Experimental study on recycled concrete with steel fibers as a sustainable building material

The global demand for construction aggregate exceeds 26 billion tons per year. With global policy attention directed towards climate change, environmental and economic sustainability, changes are required to the Australian construction industry regarding the extraction of natural resources. In particular, the concrete industry requires seeking innovative, sustainable solutions for reducing the impact of construction and maintenance on the environment. The majority of structures in Australia use reinforced concrete. Therefore, using environmentally and economically sustainable materials such as recycled concrete in construction would preserve natural resources and reduce construction waste and overall costs. There is considerable research available on the use of recycled concrete as a construction material and the use of steel fibers as structural reinforcement has been studied since the 1960's. However, there is very little research on the combination of the two as a construction material for concrete structures. This study focused on secondary beams made of recycled concrete with the incorporation of steel fibers. This combination offers a structurally sound material that will provide a durable and sustainable solution to Australian Construction Industry. Experimental studies were conducted to validate the performance of the new material in a structural application. Based on the results of the study, recommendations for future research and design applications using these materials are made.