Mechanical Performance of Cement Bound Granular Mixtures Using Recycled Aggregate and Coconut Fiber

• Published in: Applied sciences Vol. 12; no. 4; p. 1936
• Main Authors: Crucho, João, Picado-Santos, Luís, Neves, José
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.02.2022
• Subjects: Aggregates; Cement; cement bound granular mixture; coconut fiber; Compressive strength; Concrete; Construction; construction and demolition waste; Durability; fiber reinforcement; Flexural strength; Laboratories; Landfill; Landfills; Masonry; mechanical performance; Mechanical properties; Natural resources; Pavement construction; Pavements; recycled aggregate; Tensile strength; Waste disposal; Waste disposal sites; Los Angeles California; United States > US
• ISSN: 2076-3417; 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app12041936

Construction and demolition waste (CDW) and coconut husk are frequently discharged into landfills, creating an environmental problem. However, the CDW can be used to obtain good-quality recycled aggregates (RA), and the coconut husk can be processed into coconut fiber (CF). These materials can be used in the construction of cement bound granular mixtures (CBGM) to be applied as base and sub-base layers of road pavements. Such a large-scale application would bring value to these materials and reduce the extraction of non-renewable natural resources. In this work, the mechanical performance of CBGM with RA and CF reinforcement was evaluated and compared with a conventional CBGM with natural aggregate (NA). The mechanical performance was assessed through the immediate bearing index (IBI), unconfined compressive strength (UCS), indirect tensile strength (ITS), and flexural strength (FLS) tests. The results of the experimental program allow the conclusion that the CBGM with RA present similar performance to the CBGM with NA. Furthermore, the use of CF effectively reinforced the integrity of the CBGM specimens at post-test, indicating potential gains in durability after cracking occurrence.