Waste steel wires modified structural lightweight concrete

Abstract

Nowadays, the use of different waste fibers in concrete has started to increase rapidly due to some reasons such as economic savings and positive effects on the environment. In this study, waste steel wires taken from reinforcement and formwork which were previously utilized in construction projects, were employed in structural lightweight concrete (SLWC). The objective was to investigate the possibility of using this type of fiber as reinforcement in the SLWC. Compressive, tensile, flexural and impact tests were performed for investigating the mechanical properties of 28-day reinforced lightweight concrete specimens with the waste wires. The percentage of wire in the fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) was 0.25%, 0.5% and 0.75% in the volume fraction of the concrete. According to the results, by using waste wires, flexural, tensile and impact characteristics of SLWC were effectively improved. Moreover, it was concluded that waste steel wires could be used as a suitable micro reinforcement in the SLWC.