Performance Assessment of Recycled Aggregate Concrete Blended with Supplementary Cementitious Materials and Steel Fibers: An Approach Towards Developing Green and Sustainable Concrete

Abstract

Though the term “sustainability” was heard frequently, few people understand its significance, which is to ensure human safety on the planet. Sustainability has many short- and long-term benefits and ignoring it will result in depletion of natural resources in the long run. In this context utilisation of by-products as well as waste materials into the concrete and thereby decreasing carbon dioxide emissions and virgin aggregate extraction will be a sustainable way of developing a green concrete. In this manuscript, an attempt has been made to develop green and sustainable concrete by including Recycled aggregate (RA), Fly Ash (FA) & Sugar Cane Bagasse Ash (SCBA) as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). Also, an attempt is made to access the effect of steel fibers (SF) on the concrete thus made. The variables of the study include RA content (0, 100%), FA content (0 to 40%) and SCBA content (0 to 15%) and SF dosage (0, 1%). The properties examined in the study include compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexural strength, water absorption (WA), and acid attack. The results of the experimental programme show that the use of SCMs and SF can significantly improve the mechanical strength and durability of Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC). The use of SCMs improved the durability of the mix by densification of the matrix whereas incorporating steel fibers improved the tensile characteristics of the mix significantly, which means that use of RA in conjunction with SCMs and SF improves the overall performance of the concrete and might be a green and sustainable alternative to plain concrete.