Production of sustainable fibre-reinforced concrete incorporating waste chopped metallic film fibres and palm oil fuel ash

Abstract

The consumption of waste materials is one of the essential concerns of waste management strategies in many parts of the world. With the advances in concrete technology, the utilisation of waste materials in the sustainable construction has developed increasingly widespread because of technological, economic and ecological advantages. This paper presents the workability and mechanical properties of concrete incorporating waste chopped metallic film (WCMF) fibres and palm oil fuel ash (POFA). Waste plastic results in waste discarding disaster and consequently causes significant harms to the environment. WCMF fibres were prepared by recycling metallic–plastic films used for food packaging. Six concrete mixes containing 0–1.25% WCMF fibres with a length of 20 mm were made of ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Further, six concrete mixes with the same fibre content were made, where 20% POFA substituted OPC. The combination of WCMF fibres and POFA decreased the workability of concrete mixes. The inclusion of WCMF fibres to OPC and POFA concrete mixes decreased the compressive strength. However, at the curing period of 91 days, the POFA-based mixes obtained higher compressive strength values than those of OPC-based mixtures. The positive interaction between WCMF fibres and POFA consequently enhanced the flexural and tensile strengths, impact resistance, thereby increasing energy absorption capacity and ductility of concrete composites. It revealed that WCMF fibres acted as a bridge arrester and improved the load-transfer capacity of the concrete specimens. The study showed that the utilisation of WCMF fibres in the production of sustainable concrete is a beneficial, affordable and feasible solution.