, and even better than natural aggregate made concrete
irrespective of the percentage content in the mix;
5) Optimum use of recycled coarse aggregate from 25 – 30%
(BS 8500-1&2) to 50% is very feasible. This would lead
to a landmark for conservation of quarry, reduction in cost
of construction materials, & reduced pressure on landfills
which are among the priority of the benefits of this
research to the railway industry.
Acknowledgment
Special thanks to Dr. Jian Yang and Dr Samir Dirar for
their constructive criticisms throughout this research work.
Appreciation also goes to the Institution of Structural
Engineers (IStructe) for providing the funds for all the
materials used in the laboratory work.
References
[1] BS8500-1 Concrete. Complementary British standard to BS EN 206-1.
“Method of specifying and guidance for the specifier,” BSI; 2006.
[2] BS8500-2 Concrete. Complementary British standard to BS EN 206-1.
“Specification for constituent materials and concrete,” BSI; 2006.
[3] BS EN12390-4 Testing hardened concrete, “Compressive strength.
Specification for testing machines”, BSI; 2009.
[4] BS EN12390-6 Testing hardened concrete, “Tensile splitting strength of
test specimens”,. BSI: 2010.
[5] BS EN12390-5 Testing hardened concrete, “Flexural strength of test
specimen “, BSI: 2009.
[6] R. Bagherzadeh, H.R Pakravan, A-H. Sadeghi, M. Latifi, and A.A.
Merati, “An Investigation on Adding Polypropylene Fibers to Reinforce
234
View publication stats