Ali 2020
Ali 2020
Composites Communications
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/coco
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: Conventional plain concrete (PC) leads to large design thickness when used in applications where high flexural
Concrete pavement strength is required. Therefore, to minimize the consumption of natural resources and to avoid large design
Fiber-reinforced composites thickness, it is fundamental to upgrade the flexural strength of PC by using supplementary materials i.e. steel
Steel fiber
rebars, fibers. This study evaluated the environmental and economic performance of the pavements designed
Carbon footprint and cost analysis
with different fibrous concrete composites (FCCs). FCCs were manufactured by incorporating 0.5 and 1.0%
volume fractions of glass fiber (GF), hooked steel fiber (HSF), and polypropylene fiber (PPF) in the normal
strength concrete (C30). Initially, the flexural properties of FCCs were evaluated and then these properties were
utilized to design the thickness of jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP). Using the cost and carbon emissions
per cubic meter of each concrete mix, the environmental and economic performance of JPCP construction was
estimated. The performance of different FCCs in the JPCP was compared with that of the conventional PC. The
results of mechanical testing showed that HSF-FCC outperforms both PPF-FCC and GF-FCC by a significant
margin. Despite inferior mechanical performance compared to HSF-FCC, both PPF-FCC and GF-FCC are very
effective in reducing the carbon footprint and cost of JPCP. JPCPs with GF-FCC and PPF-FCC are also ecofriendly
and economical than the JPCP with conventional PC for the same load-carrying capacity. Overall, FCC can yield
cheaper and eco-friendlier pavements compared to conventional PC if the dosage and type of fiber are correctly
chosen as recommended in this study.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (B. Ali), [email protected] (L.A. Qureshi), [email protected] (R. Kurda).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coco.2020.100437
Received 21 May 2020; Received in revised form 25 July 2020; Accepted 7 August 2020
Available online 22 August 2020
2452-2139/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
B. Ali et al. Composites Communications 22 (2020) 100437
steel fiber (HSF) incorporation can increase the flexural strength of Table 2
concrete by more than 80% [8,26]. Glass fiber (GF) incorporation at Properties of fibers.
0.25–0.5% volume fractions leads to an increment of 25–29% in the Property HSF GF PPF
flexural strength [27]. Similarly, polypropylene fiber (PPF) advances the
Length (mm) 35 6–18 12
tensile strength of PC by 20% [23]. A review of various studies in Diameter of filament (μm) 900 15 30
literature reveals that fibers are only effective in advancing the flexural Tensile strength (MPa) 1200 1500–1700 500
and tensile strength of concrete and no noticeable advancement in Elastic modulus (GPa) 200 72 5
compressive strength can be achieved with fibers [23,28]. This implies Density (kg/m3) 7750 2600 900
that fiber-reinforced concretes can only be helpful economically in ap SF: Steel fibers; GF: Glass fibers; PPF: Polypropylene fibers.
plications where high flexural strength is required such as slabs on
grounds, runaways, parking, linings of the tunnel, etc. [29]. compressive strength of 30 MPa was prepared following ACI 211.1-9
Jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP) is an important part of [35]. In this concrete, two different dosages (0.5 and 1% volume frac
public infrastructure i.e. business streets, collector streets, industrial tion) of HSF, GF, and PPF were used to make FCCs. 50 mm slump was
streets, minor and major arterials. It is well known that incorporating chosen for the workability that is normally preferred for placing con
fibers enhances the flexural strength of composite, but a very few studies crete in the rigid pavements. In FCCs, workability loss due to fibers was
[30,31] are available in the literature which explore and compare the compensated using a superplasticizer (SP) (Sika Viscocrete 3110). De
effects of different fibers on the design thicknesses of pavements under tails of all composites are provided in Table 3.
the same conditions of traffic loadings and subgrade conditions. All mixes were prepared in a mechanical mixer with adjustable
Furthermore, no research is available which compares the benefits of rotational speed. Firstly, aggregates and cement were dry blended at the
different types and doses of fiber considering the economic and envi speed of 40 rpm for 2 min. Then, half amount of water was added to the
ronmental impacts of FCC application in concrete pavements. The in mix and blending continued at 60 rpm for 2 min. Subsequently,
formation in this regard is necessary for the selection of suitable type of remaining half amount of water and superplasticizer were added to the
fiber-reinforcement for the optimum mechanical benefits with minimum mixture and blending continued at 60 rpm for 4 min. During the last
cost and carbon footprint. Therefore, this short communication aims to stage, fibers were added to the mix and blending was done at a rapid
analyze the cost and carbon footprint of JPCP with different types of speed of 80 rpm for 2 min. Then, until the finishing of casting of spec
fibers i.e. HSF, GF, and PPF. For this purpose, initially, the mechanical imens, blending was continued at 40 rpm.
properties (flexural strength and residual strength) of FCCs were eval
uated. Then considering the same service conditions (traffic category,
2.3. Evaluation of flexural behavior of composites
truck loading, subgrade properties, etc.) design thickness of JPCP was
evaluated for FCC and conventional plain concrete (PC) following the
For flexural testing, specimens of 100 mm × 100 mm x 350 mm were
Portland Cement Association (PCA) mechanistic design method for
tested following ASTM C78 [36] as shown in Fig. 2. The load-deflection
concrete pavements [32]. Cost and carbon footprint (CO2) of JPCP per
behavior of these prismatic specimens was evaluated according to ASTM
unit area was estimated for all the mixes under the same design condi
C1609 [37]. Load deflection data was used to calculate the flexural
tions and the results were compared to evaluate the impacts of FCC
toughness and residual strength. Both flexural and residual strength are
application in pavement structures w.r.t conventional PC.
used in the thickness design of JPCP following PCA mechanistic design
method [32].
2. MATERIALS and methods
2
B. Ali et al. Composites Communications 22 (2020) 100437
Table 3
Details of concrete mixes.
Mix IDs Cement (kg/m3) Water (kg/m3) Coarse aggregate (kg/m3) Fine aggregate (kg/m3) SP (kg/m3) HSF (kg/m3) GF (kg/m3) PPF (kg/m3)
Table 5
Global design inputs and properties of subgrade and concrete.
Global design inputs
Terminal serviceability 2
Reliability 85%
Resilient modulus of subgrade reaction 28 MPa
Slab cracked at the end of design life 15%
Composite modulus of subgrade reaction 28 MPa
Edge-support Provided (at both sides)
3
B. Ali et al. Composites Communications 22 (2020) 100437
Table 6
Cost and emission of raw materials per unit production.
Material USD/kg CO2 (kg/kg)
Fig. 3. Load-deflection behavior of composites (a) FCC-HSF, (b) FCC-GF, and (c) FCC-PPF up to L/150 = 2 mm of deflection.
4
B. Ali et al. Composites Communications 22 (2020) 100437
Fig. 5. Failure pattern of (a) PC (b) FCC-1%HSF (c) FCC-1%GF and (d) FCC-1%PPF after mid span deflection of 2 mm.
5
B. Ali et al. Composites Communications 22 (2020) 100437
Table 7
Cost per cubic meter of each composite (USD/m3) (incl. 20 USD/m3).
Mix IDs Cement Water Coarse aggregate Fine aggregate SP HSF GF PPF Cost of Mix
(USD/m3) (USD/m3) (USD/m3) (USD/m3) (USD/m3) (USD/m3) (USD/m3) (USD/m3) (USD/m3)
mass of HSF (kg) is very high compared to both GF and PPF (see
Table 7). For example, 0.5%HSF requires 39 kg of fiber, whereas, 0.5%
GF and 0.5%PPF volume fractions require 13 kg and 4.5 kg of fiber,
respectively. Therefore, HSF due to the requirement of a very high
amount of mass per unit volume significantly increases the CP of the
pavement. These results also show the importance of the strength per
unit mass of fibers. Fiber like HSF, despite showing large reductions in
the hDesign of pavement jeopardizes the economy of construction. Low-
density fibers like GF and PPF, caused smaller reductions in the hDesign
compared to that of the HSF, despite that CP of pavements with these
fibers is significantly lower than that of the PC. This is only because of
smaller increments in the cost of concrete mixes caused by PPF and GF
(see Table 7). FCC-0.5%GF, FCC-1%GF, FCC-0.5%PPF and FCC-1%PPF
can produce 10%, 5%, 6% and 8% cheaper pavements, respectively
compared to conventional PC.
The calculation of carbon emissions per cubic meter of each mix is
given in Table 8. Carbon emissions of pavement (CEP) per square meter
(CO2/m2) with different mixes are given in Fig. 8. Overview of Table 8
indicates that all FCCs per unit volume production have a higher carbon
Fig. 7. Cost of pavement (CP) per square pavement for different con footprint than that of PC. Moreover, HSF shows a higher carbon foot
crete composites. print than PPF, and GF mainly ascribed to two reasons (1) firstly because
of the requirement of high mass per unit volume and (2) HSF also has a
of fiber. No significant change in hDesign is noticed beyond 0.5% fiber higher carbon footprint than both GF and PPF. Despite a high carbon
volume in cases of both FCC-HSF and FCC-GF. This is because, at 0.5% footprint per cubic meter, the CEP of pavement with FCC is noticeably
fiber volume, hDesign of pavement with FCC-HSF and FCC-GF reaches lower than that of the PC. This is because the FCC requires the lesser
very close to the minimum required thickness of 170 mm for a major quantity of raw material (cement, coarse and fine aggregate) compared
arterial street (in any case hDesign should not be less than 170 mm [32]); to PC in order to produce pavement for the same load-carrying capacity.
therefore, when flexural strength is increased with the rise in fiber Therefore, per square meter construction of pavement releases lesser
volume beyond 0.5%, no significant reduction is noticed in hDesign due to emissions with FCC (except for FCC-HSF1) than the emissions released
requirements of minimum possible thickness to avoid faulting. On the with PC. FCC-HSF1 shows a very huge CEP because of a drastic increase
other hand, in the case of FCC-PPF, there is a substantial decrease in in CO2 introduced by 1%HSF in the concrete mix, see Fig. 8. Moreover,
hDesign when PPF dosage is changed from 0.5% to 1%. It is because FCC pavements with 0.5%HSF, 0.5%GF, 1%GF, 0.5%PPF and 1%PPF
flexural strength of FCC-PPF at 0.5% fiber volume does not produce shows 4%, 18%, 17%, 13% and 18% lesser CEP compared to PC,
hDesign closer to the minimum required JPCP thickness. Furthermore, a respectively.
small fiber volume of GF and HSF i.e. 0.5% yields smaller hDesign These results imply the usefulness of fiber-reinforcements to lessen
compared to a high fiber volume of PPF. This again shows that efficiency the economic and environmental impacts of the pavement. Besides that,
of PPF is lower than GF and HSF at the same fiber volume. the use of conventional steel fiber is also being questioned in this
research due to its very negative impact on the performance of pave
3.3. Economic and environmental impact of pavement with different types ments. The results are favoring the use of PPF and GF to reduce the
of composites environmental and economic impacts of pavement construction.
Costs of all concrete mixes are provided in Table 7. The cost of 4. CONCLUSIONS
pavement (CP) per square meter with different types of composites is
shown in Fig. 7. These results show that HSF is not an economical option In this research, mechanical properties (flexural strength and resid
as fiber to reduce the design thickness (hDesign) of pavement despite ual strength) of different fibrous concrete composites (FCCs) (produced
showing more efficiency in mechanical performance than other fibers i. using hooked steel fibers (HSF), glass fibers (GF), and polypropylene
e. GF and PPF. This is mainly because, for unit volume fractions, the
6
B. Ali et al. Composites Communications 22 (2020) 100437
Table 8
Emissions (CO2-kg) of each composite per cubic meter production.
Mix IDs Cement Water Coarse aggregate Fine aggregate SP HSF GF PPF CO2 of Mix
(kg-CO2/m3) (kg-CO2/m3) (kg-CO2/m3) (kg-CO2/m3) (kg-CO2/m3) (kg-CO2/m3) (kg-CO2/m3) (kg-CO2/m3) (kg/m3)
Recommendations
This research reveals the importance of fiber type and its dosage to
achieve optimum mechanical, economic and environmental perfor
mance in pavement construction. Results of cost and carbon footprint
analysis of pavements suggest that GF and PPF are more beneficial
compared to HSF. Further research work is recommended on the anal
ysis of cost and carbon footprint of pavement with ecofriendly fibers
such as basalt fibers, recycled fibers, organic fibers, etc.
Fig. 8. Carbon emissions of pavement (CEP) per square of the meter with References
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