Mechanical Properties and Durability of Polypropylene and Steel Fiber-Reinforced Recycled Aggregates Concrete (FRRAC): A Review

Abstract

With the development of concrete engineering, a large amount of construction, demolition, excavation waste (CDEW) has been produced. The treated CDEW can be used as recycled aggregate to replace natural aggregate, which can not only reduce environmental pollution and construction-related resource waste caused by CDEW, but also save natural resources. However, the mechanical properties and durability of Recycled Aggregates Concrete (RAC) are generally worse than that of ordinary concrete. Various fiber or mineral materials are usually used in RAC to improve the mechanical properties and durability of the matrix. In RAC, polypropylene (PP) fiber and steel fiber (SF) are two kinds most commonly used fiber materials, which can enhance the strength and toughness of RAC and compensate the defects of RAC to some extent. In this paper, the literature on PP fiber- and SF-reinforced RAC (FRRAC) is reviewed, with a focus on the consistence, mechanical performance (compressive strength, tensile strength, stress–strain relationship, elastic modulus, and shear strength), durability (water absorption, chloride permeability, carbonation, freeze–thaw cycling, and shrinkage), and microstructure. The research findings regarding FRRAC were analyzed and compared. The results showed that adding mineral additives and fiber in RAC had a good synergistic effect, which made FRRAC have good mechanical properties, high durability and high temperature resistance, and several application prospects. The information and summary presented in this paper exhibit new knowledge and information on the application of FRRAC.