Construction and Building Materials 178 (2018) 612–623

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Construction and Building Materials

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Experimental study on the compressive and flexural behaviour of

recycled aggregate concrete modified with silica fume and fibres
Jianhe Xie a, Liang Huang a, Yongchang Guo a,⇑, Zhijian Li a, Chi Fang a, Lijuan Li a, Junjie Wang b
a
School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong, China
b
Division of Engineering, NYU Abu Dhabi, P.O. Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

h i g h l i g h t s

Coupling effect of silica fume and fibres on RAC was investigated.

Silica fume provides a better coupling effect with steel fibre than PPF.

10% silica fume content is optimal for steel-fibre RAC.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The use of recycled concrete aggregates in structural concrete is a sustainable solution to reduce the
Received 23 February 2018 extraction of natural resources and the detrimental impacts of waste concrete to the environment. The
Received in revised form 28 April 2018 present study aimed to assess the compressive and flexural behaviour of recycled aggregate concrete
Accepted 14 May 2018
(RAC) and normal concrete (NC) modified with silica fume and steel fibres or polypropylene fibres
(PPFs). The coupling effects of the silica fume and fibres on the compressive strength, fracture toughness,
modulus of elasticity, and failure mode of the RAC and NC were analysed following a series of axial com-
Keywords:
pression and three-point bending tests. The results show that the thick steel fibre exhibited worse inter-
Recycled aggregate concrete
Silica fume
facial bonding with the cement paste than the PPF, but the addition of silica fume enhanced these
Steel fibre interfacial bonds, resulting in an improvement in the compressive and flexural behaviour of the fibre-
Polypropylene fibre reinforced RAC. Additionally, the coupling effect of silica fume and steel fibre was better than that of
Compression the silica fume and PPF. Based on the synthetical consideration of the performance improvement and eco-
Flexure nomic cost, 10% silica fume content by the equal quantity substitution of cement is optimal for the com-
pressive and flexural strength of steel-fibre reinforced RAC.
Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction of natural aggregate with recycled aggregate in concrete has been

The rapid development of urban construction in developing
countries has led to an accumulation of construction waste, with
a large amount of concrete waste produced that creates a substan-
tial environmental problem. For instance, according to the current
statistics by the Chinese government, Tai et al. [1] reported that
over 15 billion tons of construction and demolition waste
(C&DW) were produced in China in 2015. The traditional disposal
of these C&DWs through landfills will not only require storage
space but will also cause additional carbon emissions [2]. To
reduce the negative impact of C&DW, the potential replacement
⇑ Corresponding author at: Faculty of Civil and Transportation Engineering,
Guangdong University of Technology, 100 Waihuan Xi Road, Higher Education
Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China.
E-mail address: ycguo@gdut.edu.cn (Y. Guo).
investigated [3,4]. Recycled aggregate can be produced by grinding,
sieving, and cleaning the C&DW. This effort is one of the main mea-
sures that addresses the accumulation of C&DW, while reducing
the serious environmental impact resulting from the resource
shortages of natural aggregate [5–7].
Many researchers have recently focused on the mechanical
properties of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) mixed with recy-
cled aggregate [6,8–12]. It was found that the compressive
strength, flexural strength, and elastic modulus of RAC become
inferior to those of normal concrete (NC) with an increasing
replacement rate of recycled aggregate, which is mainly attributed
to the high porosity, high water absorption, and low strength of
recycled aggregate [8–10]. It has been reported [13–15] that at
recycled aggregate utilization levels of 25–50%, little or no negative
impact was observed for the strength, workability, or fracture
properties, with the exception of a slight reduction in Young’s

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.05.136
0950-0618/Ó 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 178 (2018) 612–623
modulus. Nevertheless, replacing over 50% natural aggregate with
recycled aggregate can significantly reduce the compressive per-
formance of concrete [15–17]. Moreover, the mechanical perfor-
mance of RAC is significantly influenced by the impurities in
recycled aggregate, such as bricks, wood, and glass [18]. To
improve the mechanical properties of recycled concrete, research-
ers have started to study admixtures of RAC [18–21].
It is believed that the addition of fibres may provide resistance
to the propagation of macrocracks and restrain the development of
micro-cracks [18–22]. Steel fibre and polypropylene fibre (PPF)
have been widely studied because of their relatively substantial
toughness, low cost, and excellent resistance to shrinkage cracking
[23–26]. Medina et al. [27] reported that the incorporation of PPF
enables the control of surface cracking and reduces water perme-
ability and CO2 diffusion into concrete. Furthermore, Naseri et al.
[23] reported that the inclusion of PPF may improve the toughness,
tensile strength, and ductility of concrete. Guo et al. [26] and Car-
neiro et al. [28] observed that the addition of steel fibre can modify
the fracture process of RAC and improve its mechanical strength.
Gao and Zhang [11] reported that the compressive strength of
RAC mixed with steel fibre was similar to that of NC; however,
the incorporation of steel fibre can significantly improve the flexu-
ral strength of RAC. For steel fibre content higher than 1.5% by vol-
ume of concrete, however, the improvement in mechanical
properties may be insignificant or reduced [29]. Therefore, many
of the current applications of steel fibre reinforced concrete have
a fibre content of approximately 1% [29,30].
In addition, silica fume [18,20,31,32] and ground granulated
blast furnace slag [20,33] are frequently used as mineral additives
to enhance the mechanical properties of RAC. Corinaldesi and
Moriconi [34] and Cakir [18] reported that silica fume improves
the compressive behaviour of RAC better than either fly ash or
ground granulated blast furnace slag. In addition to increasing
the density of recycled concrete and improving the compressive
strength of concrete, the incorporation of silica fume in concrete
can effectively overcome the issue of recycling the by-products of
silicon and ferrosilicon alloy production [31]. Notably, Cakir [18]
reported that the incorporation of silica fume might result in a
greater improvement of the mechanical properties of RAC than
those of NC. Additionally, as reported by Wongkeo et al. [35], the
addition of silica fume also improves the chloride resistance of
concrete. A combination of the incorporation of steel fibre and sil-
ica fume to concrete has also been reported in recent studies. The
influence of silica fume on steel fibre bond properties in reactive
powder concrete was studied by Chan and Chu [36]. They found
that the addition of silica fume can effectively improved the
fibre–matrix interfacial properties, especially in fibre pull-out
energy. Koksal et al. [37] reported that the incorporation of silica
fume improved the split tensile and flexural strengths of high
strength steel fibre concrete. The addition of silica fume also signif-
icantly enhances the impact performance of steel fibre-reinforced
Table 1
Properties of silica fume.
Dry matter content (%) Loss on ignition (%) Water-soluble sulfates (%)
99.3 1.9 0.45
Table 2
Fibre properties.
Fibre length (mm) Diameter (mm) Elastic modulus (GPa)
PPFs 12 0.018–0.045 >3.5 GPa
Steel fibres 32 0.7 20 GPa
613
concrete [38,39]. However, very few studies on the coupling effects
of silica fume and steel fibre as an additive have been presented on
the compressive and flexural behaviours of RAC [40].
2. Research significance
Studies have shown that the performance of recycled concrete
can be improved by adding optimal amounts of silica fume or
fibres; however, previous studies have focused on the independent
effects of silica fume or fibres on the mechanical performance of
RAC. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no substantial work
has been performed on the coupling effects of silica fume and
fibres on the mechanical behaviour of RAC. RAC containing silica
fume and fibres is considered a promising type of high-
performance concrete [40]: (1) RAC and silica fume are mainly
included because of their environmental and economic signifi-
cance; (2) the fibre component is used to improve the flexural per-
formance of concrete, such as the flexural strength and fracture
toughness; and (3) silica fume is also used to improve the bond
properties between the aggregate and paste, resulting in the
improved mechanical performance of concrete. Therefore, in order
to effectively use the recycled aggregate concrete in structural
applications, it is essential to study the combined use of silica fume
and fibres on the mechanical properties of RAC.
The aim of this study was to investigate the coupling effects of
silica fume and steel fibre/PPF on the compressive and flexural
behaviour of RAC and NC. A series of cylindrical specimens and
prisms were cast and tested under compressive loading and
three-point bending, respectively. The test parameters included
the silica fume incorporation method, silica fume content, and fibre
type. To maximize the recycling of C&DW, the natural coarse
aggregate (NA) in the concrete mixture was completely replaced
by recycled coarse aggregate (RA). Additionally, a steel fibre with
a low aspect ratio was used in the study based on the production
cost. The compressive strength, stress–strain relationship, elastic
modulus, fracture toughness, and failure mode were investigated
to determine the optimal silica fume content.
3. Experimental design
3.1. Materials
3.1.1. Cement, silica fume, steel fibres and PPF
In this study, ordinary Portland cement with a strength of 42.5 MPa complying
with the Chinese standard for ‘‘Common Portland Cement” [41] was used. Silica
fume complying with the Chinese standard for ‘‘Mineral admixtures for high
strength and high performance concrete” [42] was used in the concrete mixtures;
the chemical and physical properties of the silica fume are listed in Table 1.
The thick shear-wave-type steel fibres used in this study were prepared from
ordinary steel, because the cost of steel fibres with a low aspect ratio is lower than
that of thin steel fibres. Table 2 lists the chemical and physical properties of the
steel fibres and PPFs.
Silica content (%) Chloride content (%) F–CaO content (%)
94.61 0.01 <0.1
Tensile strength (MPa) Density (gcm3) Ignition (°C)
>400 0.91 590
600 7.82 1538
614 J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 178 (2018) 612–623

Table 3
The proportion of each component in the RA.

Granite aggregate Red brick Old paste Broken tiles

75.6% 11.8% 9.7% 2.9%

3.1.2. Aggregates
The NA used in this study was made of granite. The majority of the RA was
obtained from the crushed waste concrete of many civil buildings, with a compres-
sive strength of 20–30 MPa. A small amount of RA produced from crushed bricks
was also included. To improve the quality of the aggregate, impurities such as wood
and glass were manually removed. Water was used to flush the RA many times, and
then the RA was allowed to naturally dry in sunshine before use. The proportion of
each component in the RA used in the tested concrete mixture is presented in
Table 3. Both the NA and RA had continuous grading from 5 to 20 mm. The main
properties of the coarse aggregates are summarized in Table 4. In this study, the fine
aggregates are sand. The coarse sand extracted from the river had a fineness mod-
ulus of 2.52, a water absorption rate of 0.8%, and a specific gravity of 2.69. The size
grading of the aggregates is shown in Fig. 1.

3.1.3. Superplasticizer
A high-performance polycarboxylate-based superplasticizer was used to
enhance the low workability of the mixtures. The main properties of the superplas-
ticizer provided by the manufacturer Guangdong Jiangmen Strong Building Materi-
als Technology Co., Ltd, China, are listed in Table 5.
3.2. Specimen design
A total of 13 groups of mixtures containing NA or RA, steel fibre or PPF, and
various silica fume contents were designed, as shown in Table 6. One group of
NC without silica fume or fibres was used as a control group; the other 12 groups
were mixed with fibres (steel fibre or PPF) and/or silica fume. The mixtures of 8 of
these groups were cast using NA, and those of the other 4 groups were cast using
RA. To improve the recycling utilization of C&DW, a complete substitution of the
NA with 100% RA was performed. Because of the high-water absorption of RA,
additional water was added to the mixture based on the water absorption ratio
of the RA. Two methods of adding silica fume were considered: the equal quantity
substitution (QS) of cement and the direct addition (AD) of the cement mass into
the concrete. Based on the synthetical consideration of the performance effects
and economic costs, the tested silica fume contents were 0%, 5%, and 10% by QS
and 3% by AD. Based on the literature on the optimal fibre content of fibre-
reinforced concrete, 1 vol% of steel fibre [30,43] or 0.13 vol% of PPF [44] was added
to the concrete mixture. Additionally, the amount of superplasticizer used in the
concrete was 3 wt% of the cement based on slump tests following the Chinese
standard [45].
Three specimens were made for the same set of test parameters. In total, 39
cylinders with dimensions of 150 mm (diameter)  300 mm (length) and 39 pre-
notched prisms with dimensions of 100 mm (height)  100 mm (width)  515
mm (length) (Fig. 3) were prepared. The specimens were sealed with a plastic film
to keep them wet under the indoor temperatures for 24 h. After demoulding, they
were cured for 28 days under ordinary maintenance conditions. Ninety days after
casting, all the specimens were tested.
3.3. Test procedures
3.3.1. Compression tests
Axial compression tests were performed on the cylinder specimens using a
compression test machine (MATEST, C088-01, Italy) with a 4000-kN capacity, as
shown in Fig. 2(a). The test procedure was performed according to the ASTM Stan-
dard ‘‘Standard Test Method for Compressive Strength of Cylindrical Concrete Spec-
imens”. As shown in Fig. 2(a), two linear variable displacement transducers (LVDTs)
were employed to measure the axial displacement. In addition, two strain gauges
were bonded at the mid-height of the cylinder specimens to measure the hoop
strains during compression. Axial loads were applied to the cylinders at a displace-
ment rate of 0.18 mm/min. The test was stopped when the load reached 10% of the
peak stress of the specimen.
Fig. 1. Fine and coarse aggregate size grading.
3.3.2. Flexural tests
In accordance with the recommendation of the RILEM Fracture Mechanics Com-
mittee (TC50-FMC), three-point bending tests were performed on the prisms using
an electro-hydraulic servo static & dynamic universal test machine (SDS500, China)
with a 500-kN capacity, as shown in Fig. 2(b). Before testing, the loading surface of
each specimen was levelled with high-strength gypsum to eliminate loading
eccentricity. The load was applied to the prisms at a displacement rate of
0.2 mm/min. To measure the mid-span deflection of the concrete prism, two LVDTs
were placed symmetrically from the mid-span of the prism and another two were
placed at each support; the deflection was determined from the four values. Strain
gauges were used to measure the cracking load of the prism, while the crack mouth
opening displacement (CMOD) was measured with an extensometer with an accu-
racy of 0.001 mm, as shown in Fig. 3. A Tokyo Sokki Kenkyujo Co., Ltd. high-speed
acquisition system (TDS-530) was employed to record the displacement, strain, and
load data.
4. Compressive test results and discussion
4.1. Failure mode
During the axial compression, all the cylindrical specimens
underwent the following macroscopic failure process: cracks first
began to appear in the centre of the specimen accompanied by
sound; with increasing load, small cracks propagated from the
middle to both ends and gathered into a main crack; finally, the
main crack passed through the surface of the specimen, leading
to the concrete failure. Fig. 4(a), (b), (c), and (d) show the compres-
sive failure modes of the specimens with silica fume contents of
0%, 5%, and 10% by QS and 3% by AD, respectively.
As observed in Fig. 4(a), compared with the non-fibre NC, the
specimens containing steel fibre or PPF after failure remained more
intact and had more cracks; however, the cracks were narrower.
This result is in accordance with previous analogous investigations
[24,29]. Thus, it is believed that the presence of fibres can delay the
spread of cracking. The major factor of the increase in the anti-
cracking capacity is that fibres play a bridging role in the concrete
[46]. When the fibres were randomly distributed in the concrete, in
addition to the paste and aggregates, some fibres could bear part of

Table 4
Basic properties of the coarse aggregates.

Type Particle size (mm) Apparent density (kg/m3) Bulk density (kg/m3) Water absorption (%) Crushing index (%)
NA 5–20 2652 1350 0.9 8.33
RA 5–20 2435 1200 2.1 11.67
 J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 178 (2018) 612–623 615

Table 5
Properties of the superplasticizer.

Type Appearance Water reduction rate Air content Ratio of shrinkage

QL-PC5 Reddish-brown liquid 20–45% 1–5% 110%

Table 6
Test mixtures.

Group Specimen Mix proportion (kg/m3)

Water Cement Sand NA RA Silica fume Additional water F or P Superplasticizer
NC NC 172 358.3 785.5 1041.2 – – – – 1.08
NC-P NC-S0P 172 358.3 785.5 1041.2 – – – 1.2 1.08
NC-S5P 172 340.4 785.5 1041.2 – 17.9 – 1.2 1.08
NC-S10P 172 322.5 785.5 1041.2 – 35.8 – 1.2 1.08
NC-S3P 172 358.3 785.5 1041.2 – 10.7 – 1.2 1.08
NC-F NC-S0F 172 358.3 785.5 1041.2 – – – 78 1.08
NC-S5F 172 340.4 785.5 1041.2 – 17.9 – 78 1.08
NC-S10F 172 322.5 785.5 1041.2 – 35.8 – 78 1.08
NC-S3F 172 358.3 785.5 1041.2 – 10.7 – 78 1.08
RC-F RC-S0F 172 358.3 785.5 – 964.9 – 19.3 78 1.08
RC-S5F 172 340.4 785.5 – 964.9 17.9 19.3 78 1.08
RC-S10F 172 322.5 785.5 – 964.9 35.8 19.3 78 1.08
RC-S3F 172 358.3 785.5 – 964.9 10.7 19.3 78 1.08

Note: NC and RC denote normal concrete and recycled concrete, respectively; F and P denote steel fibre and polypropylene fibre, respectively; S0, S5, and S10 denote the silica
fume substitution ratios of 0%, 5%, and 10%, respectively; S3 denotes the addition of silica fume (3 wt% of the cement).

(a) Compression tests (b) Flexural tests

Fig. 2. Test set-up.

the resistance to crack growth, resulting in the enhancement of the
concrete deformation capacity [24]. Compared with the steel-fibre
concrete, the cracks in the PPF concrete were smaller and finer
and the integrity was improved, as shown in Fig. 4(a). This
phenomenon may be explained by the larger bonding surface
area due to the finer and thinner size of PPF, which might
cause the bond properties between PPF and concrete to be
stronger than those between shear-wave-type steel fibre and
concrete.
With increasing silica fume content, the morphology of the
specimens after failure was substantially different, as shown in
Fig. 4(b), (c) and (d); the crack width increased, and the number
of cracks gradually decreased. Comparing Fig. 4(a) and (c), it can
be clearly demonstrated that major macrocracks formed along
the lengths of the concrete cylinders with 10% SF, whereas multiple
small longitudinal cracks can be observed in the concrete without
SF. These findings could be attributed to the increase in silica fume
significantly modifying the microstructure of the calcium silicate
hydrate (C-S-H) gel [47] and creating a denser interface between
the cement matrix and the PPF or steel fibre, which improve the
bonding performance and prevent crack propagation, while
increasing the brittleness of the concrete [48]. Comparing Fig. 4
(b) and (d), it is apparent that the failure mode of the specimen
containing 5% silica fume by QS was similar to that of the specimen
containing 3% silica fume by AD; this is because the mix propor-
tions of these two groups were similar, as shown in Table 6. In
addition, the failure surface of Group RC-F appeared looser than
that of Group NC-F, as shown in Fig. 4(b) and (c). This result may
be mainly attributed to the lower strength and elastic modulus
of RA, as well as the higher porosity of RAC [31].
616 J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 178 (2018) 612–623
Fig. 3. Design of the notched prism for the three-point bending test.
4.2. Compressive strength
The compressive strengths of all the specimens are listed in
Table 7. Each presented value is the average of the test results of
the three specimens. It can be seen that the addition of PPF caused
a 2.5% increase in the compressive strength, whereas the addition
of steel fibre caused a 10.8% reduction in the compressive strength.
This finding indicates that the addition of PPF improved the com-
pressive property of concrete more than the shear-wave-type steel
fibre. The strength of concrete depends on the strength of the
aggregates/fibre, the cement matrix and the interfacial transition
zone (ITZ) between the matrix and the aggregates/fibre [31]. Often,
the bond properties between steel fibres with a low aspect ratio
and the cement matrix are weak, resulting in a decrease in the
compressive strength of the concrete. Chen and Pan [49] added
shear-wave type steel fibres to concrete and reported similar
results. Gao et al. [50] also pointed out that fibres with a low aspect
ratio could lower the compressive strength of concrete. Compared
with the steel fibre used in this study, the PPF used is finer, and the
aspect ratio of the PPF is over 267, while the aspect ratio of steel
fibre is only 46. The decrease in the compressive strength of con-
crete with steel fibre can also be attributed to the difficult disper-
sion of the thick steel fibre during mixing; however, PPF is finer
and can be more easily dispersed into a three-dimensional fibre
network in concrete [24], which limits the transverse deformation
of concrete, thereby improving the compressive strength.
The incorporation of silica fume can increase the compressive
strength of fibre-reinforced concrete, as shown in Table 7. The
addition of 5% and 10% silica fume by QS improved the compres-
sive strength of PPF concrete by 21.5% and 26.3%, respectively. In
contrast, the addition of 5% and 10% silica fume by QS improved
the compressive strength of steel-fibre concrete by 9.1% and
44.6%, respectively. Therefore, the incorporation of steel fibre alone
may have a negative effect on the compressive strength of con-
crete, whereas the addition of silica fume can reduce or counteract
the negative effect of steel fibre. The incorporation of thick steel
fibres reduces the density of concrete; however, the filling effect
of silica fume can significantly modify the bonding property of
steel fibre and paste [49]. For Groups NC-F and NC-P, the incorpo-
ration of a high silica fume content (10%) significantly improved
the compressive strength, and the improvement was better than
that achieved by adding 5% silica fume by QS or 3% silica fume
by AD. These findings indicate that the addition of 10% silica fume
by QS is the best choice for improving the compressive strength of
concrete containing PPF or steel fibre.
For the RAC, Table 7 indicates that when the NA was completely
replaced by RA, the compressive strength of the steel-fibre con-
crete without silica fume was reduced by 11.2%. Similar to the
results for NC, the incorporation of silica fume improved the com-
pressive strength of the steel fibre RAC, and the compressive
strength increased with increasing silica fume content. When
10% silica fume was added by QS, the compressive strength of
the RAC containing steel fibre increased by 32.5% and was 5%
higher than that of Specimen NC. This result is mainly attributed
to the reaction between silica fume and Ca(OH)2 produced by the
hydration of cement to generate a new material—C–H–S gel,
namely, the pozzolanic effect [51]. This new material continued
to fill the hydration products, thereby making the structure denser.
To investigate the effects of the silica fume content on the com-
pressive strength of RAC with fibre, a comparison of the results of
the present study with those of previous investigations [18,31,52]
concerning non-fibre RAC is presented in Fig. 5. From Fig. 5, it can
be observed that for the RAC without fibres, the strength improve-
ment rate ranged from 3% to 7% and from 1% to 10% when adding
5% and 10% silica fume, respectively. A comparison of these previ-
ous results with the present findings indicates that the modifica-
tion effect of silica fume on the RAC with steel fibre was
significantly better than that on the non-fibre RAC. That is, silica
fume and steel fibre have an excellent coupling effect. In addition,
the effect of adding 3% silica fume by AD was similar to that of add-
ing 5% silica fume by QS. Based on the synthetical consideration of
the compressive strength improvement and economic cost, 5% sil-
ica fume by QS is a better choice than 3% silica fume by AD.
4.3. Stress–strain relationship
Complete stress–strain curves of the cylindrical specimens were
obtained from the compression tests. The axial strains during com-
pression were measured by using LVDTs, and the hoop strains were
recorded by the strain gauge, as shown in Fig. 2. The stress–strain
curves of the tested specimens with different silica fume contents
are presented in Fig. 6.
For Specimen NC, the peak stress decreased and the descending
stage became flatter after adding steel fibre; however, the opposite
effect occurred with the addition of PPF. This result indicates that
the steel fibre reduced the peak stress of the concrete but increased
 J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 178 (2018) 612–623 617

(a) Specimens without silica fume

(b) Specimens containing 5% silica fume

(c) Specimens containing 10% silica fume

(d) Specimens containing 3% silica fume by AD

Fig. 4. Failure modes of cylinders under axial compression.

its energy dissipation capacity. The reason for this phenomenon is descending stage, the steel fibre fully exhibited its high tensile
that weak bonding between the steel fibre and paste decreased the strength property, which increased the resistance to cracking
compressive strength; as the cracked concrete entered the [29]. With the addition of silica fume, the peak stress of the
618 J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 178 (2018) 612–623
Table 7
Compressive strength results.
Group Compressive strength (MPa)
Silica fume by QS
0%
NC 45.65
NC-P 46.79
NC-F 40.70
RC-F 36.12
Fig. 5. Effect of silica fume on the compressive strength of concrete.
concrete with steel fibre or PPF increased; however, the descending
stage became steeper, indicating that silica fume can reduce the
energy consumption of the concrete and increase its brittleness,
similar to the results of the previously reported studies [48]. There-
fore, the stress-strain curves of NC without fibre seem to be similar
to those of steel fibre concrete with 5% silica fume, as shown in
Fig. 6 (b). Compared with the PPF concrete with 5% silica fume,
the steel-fibre concrete had a lower peak load but a flatter
descending stage due to the high-toughness characteristics of the
steel fibre [24]. However, it should be noted that when the silica
fume content is 10%, the peak load of the steel-fibre concrete is
very close to that of the PPF concrete, while the descending stage
of the former is significantly flatter than that of the latter. These
experimental results indicate that steel-fibre concrete with opti-
mal silica fume content is more suitable than the PPF concrete
for use in the compressive member of concrete structures.
For RAC, Fig. 6 demonstrates that the peak stress of the stress–
strain curve decreased after the NA was completely replaced by the
RA, and the upward and downward segments generally became
flatter. This finding can be explained by the strength and elastic
modulus of the RA being smaller than those of the NA [21]. Never-
theless, the combined use of steel fibre and silica fume improved
the compressive performance of RAC, as shown in Fig. 6(b), (c)
and (d). It is noted that the stress–strain curve of RAC containing
5% silica fume by QS is similar to that of the specimen containing
3% silica fume by AD. With the increase of silica fume content, an
interesting result is that the stress–strain curves of Specimen RC-
S10F almost enclose those of Specimen NC, as shown in Fig. 6(c).
It can be concluded from the above results that RC-S10F is more
suitable for use than NC if only compressive performance is
considered.
Silica fume by AD
5% 10% 3%
– – –
56.86 59.11 56.12
44.42 58.84 53.26
40.41 47.86 41.68
4.4. Modulus of elasticity
The test results of the elastic modulus of the specimens are pre-
sented in Table 8. According to the China concrete standard [53],
the elastic modulus in Table 8 is defined as the secant modulus
of its stress-strain curve at the point of the 1/3 peak load.
As observed in Table 8, the addition of PPF and steel fibre into
NC led to decreases in the modulus of elasticity of 14.1% and
7.2%, respectively. The reason for this decrease in the modulus of
elasticity is probably because the elastic modulus of concrete
depends substantially on the kind of components in the concrete
[18]. Because the elastic modulus of PPF is low (only approximately
10% of that of plain concrete), the addition of PPF may cause a
decrease in the elastic modulus of the concrete. For the steel-
fibre concrete, it was difficult to achieve an even distribution of
the steel fibre in the concrete [24], especially for the steel fibre
with a low aspect ratio; consequently, this resulted in a reduction
in the density of the concrete and thereby a reduction in the elastic
modulus [49]. For the RA without silica fume, when the RA com-
pletely replaced the NA, the modulus of elasticity decreased by
13.9%. As previously mentioned, the reason for this reduction
should be due to the presence of a weaker aggregate in the con-
crete [34], i.e., the elastic modulus of RA is lower than that of
NA. In terms of the elastic modulus of RAC, many studies are
reported in the literature. Xiao et al. [54] and Xie et al. [21] showed
that a complete replacement of NA by RA caused a reduction in the
elastic modulus by 45% and 48%, respectively, while Frondistou
[55] and Hansen and Boegh [56] reported that the reductions in
the elastic modulus of RAC were 48% and 14–28%, respectively.
The main reason for the differences in the reductions in the elastic
modulus is due to the different elastic modulus values of RA used
by these different investigators [34].
To demonstrate the silica fume content on the modulus of elas-
ticity, Fig. 7 presents the relationship between the silica fume con-
tent and the relative elastic modulus, defined as the ratio of the
elastic modulus of concerned specimen to that of the specimen
without silica fume in same group. It can be seen from Fig. 7 that
the elastic modulus of the NC with PPF exhibited a more stable
change than that of the steel-fibre reinforced NC with increasing
silica fume content; adding 10% silica fume by QS resulted in an
increase in the modulus of elasticity for the NC containing steel
fibre and PPF by 16.8% and 18.0%, respectively. However, the effect
of silica fume on the elastic modulus of the RAC containing steel
fibre was small, with a increase of only 5.3% by 10% silica fume,
as shown in Fig. 7. In addition, the effect of the addition of 3% silica
fume by AD on the elastic modulus of all the mixtures was similar
to that of adding 10% silica fume by QS. A possible reason for the
difference in the silica fume effect on the NC and the RAC is
because the presence and number of voids in a material substan-
tially influences its stiffness, as reported in Corinaldesi and Mori-
coni [34] and Etxeberria et al. [57]. Since RAC with 100% RA is
more porous than NC, the addition of silica fume cannot signifi-
cantly reduce the negative effect of high porosity on the stiffness
of the RAC. Thus, compared with the effect of the addition of silica
 J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 178 (2018) 612–623 619

Fig. 6. Stress–strain curves of the specimens.

Table 8
Modulus of elasticity of the specimens.

Group Modulus of elasticity (GPa)

Silica fume by QS Silica fume by AD
0% 5% 10% 5%
NC 46.63 – – –
NC-P 40.12 47.05 47.35 47.12
NC-F 43.28 42.26 50.56 49.14
RC-F 37.23 42.05 39.23 38.04

fume on the compressive strength, only a minimal effect was
observed on the elastic modulus.
4.5. Compressive toughness
In this study, the energy absorptive capacity of the mixtures
under compressive loading was evaluated based on the toughness
and ratio of toughness to the corresponding compressive strength
of the concrete (the later parameter is defined as the unit tough-
ness). The toughness of concrete refers to the area under the
stress–strain curve. Fig. 8 presents the experimental results of
the toughness and unit toughness of all the specimens. In this
study, the area under the stress–strain curve of the specimen
was calculated to be an axial strain value of 1.5%.
After adding steel fibre and PPF to the NC, the toughness of con-
crete increased by 9% and 4.6%, respectively, and the unit tough-
ness increased by 22.2% and 2.1%, respectively. In accordance
with previous studies [22,26], these results indicate that the addi-
tion of steel fibre or PPF can reduce the crack tip stress of concrete
under compression via energy dissipation. In addition, steel fibre is
stronger than PPF and improved the compressive dissipation
capacity of concrete better than PPF. For the RAC, the total replace-
ment of the NA by RA led to a 13% decrease in the concrete tough-
ness; however, a small difference was observed for the unit
toughness, which indicates that the reduction in the concrete
620 J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 178 (2018) 612–623
Fig. 7. Effect of the addition of silica fume on the modulus of elasticity.
Fig. 8. Effect of the silica fume content on toughness and unit toughness.
toughness was mainly due to the reduction of the compressive
strength.
The addition of silica fume reduced the toughness and unit
toughness of all the specimens, as shown in Fig. 8, verifying that
the addition of silica fume increased the brittleness of the concrete
[48]. It is noted that the addition of silica fume only slightly
decreased the toughness but had a more significant effect on the
unit toughness. This is mainly because silica fume improves the
compressive strength of concrete, while increasing the brittleness,
leading to small changes in the area under the stress–strain curve.
Compared with the use of 5% and 10% silica fume by QS, the use of
3% silica fume by AD did not show additional benefits for the steel-
fibre RAC. Interestingly, by increasing the silica fume content from
5% to 10%, the toughness of the steel-fibre RAC increased by 16%,
while the unit toughness only decreased by 2%; however, the unit
toughness of the NC with steel-fibre and PPF decreased by 21.6%
and 9.6%, respectively. Thus, the RAC with the combined use of
1% steel fibres and 10% silica fume had a better energy absorptive
capacity than the NC. There are two possible reasons for this
improvement. First, the incorporation of silica fume can effectively
enhance the fibre–matrix interfacial properties [36]. The other rea-
son is that recycled aggregates also contain calcium hydroxide par-
ticles that should help improve the pozzolanic activity of the silica
fume, consequently effectively improving the interfacial bond
between the aggregates and cement [34].
5. Flexural test results and discussion
5.1. Failure mode
All the prism specimens had similar failure processes. Before
the specimens reached the peak load, there was no obvious change
in the specimen surface. After the peak load was reached, propaga-
tion of the pre-crack tip occurred, resulting in the formation of the
main vertical crack. Finally, with increased loading, the main crack
stably extended throughout the entire specimen.
The failure modes of the fractured surfaces of Specimens NC,
NC-S0P, and RC-S10F are shown in Fig. 9(a)–(c), respectively. Com-
pared with Specimen NC, the fracture surface of Specimen RC-S10F
was more uneven, which indirectly indicates that the steel fibre
provided an anti-crack effect in the concrete. In contrast, the addi-
tion of PPF did not cause a clear change in the failure mode of the
specimen. For Specimen NC, the main crack mainly propagated
along the bonded surface between the NA and paste (Fig. 9(a)).
For Specimen NC-S0P, the main crack also mainly passed through
the bonded surface between the NA and paste; however, a small
amount of splitting occurred in the coarse aggregate, and the PPFs
were broken at the fractured surface (Fig. 9(b)). For Specimen RC-
S10F, more coarse aggregates (RA) were split, and the pulled-out
steel fibres were distributed throughout the fractured surface
(Fig. 9(c)). This finding also indicates that the bond strength
between the concrete and steel fibre was lower than the steel fibre
strength. The development of cracks must overcome the cohesive
force between steel fibre and concrete and lead to pull-out and
not breakage of the steel fibres. From the energetic viewpoint, a
crack always propagates along the path with minimum energy
consumption [31]. Because the ITZ between the matrix and the
recycled aggregates was enhanced by the silica fume, the weakest
point, being in these RACs, may be the RA itself. Therefore, the
main crack commonly passed through the recycled aggregates, as
demonstrated at a macroscopic scale in Fig. 9(c).
5.2. Load–deflection curves
The relationship curves of the load and mid-span deflection of
the prism specimens under three-point bending are shown in
Fig. 10. The peak loads (i.e., flexural strength) of the specimens
were determined from the load–deflection curves, and the results
are presented in Table 9.
As presented in Fig. 10 and Table 9, the addition of PPF slightly
influenced the load–deflection curve of concrete. In contrast, the
addition of steel fibre significantly increased the peak load of the
concrete, and the descending stage of the load–deflection curve
became visibly flatter. Thus, it is believed that the flexural
performance of the steel-fibre concrete is better than that of the
PPF concrete [24]. In addition, combining Fig. 10 and Table 9, it
can be observed that the addition of silica fume had a minimal
effect on the flexural strength and stiffness of the PPF concrete;
in contrast, the addition of silica fume not only clearly improved
the flexural strength of the steel-fibre concrete but also flattened
the load–deflection curve after the peak load. This finding indicates
that compared with the use of steel fibre alone, the combined use
of silica fume and steel fibre can provide additional benefits for
the concrete’s flexural properties, which can be attributed to the
improvement of the bond strength between the steel fibre and
paste [36].
For the RAC, 100% RA replacement not only had an adverse
effect on the flexural strength of the concrete but also led to the
deterioration of the flexural rigidity, as reported in Xie et al. [21]
and Guo et al. [26]. However, the combination of steel fibre and sil-
ica fume compensated for the defects of RAC. As observed in
 J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 178 (2018) 612–623 621

(a) Specimen NC

Fig. 10. Load–deflection curves of notched prisms.

Table 9
Flexural strength.

Group Flexural strength (kN)

Silica fume by QS Silica fume by AD
0% 5% 10% 3%
NC 5.11 – – –
NC-F 6.56 7.34 7.02 7.13
NC-P 5.45 5.47 5.54 5.89
* *
RC-F 6.55 6.13
*
Data not obtained.

5.3. Fracture toughness

(b) Specimen NC-S0P
To analyse the fracture toughness of the mixtures, the equation
for the stress intensity factor of a general three-point bending
prism proposed by Guinea et al. [58] was used:
Pmax S
ac 
K Ic ¼ 3=2
f ð1Þ
th h
where KIc is the fracture toughness, Pmax is the peak load of the
notched prism, S is the span between supports, t is the prism thick-
 
ness, h is the prism height, and f ahc is the geometric factor (shape
function) described by
ac  h  2 i

a  1:99  h
1  ahc 2:15  3:93 ahc þ 2:7 ahc
c
F ¼   3=2 ð2Þ
h 1 þ 2 ahc 1  ahc
Here, ac is the critical effective crack length, which can be
obtained using Equation (3) developed by Xu and Reinhardt [59]:
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2 tEðCMODc Þ
(c) Specimen RC-S10F ac ¼ ðh þ H0 Þ arctan  0:1135  H0 ð3Þ
p 32:6P max
Fig. 9. Failure modes of fractured surfaces.
where H0 is the thickness of the aluminium sheet used for fixing the
clip-on gauge (1 mm, as shown in Fig. 2); CMODc is the critical value
of the CMOD when the load is Pmax; and E is the effective modulus
Table 9, the flexural strength of the RAC containing steel fibre and based on the load–CMOD curve, as reported in Guo et al. [26]. The
silica fume was significantly higher than that of the NC. Thus, it load–CMOD curve of the tested specimens is presented in Fig. 11.
could be concluded that due to the superior coupling effect of silica Comparing Fig. 11 with Fig. 10, it can be found that the load–CMOD
fume and steel fibre, the steel-fibre RAC with silica fume has good curve of same specimen had a similar trend with its load-deflection
flexural strength. curve.
622 J. Xie et al. / Construction and Building Materials 178 (2018) 612–623
Fig. 11. Load–CMOD curves of notched prisms.
Fig. 12. Effect of the silica fume content on fracture toughness.
The effect of the silica fume content on the fracture toughness
of the concrete is shown in Fig. 12. The fracture toughness of the
NC increased by 14.6% and 25.0% after adding PPF and steel fibre,
respectively. In accordance with previous studies [24], steel fibre
is more suitable than PPF for improving the fracture toughness of
concrete. Moreover, it can be seen from Fig. 12 that the addition
of silica fume hardly affected the fracture toughness of the PPF con-
crete but clearly improved that of the steel fibre concrete, similar
to the influence on the flexural strength. The reason for the differ-
ent influences on the PPF and steel-fibre RAC is that the pozzolanic
and micro-filler effects of silica fume can compensate for the
defects caused by weak bonding between the steel fibre and paste
in the RAC [36], as mentioned above, which consequently supports
the high-strength property of the steel fibre.
As shown in Fig. 12, the use of 10% silica fume by QS could cause
better fracture resistance for the RAC than the use of 3% silica fume
by AD. Compared with the NC, the fracture toughness of the steel-
fibre RAC with 3% (AD) and 10% (QS) silica fume increased by 10.7%
and 60.3%, respectively. Thus, the steel-fibre RAC with silica fume
not only shows good compressive behaviour but also has excellent
flexural performance. That is, the RAC containing steel fibre and sil-
ica fume is a more environmentally friendly alternative to normal
concrete for use in structural engineering.
6. Conclusions
In this study, the coupling effects of silica fume and steel or
polypropylene fibres on the compressive and flexural behaviour
of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) and normal concrete (NC)
were investigated, and the following conclusions were drawn:
1) Polypropylene fibre has a better modification effect on the
compressive strength of concrete than shear-wave-type
steel fibre. The independent addition of steel fibre with a
low aspect ratio may have a negative effect on the compres-
sive strength of concrete due to the weak bonding interface;
however, adding silica fume can compensate for this defect.
2) The modification effect of silica fume on the compressive
properties of the steel-fibre RAC was significantly better
than that of the non-fibre RAC. The strength improvement
of the non-fibre RAC ranged from 3% to 10% after adding
5–10% silica fume, while that of the RAC containing steel
fibre may be over 30% after adding 10% silica fume.
3) The coupling effect of silica fume and steel fibre not only
improves the compressive properties of RAC but also
enhances its flexural resistance. The improvement of the
flexural performance of the concrete using steel fiber was
clearly better than that when using polypropylene fibre. In
addition, the addition of silica fume can further improve
the fracture toughness of steel fibre concrete. Compared
with the NC, the fracture toughness of the steel-fibre RAC
with 100% RA and 10% silica fume increased by over 50%.
4) Silica fume and steel fibre exhibited an excellent coupling
effect that was better than silica fume and polypropylene
fibre. To meet the requirements of the compressive and flex-
ural properties, RAC incorporating steel fibre and silica fume
is a more environmentally friendly alternative than normal
concrete for use in concrete structures.
5) Compared with 3% silica fume by direct addition, 10% silica
fume by the equal quantity substitution of cement could
improve the compressive and flexural strength of the steel-
fibre RAC. Based on the synthetical consideration of the per-
formance improvement and economic cost, 10% silica fume
content by the equal quantity substitution of cement is opti-
mal for the steel-fibre RAC.
Conflict of Interest
None.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support pro-
vided by the Science and Technology Planning Project of
Guangdong Province (Nos. 2017B020238006, 2017A010103030
and 2014A020216053), the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (No. 11602060) and the Science and Technology
Project Foundation of Guangzhou (Nos. 201704030057 and
201707010364).
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