Construction and Building Materials 263 (2020) 120636

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Combined effects of supplementary cementitious materials (silica fume,

GGBS, fly ash and rice husk ash) and steel fiber on the hardened
properties of recycled aggregate concrete
Liaqat Ali Qureshi a, Babar Ali b,⇑, Asad Ali c
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Swedish College of Engineering and Technology (SCET), Wah Cantt 47060, Pakistan
b
Department of Civil Engineering, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Sahiwal Campus, Sahiwal 57000, Pakistan
c
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Taxila 47050, Pakistan

h i g h l i g h t s

Overall performance of RC is upgraded by using mineral admixtures and steel fiber.

Studied mineral admixtures include silica fume, fly ash, rice husk ash and GGBS.

Studied mechanical parameters include compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, modulus of elasticity.

Studied durability parameters include, water absorption, chloride ion penetration and acid attack.

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

Article history: Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) is now getting much more attention than ever as a likely substitute for
Received 30 April 2020 natural aggregate concrete, credited to the growing interest of many countries towards the sustainable
Received in revised form 1 August 2020 environment and economy. To increase the goodwill of RAC its performance in terms of strength and
Accepted 14 August 2020
durability needs to be optimized. This research article presents the effects of combined incorporation
of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) and hook-ended steel fibers (HSF) on compressive
behavior and durability of RAC. In this study, four different SCMs (i.e. silica fume (SF), ground granulated
Keywords:
blast furnace slag (GGBS), fly ash (FA), and rice husk ash (RHA)) were used in RAC with 0% and 1% HSF,
Supplementary cementitious material
Mechanical properties
respectively. SF, GGBS, FA, and RHA were respectively used as 10%, 30%, 20%, and 15% by mass replace-
Tensile strength ment of ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Studied properties included compressive strength, elastic mod-
Durability ulus, splitting tensile strength, water absorption (WA), chloride penetration (CP), and acid attack
Steel fiber resistance (AAR). The results of testing indicate that mechanical strength and durability of RAC can be
Recycled aggregate concrete improved substantially by the combined incorporation of SCMs and HSF reinforcement. SCMs show more
contribution towards the development of durability properties of RAC, whereas, HSF shows more contri-
bution towards the development of mechanical properties and AAR. 10%SF + 1% HSF and 15%RHA + 1%
HSF helped in the production of RAC having superior mechanical and durability properties compared
to that of the plain RAC. Moreover, the benefits of combined addition of HSF and SCMs are notably higher
than the sum of the benefits achieved through individual incorporation of HSF and SCMs.
Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction of aggregates and cement, conveyance of these materials to the

Construction and cement industries have many elements
responsible for environmental pollution and sustainability issues.
These elements include mining of raw materials, manufacturing
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: liaqat.qureshi@uettaxila.edu.pk (L.A. Qureshi), babar.ali@scet-
wah.edu.pk, babar.ali@cuisahiwal.edu.pk (B. Ali), 2012civil20@student.uet.edu.pk
(A. Ali).
construction site, construction wastes. To maintain the quality of
the environment, many environmental agencies around the globe
are urging cement and aggregate industries to lessen their
demands for raw materials. These environmental agencies are
inspiring construction industries to utilize recycled aggregates
and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs).
In 2023, global demand for construction aggregates is forecast
to reach 47 billion metric tons annually [1]. Negative effects of
aggregate mining on the environment are (1) destruction of the

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.120636
0950-0618/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 L.A. Qureshi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 263 (2020) 120636
natural habitat of flora and fauna, desertification, air nuisance,
changes in the outlook of a region [2]. On the other side, due to
the enormous rise in urbanization, construction and demolition
wastes (CDW) have also increased over the past few years. CDW
disposal has several negative impacts on the environment, as it
leads to a shortage of landfilling space, loss of fertile land and habi-
tats, and it can also create a crisis of solid waste management. A
study has shown that land disposal of CDW can increase the toxi-
city levels of soils [3]. Experiencing huge urbanization and indus-
trial development, China alone produced 15 billion tons of CDW
in 2016 [4]. European countries also produce 320–380 million met-
ric ton of CDW per annum [5]. A significant proportion of CDW
reduced by recycling it to make construction aggregates, also
known as recycled aggregates (RA). Researchers [6-8] have shown
that sustainability issues can be tackled using RA concrete (RAC) in
the construction industry. Sustainability benefits of using RAC
comes at the cost of some loss in mechanical and durability perfor-
mance of product concrete [9-13]. The use of RAC can also reduce
the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the processes of con-
crete production [9,14].
Using RAC has some drawbacks when compared to normal con-
crete in terms of mechanical and durability performance. The high
porosity of RA is the main reason why RAC shows low strength and
durability compared to that of the NAC [12,15]. Researchers have
proved that the performance of RAC can be enhanced by using sup-
plementary materials i.e. SCMs and chemical admixtures [9,11,16-
25], fibers [12,19,20,23,26-28] and mix design modifications
[9,10,29]. Cheapest and environment-friendly approach to impro-
vise RAC is the utilizations of SCMs like silica fume (SF), ground-
granulated blast slag (GGBS), fly ash (FA), rice husk ash (RHA).
All of these SCMs are industrial waste products and their cost
and carbon footprint depends upon the cost of transportation
and additional refining processes i.e. heating, grinding, etc.
SF is ultrafine silica (SiO2) which is an industrial waste by-
product of silicon and ferrosilicon alloy production. SF is rich in
amorphous silica content which helps in the faster consumption
of portlandite (CH) in pozzolanic reactions and contributes to the
strengthening of cement paste. The mechanical and durability prop-
erties of RAC has been tested using SF as SCM. Dilbas et al. [19] have
reported that with 5–10% SF, RAC showed compressive strength
comparable to that of the conventional natural aggregate concrete.
Kou et al. [25] reported that RAC made with 50%RA and 10%SF
showed mechanical performance comparable to that of the natural
aggregate concrete. In terms of mechanical properties, the superior-
ity of SF was proved over other SCMs like FA, GGBS, and metakaolin
[25]. SF is also very effective in controlling the durability of RAC [30].
GGBS is a finely ground powder of stone-like industrial waste of
refining (or smelting) process of ores (iron, copper, nickel, etc.).
GGBS mainly contains silica (SiO2), calcium oxide (CaO), and alu-
mina (Al2O3) and it possesses good pozzolanicity. The effect of
GGBS has been studied on RAC. Wang et al. [31] reported that
RAC made 50%RA and 10%GGBS showed better compressive
strength than natural aggregate concrete. 10%GGBS-RAC also
showed less permeability than natural aggregate concrete. Another
study [32] reported that GGBS strengthened the interfacial transi-
tion zone between binder matrix and RA and recovered some loss
in strength and durability. Kou et al. [25] studied the effect of high
volume incorporation of GGBS (up to 55%) on mechanical and
durability performance of RAC. It was shown that RAC incorporat-
ing 55%GGBS experienced a significant decrease in mechanical per-
formance compared to that of the RAC or natural aggregate
concrete made without GGBS. Despite decreasing the mechanical
performance, GGBS was most effective among all SCMs (i.e. FA,
SF, and metakaolin) in controlling chloride ion penetration [25].
FA is a waste product of coal-powered electricity generation
plants and it has pozzolanic properties. RAC has been studied with
different levels of FA considering mechanical and durability perfor-
mance. FA reduced the early age strength but it improved the later-
age strength properties of RAC [9,22]. FA improved the rheological
properties of RAC and it also reduced the demand for water-
reducing admixtures to achieve desired workability [15]. Kou
et al. [17] showed that despite decreasing early age strength prop-
erties, FA was extremely helpful in enhancing the durability of RAC
at both early and later ages. Researchers [9,17,25,33] have also
shown that RAC has a better environment for pozzolanicity than
NAC; therefore, FA contributes more to the strength and durability
properties of RAC. Economy analysis has suggested that despite a
very high transportation cost (for a distance more than
1100 km), FA is still a cheaper material than near-site available
OPC (available at a distance of 45 km) and it also decreases the cost
of both normal concrete and RAC by reducing the need of water-
reducing admixtures [15].
RHA is obtained from the burning of rice hulls or husk (hard pro-
tective shell of rice grain) well below the temperature of 780 °C.
RHA is rich in SiO2 and possesses pozzolanic properties. RHA did
not show any effect on early age mechanical properties but it con-
tributed to later age strength [34]. Very little information is avail-
able on the use of RHA in RAC. Koushkbaghi et al. [35] studied the
mechanical and durability properties of RAC with 20%RHA. They
reported that at both 28, 90, 236-days, RHA-RAC showed superior
mechanical and durability performance compared to RAC with no
RHA. Another study reported [36] that RAC having 20–35%RHA
showed higher compressive strength than RAC without RHA.
Demands for sustainable, durable, and ductile (having high ten-
sile to compressive strength ratios) concrete composites have
increased over the past few years. Overview of the literature sug-
gests that SCMs can greatly improve the durability of RAC, but
SCMs especially FA and GGBS cannot cause any meaningful
improvement in the mechanical performance of RAC. This
demands the development of new techniques that can resolve both
the durability and strength issues of RAC simultaneously. Fiber-
reinforcement is a very useful tool to enhance the overall mechan-
ical performance of concretes i.e. tensile strength [37,38], flexural
strength [39,40], and toughness [41,42]. Simultaneous utilization
of fiber-reinforcements and SCMs in RAC can help to produce sus-
tainable, durable, and ductile composites. Although very little
information is available on the coupling effects of SCMs (SF [20]
and GGBS [43]) and fiber-reinforcements on properties of RAC. This
is the first study that provides a deep insight into the benefits of
the coupling effects of SCMs and fiber-reinforcements on the prop-
erties of RAC. This is also the first study that compares the perfor-
mances of fiber-reinforced RAC with different types of SCMs.
Therefore, in this study, two families of RAC were produced
namely plain RAC (PRAC) and hooked steel fiber (HSF) reinforced
RAC (FRAC). To produce FRAC, a 1% volume fraction of HSF was
used. Both families (i.e. PRAC and FRAC) were studied with 10%
SF, 30%GGBS, 20%FA, and 15%RHA as SCMs. Compressive strength,
splitting tensile strength, and modulus of elasticity were studied as
the mechanical properties at 28 and 90-days. Water absorption
(WA), chloride penetration (CP), and acid attack resistance (AAR)
were studied to evaluate the durability performance of each mix.
The outcomes of this research will be useful towards expanding
the use of RAC in the structural application as high strength, sus-
tainable and ductile material.
2. Experimental program
2.1. Materials
2.1.1. Binders
Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was used as the primary binder in all mixes.
This OPC is Type I General Purpose Cement according to ASTM C150 [44]. Silica
fume (SF) a by-product of ferrosilicon alloy production was used in this study hav-
 L.A. Qureshi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 263 (2020) 120636 3

ing 98.4% SiO2 content. Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) used in this Table 2
research was obtained from the smelting process of iron in a local steel mill. Low Physical properties of fine aggregate and RCA.
calcium fly ash (FA) of DIRK Pozzoplast was used and it qualified as Type F coal
ash according to ASTM C618 [45]. Rice husk ash (RHA) was obtained from GM rice Aggregate 24-hour water Dry rodded Particle
mill. RHA was used after grinding in a ball mill to a passing size of 200 mm. Results absorption (%) density (kg/m3) density (kg/m3)
of chemical analysis and other important physical properties of cement and SCMs Fine aggregates 0.71 1624 2670
are given in Table 1. (ASTM C128)
RCA (ASTM C127) 5.31 1374 2350
2.1.2. Fine and coarse aggregates
Natural siliceous pit or quarry of sand Lawrancepur was used as fine aggregate.
To manufacture recycled coarse aggregates (RCA), specimens of concrete having
compressive strength 35–40 MPa were manually crushed. The maximum size of
CONTROLS UTM machine having 3000 kN load capacity in compression at a loading
RCA was 12.5 mm. Properties of fine aggregates and RCA are provided in Table 2.
rate of 200 kPa/s. Mechanical properties of all mixes were evaluated after 28 and
RCA was kept stored in water-proof plastic bags until the day of casting. Granulom-
90-days of casting.
etry of fine aggregates and RCA is shown in Fig. 1.

2.3.2. Testing of durability properties

2.1.3. Hook-ended steel fibers (HSF)
HSF were cold-drawn steel fibers glued together having single hooks at both of
the ends. The overview of HSF is shown in Fig. 2. These glued HSF were easily
detached in mixing water. The length and diameter of HSF were 35 mm and
0.9 mm, respectively. The tensile strength of these fibers was around 1200 MPa.
These fibers weighed 7750 kg/m3.
2.1.4. Superplasticizer (SP)
SP used in this study was Viscocrete 3110. Viscocrete is an ultra-high range
water-reducing admixture.
2.2. Composition of concrete mixes
Two types of RAC families namely plain-RAC (PRAC) and fiber reinforced-RAC
(FRAC). FRAC was produced using a 1% volume fraction of HSF i.e. 78 kg/m3. The
Control RAC mix was designed for cylindrical compressive strength of 40 MPa using
an absolute volume approach. All four SCMs i.e. SF, GGBS, FA, and RHA were incor-
porated as by mass replacement of OPC. Because of smaller incorporation levels of
all SCMs, the effects of their different densities were ignored. Incorporation levels of
SF, GGBS, FA, and RHA were 10%, 20%, 30%, and 15%, respectively. Water to binder
ratio in all mixes was kept 0.35 for all mixes. RCA was used in saturated surface dry
(SSD) condition. Superplasticizer (SP) was used to achieve the desired slump
between 80 and 110 mm. Details of all concrete mixtures are provided in Table 3.
The Mixing of concretes was done in a mechanical mixer with adjustable rota-
tional speed. In the first stage, aggregates, and binders (including OPC and SCMs)
were dry mixed at 60 revolutions/min for 2 min. In the second stage, half the
amount of water and SP were added and mixing continued at 80 revolutions/min
for 2 min. Subsequently, HSF and remaining half of water and SP were added,
and mixing continued at the speed of 100 revolutions/min for 4 mins. The total
duration of mixing was 10 mins.
To assess durability performance, water absorption (WA), chloride penetration,
and acid attack resistance (AAR) of each mix were evaluated. All durability tests
were performed on 100  100 mm concrete cylinders. WA test was conducted on
specimens 100  100 mm cylinders cured for 28 and 90-days following ASTM
C948 [49]. Eq. (1) was used to calculate WA.
W1  W2
WA ¼  100 ð1Þ
W2
where, W1 = weight of saturated-surface dry specimen (0.1 g); W2 = weight of oven-
dried specimen (0.1 g).
To determine CP resistance, 100 mm  100 mm cylindrical specimens of all
mixes were cured for 28-days. Subsequently, these specimens were dried in the
oven for 3-days at 60 °C. After oven-drying, these specimens were submerged in
a 10% sodium chloride (NaCl) solution. After 28 and 90-days of submersion, speci-
mens were taken out of the NaCl solution and cut along the diameter using table
stone cutter. After that, the cut-surface was air-dried and sprayed with 0.1 N AgNO3
solution to observe CP. CP was recorded at six different points (shown in Fig. 3) in
each specimen as explained by authors [26]. Average CP of three specimens is
reported in this research at each age of testing.
To determine AAR, 100 mm  100 mm cylindrical specimens of all mixes were
cured for 28-days. Subsequently, specimens were oven-dried at 60 °C for 3-days.
After drying, specimens were submerged in 5%H2SO4 solution. Loss in the mass of
all specimens was calculated after 28 and 90-days of submersion. Bulk mass of
specimen after curing at 28-days was considered as initial mass. The final mass
of the specimen was taken after the removal of white deposits formed due to the
attack of acids. Loss in mass was found by noting the percentage difference between
the initial and final mass of the specimen. The loss in mass of the specimen was
estimated using Eq.(2).
AB
M Loss ¼  100 ð2Þ
A

2.3. Testing of specimens where, MLoss = loss in mass due to acid attack; A = initial mass of the specimen
(0.1 g); B = final mass of specimen after exposure to acid attack (0.1 g).
All samples were cast in steel molds. After casting, molds were covered in poly-
thene to prevent the loss of water from drying. Freshly cast specimens were allowed
for the 24-hrs setting. Subsequently, all specimens were cured in normal water
3. Results and discussion
until the age of testing.
3.1. Mechanical properties
2.3.1. Testing of mechanical properties
To assess the mechanical performance of concrete mixes, compressive strength, 3.1.1. Compressive strength
elastic modulus, and splitting tensile strength tests were conducted. For all tests, Results of compressive testing of PRAC and FRAC mixes with
cylindrical specimens of 100 mm diameter and 200 mm height were used. The com-
pression test was conducted according to ASTM C39 [46]. Elasticity modulus was
different SCMs are shown in Fig. 4. Improvements in the compres-
calculated following ASTM C469 [47]. Splitting tensile test was performed accord- sive strength of RAC due to the inclusion of HSF and SCMs are
ing to ASTM C496 [48]. All tests of mechanical properties were conducted in the shown in Fig. 5. The overview of results shows that HSF slightly

Table 1
Chemical and physical properties of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), silica fume (SF), fly ash (FA) and rice husk ash (RHA).

Chemical property OPC SCMs

SF FA GGBS RHA
Lime (CaO) 64.5% 0.3% 4.3% 43.5% 1.7%
Silica (SiO2) 20.5% 98.4% 57.3% 36.7% 90.6%
Alumina (Al2O3) 7.2% 29.5% 14.3% 0.3%
Magnesia (MgO) 2.7% 0.6%
Iron oxide (Fe2O3) 3.3% 11.7% 1% 0.4%
Sulfur trioxide (SO3) 1.5% 0.2%
Loss in ignition (800 °C) 3.1% 0.8% 4.6% 3.2% 5.4%
Specific surface area (m2/kg) 325 27,000 365 365 450
Specific gravity 3.11 2.23 2.45 2.96 2.16
4 L.A. Qureshi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 263 (2020) 120636

Fig. 1. Granulometry of (a) RCA and (b) fine aggregates.

improves (5–7.5%) the compressive strength of RAC. On the other

hand, SCMs cause a notable increase in the compressive strength
of RAC. SCMs also improve the net gain in compressive strength
due to HSF reinforcement.
The compressive strength of FRAC is 5.9% and 7.5% higher than
that of the PRAC at 28 and 90-days, respectively. HSF can increase
the stiffness of the binder matrix by providing a confinement effect
on the matrix of the concrete. HSF owing to its very high tensile
strength, elasticity modulus, and hooked ends can confine the
spread of cracks, change the cracking tendency of material, which
in turn increases the compressive strength [37].
All SCMs increase the compressive strength of RAC by 2–19%
depending upon the type of SCM and age of curing. Among all
SCMs, the maximum improvement in compressive strength of
RAC is caused by 10%SF which is followed by 15%RHA. 10%SF
increases the compressive strength by 11% and 19% at 28 and 90-
days. Whereas, 15% of RHA improves the strength of RAC by 7–
13%. 20%FA and 30%GGBS increase the compressive strength of
RAC by 2–10% and 5–12%, respectively. SF caused maximum
improvement in compressive strength because of its ultrafine reac-
tive particles. SF can react with free CH faster than other SCMs.
Moreover, its fine particle size improves the packing of binder par-
ticles [50] which improves the overall stiffness of concrete. Ultra-
fine particles of SF can also improve the ITZ of RCA with binder
matrix more efficiently than the other SCMs. Better performance
Fig. 2. Overview of HSF. of RHA compared to FA and GGBS can be attributed to the higher
fineness of its particles which increases the reactivity of silica par-

Table 3
Composition and nomenclature of mixes.

Family Mix IDs Binder (kg/m3) Aggregates (kg/m3) Water (kgm3) HSF (kg/m3) SP (kg/m3)
Primary SCMs Fine aggregates RCA
OPC SF GGBS FA RHA
Plain-RAC PRAC-OPC (CON) 510 865 915 178.5 0 4.5
PRAC-10%SF 459 51 865 915 178.5 0 4.5
PRAC-30%GGBS 357 153 865 915 178.5 0 4.5
PRAC-20%FA 408 102 865 915 178.5 0 4.5
PRAC-15%RHA 434 77 865 915 178.5 0 4.5
Fiber reinforced-RAC FRAC-OPC 510 852 902 178.5 78 6
FRAC-10%SF 459 51 852 902 178.5 78 6
FRAC-30%GGBS 357 153 852 902 178.5 78 6
FRAC-20%FA 408 102 852 902 178.5 78 6
FRAC-15%RHA 434 77 852 902 178.5 78 6
 L.A. Qureshi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 263 (2020) 120636 5

Fig. 3. Chloride ion penetration observation and calculation.

Fig. 4. Compressive strength of (a) Plain RAC (PRAC) and (b) Fiber-reinforced RAC with different types of SCM.

ticles of RHA with CH. Chindaprasit and Rukzon [51] also attribu-
ted high reactivity of RHA to its high specific surface area com-
pared to that of the FA. They also reported that RHA showed a
more filler effect than FA, which means that RHA can improve
the packing density of binder better than FA. The main reason for
the low contribution of FA and GGBS towards strength develop-
ment is their larger particle sizes than those of the SF and RHA.
FA and GGBS particles react slowly and can take more time to com-
plete a pozzolanic reaction. SF and RHA mix achieve most of their
strengths up to 28-days, whereas, GGBS and FA [25] containing
mixes show more net gain between 28 and 90-days owing to their
slower pozzolanic reactions.
Coupling fibers and SCMs has a huge potential to upgrade the
compressive strength of RAC by 12–25% depending upon the type
of SCM and age of testing (see Fig. 5). The combined use of 1%
HSF + 10%SF improves the compressive strength of RAC by 22
and 25% at 28 and 90-days, respectively. Similarly, the combined
use of 1% HSF and 15%RHA increases the compressive strength
by 18% and 24% at 28 and 90-days, respectively. Similarly, combi-
nations of 1% HSF + 30%GGBS and 1% HSF + 20%FA improve the
compressive strength by more than 11–13% and 18–20% at 28
and 90-days, respectively. Inclusion of SCMs in binder improves
the bond of fibers with binder matrix, subsequently, the net gain
in compressive strength due to fiber-reinforcement is improved.
For example, individual use of 10%SF and 1% HSF causes improve-
ments of 11% and 6%, respectively at 28-days, see Fig. 5. But their
combined incorporation leads to an improvement of 22% in com-
pressive strength, which means combined incorporation of HSF
and SF gives an additional 5% improvement. These additional
improvements in the net gain of compressive strength are also
noticed when other SCMs like RHA, GGBS, and FA are incorporated
in RAC with fibers. This can be ascribed to improvement in bond
strength of fibers with binder matrix when SCMs contribute to
the development of addition C-S-H [33]. Moreover, the improved
6 L.A. Qureshi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 263 (2020) 120636
Fig. 5. Improvement in Compressive Strength of RAC with the addition of HSF and
SCMs (10%SF, 30%GGBS, 20%FA and 15%RHA) w.r.t control RAC.
packing density of binders with SCMs can also enhance the bond
strength of fibers by refining the interface between fibers and bin-
der matrix.
3.1.2. Elastic modulus
Elastic modulus of each RAC mix with HSF and varying types of
SCM is shown in Fig. 6. Net improvement in elastic modulus of RAC
caused by the addition of 1% HSF and different SCMs is shown in
Fig. 7. The trends in the results of compressive strength and elastic
modulus are very similar to the varying HSF and changing types of
SCM.
HSF inclusion in RAC increases its elastic modulus by 2–4%. This
slight increase in elastic modulus can be attributed to increased
stiffness of concrete against compression loads. Discrete steel
fibers provide sporadic 3D-reinforcement, that picks up and dis-
tributes stresses at the level of micro-cracks. HSF reinforcement
improves tensile capacity in the lateral dimensions and provides
crack control before the development of noticeable macro cracks,
eventually improving the stiffness of concrete [52]. Insignificant
improvement in elastic modulus due to the addition of steel fibers
have also been reported by some past studies [53-55]. The role of
Fig. 6. Elastic modulus of (a) Plain RAC (RPCA) and (b) Fiber reinforced RAC (FRAC) with different types of SCMs.
Fig. 7. Improvement in Elastic Modulus of RAC with the addition of 1% HSF and
SCMs (10%SF, 30%GGBS, 20%FA and 15%RHA) w.r.t control RAC.
HSF is not very significant in compression because the tensile
strength of fibers cannot be well-utilized under compression loads.
Among all SCMs maximum improvement (9–15%) in elastic
modulus is caused by 10%SF and 15%RHA. Owing to their very fine
particle size, both SF and RHA can contribute significantly to the
strengthening of the microstructure of RAC. Previous research
[56] has attributed the notable contribution of SF to elastic modu-
lus to its efficiency in pozzolanic reaction and pore-size refinement
(filler effect). FA and GGBS cause minor improvements (2–4%) in
elastic modulus at 28-days. On the contrary, at 90-days, FA and
GGBS cause more than 9% increase in elastic modulus. That is
because FA and GGBS particles take more time to develop C-S-H
in pozzolanic reactions. Siddique [57] showed that high volume
incorporation of FA decreases the elastic modulus. In this study,
a low volume of FA is used which proves to be beneficial to the
elastic modulus of RAC. The high volume of FA incorporation leads
to the reduction in calcium oxide (CaO) content of concrete and
decreases the pozzolanic potential of binder matrix [9]. On the
other hand, the increase in elastic modulus of RAC due to 20%FA
incorporation can be also be caused by the additional pozzolanic
reactions between SCM and CH present in RCA. Kou et al. [58] have
shown that SCMs contribute more towards the properties of RAC
than they do towards the properties of natural aggregate concrete.
Berndt [59] has also shown the positive effect of GGBS on the elas-
 L.A. Qureshi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 263 (2020) 120636
tic modulus of both natural aggregate concrete and RAC. GGBS
densifies the microstructure and hardness of ITZ between binder
matrix and aggregates [60].
Coupling effects of SCM and HSF can improve the elastic modu-
lus of RAC by more than 10–23% depending on the type of SCM and
age of testing. RAC having 1% HSF and 10%SF shows the maximum
improvement of 23% in elastic modulus over the control RAC at 90-
days (see Fig. 7). The net gain in elastic modulus due to HSF addi-
tion improves with the addition of SCMs. For example, at 28-days,
individually 10%SF and 1% HSF improve elastic modulus by 10%
and 2%, respectively, but the combined incorporation of SF and
HSF causes a net improvement of about 15%. Similarly, RHA and
HSF cause improvements of 8.3% and 2% in elastic modulus, respec-
tively, but their combined incorporation increases elastic modulus
by more than 14.5%. Similarly, additional improvements in the net
gain of elastic modulus are also noticed when other SCMs like
GGBS and FA are used in RAC with 1%HEST. This usefulness of
the combined effect of SCM and HSF is already credited (in Sec-
tion 3.1.1) to the improvement in bond strength of fiber-
reinforcement with the concrete.
3.1.3. Splitting tensile strength
Splitting tensile strength of PRAC and FRAC with different types
of SCMs is shown in Fig. 8. Improvements in the tensile strength of
RAC with the addition of SCMs and 1% HSF are presented in Fig. 9.
In results, it can be observed that the tensile strength of RAC expe-
riences a useful boost of 26–28% with the addition of 1% HSF. Fur-
thermore, combined incorporation of SCMs and 1% HSF improves
the tensile strength by more than 31–44% depending upon the type
of SCM and age of testing.
Due to fiber-reinforcement, splitting tensile strength experi-
ences more improvement than compressive strength and elastic
modulus. RAC reinforced with 1% HSF shows 26–28% more split-
ting tensile strength than that of the plain RAC. Significant
improvement in the tensile strength of concrete due to fiber-
reinforcement is attributed to the high tensile strength of steel
fibers. HSF can efficiently bridge micro-cracks before peak loading,
and macro-cracks after peak loading. Additionally, the anchoring
mechanism created by the hooks at the ends of steel fibers can sig-
nificantly improve the pull-out strength of fibers [42]. These are
the factors that lead to the development of high splitting tensile
strength associated with HSF -RAC.
SCMs inclusion improves the splitting tensile strength of RAC.
RHA and SF cause maximum improvements (8–14%) in the tensile
strength of RAC, see Fig. 9. GGBS and FA incorporation lead to
improvement of 2–10% and 1–7%, respectively, depending on the
age of testing. These improvements are ascribed to the strengthen-
ing of the binder matrix due to pozzolanic reactions. Strengthening
of ITZ between RCA and binder matrix can also positively influence
the splitting tensile strength of RAC. There is no significant differ-
ence in trends of the results of splitting tensile and compressive
strength with the altering type of SCM. The microstructural (C-S-
H) developments that are responsible for the improvement in com-
pressive strength are also responsible for the improvement in split-
ting tensile strength. Kou et al. [58] reported no significant
difference in trends of the results of splitting tensile strength and
compressive strength of RAC with varying types of SCM.
Using HSF and SCMs together, splitting tensile strength of RAC
improves by 31–44%. Maximum splitting tensile strength (41–
44% more than that of the control RAC) is associated with RAC
made with 1% HSF and 10%SF. RAC with 15%RHA and 1% HSF also
exhibits notably higher tensile strength (38–42% higher than that
of the control RAC) compared to other concretes. HSF -RAC shows
the improvement of 34–41% and 31–39% with 30%GGBS and 20%
FA, respectively. Overview of improvements in splitting tensile
strength caused by HSF and SCMs shows that efficiency of fiber-
7
reinforcement increases substantially in enhancing the tensile
strength. For example, 15%RHA and 1% HSF individually improve
tensile strength by 10% and 28%, respectively, but their combined
incorporation improves tensile strength by 42% (i.e. coupling effect
of RHA and HSF gives 4% additional net gain in splitting tensile
strength). This can be ascribed to increased pullout strength of
fibers due to the addition of SCM. Stronger and denser binder
matrix of SCM-RAC than that of the blank-RAC (having no SCM),
can increase the required amount of splitting tensile load to pull-
out fibers out of the binder matrix. Wu et al. [61] have reported
that the pullout and bond strength of steel fibers increases with
the inclusion of SF in the binder. They attributed this development
to an increase in the amount of C-S-H and improvement of ITZ
around steel fibers, which guaranteed higher micro-hardness in
binder matrix and improved the bond strength of steel fiber.
3.2. Durability properties
3.2.1. Water absorption (WA)
WA capacity of PRAC and FRAC mixes with varying SCM and age
is shown in Fig. 10. Improvements in WA resistance of RAC due to
the separate and combine inclusion of SCMs and HSF are also
shown in Fig. 11. RAC shows high water absorption because of
the presence of low-density (or porous) mortar present inside
RCA. Overview of results shows that WA resistance significantly
improves with the addition of SCMs. WA does not significantly
change with the addition of HSF, only minor improvements in
WA resistance are observed with fiber-reinforcement.
1% HSF improves the WA resistance of RAC by 1.5% and 2.5% at
28 and 90-days, respectively. It is suggested that fiber-
reinforcement affects the porosity of concrete in two ways (1)
introduction of additional ITZs in the matrix of concrete increases
the WA [12] (2) restriction of microcracks due to drying shrinkage
[62] and hydration heat of cement may decrease the WA. In the
present research, the effect of HSF on the microcracks’ restriction
may be dominant over the effect of HSF on total ITZs in concrete,
which resulted in the reduction of WA. Afroughsbaget et al.
[42,43] reported a significant improvement in WA resistance due
to the addition of fiber-reinforcement. They attributed this behav-
ior to the reduction information of microcracks leading to
increased permeability of concrete. Frazao et al. [63] also reported
no significant difference in WA capacities of fiber-reinforced con-
crete and plain concrete.
All SCMs positively affect the WA resistance of RAC. At 28-days,
WA resistance of RAC improves by 21%, 13%, 15%, and 17% due to
incorporation of 10%SF, 30%GGBS, 20%FA, and 15%RHA, respec-
tively. This improvement in permeability resistance of RAC due
to SCM addition can be ascribed to the formation of additional C-
S-H, decreasing the size and connectivity of pores. In addition to
the pozzolanic reaction, the filler effect of SCM can also reduce
the pore sizes, interrupting the connections between pores. SF
reduces WA more than other SCMs, because of its ultrafine parti-
cles and high reactivity. All SCMs might also penetrate RCA and fill-
ing the cracks and porosity present inside RCA and strengthen the
ITZ between aggregates and binders. This also leads to a reduction
in the WA capacity of RAC. The positive influence of SCMs (SF [64],
GGBS[43], FA [33,65], and RHA [35]) on WA resistance of concrete
is mostly credited to the pozzolanic reaction and filler effect of
mineral admixtures.
Together SCM and HSF can reduce the WA by more than 20–31%
depending on the type of SCM and age of testing. Maximum
improvement (28–31%) in WA resistance is associated with RAC-
1% HSF 10%SF, followed by RAC-1% HSF 15%RHA (improvement
of 26–29%). Moreover, the coupling effect of both SCM and fiber-
reinforcement contributes to an additional improvement of 4–6%
due to the refinement of ITZs between the HSF and binder matrix.
8 L.A. Qureshi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 263 (2020) 120636

Fig. 8. Splitting tensile strength of (a) Plain RAC (RPCA) and (b) Fiber reinforced RAC (FRAC) with different types of SCMs.

In the coupling effect of both SCM and HSF, the role of SCM is more
useful than that of the HSF as it causes the maximum improvement
in the permeability resistance of concrete.

3.2.2. Chloride penetration (CP)

Fig. 9. Improvement in Splitting Tensile Strength of RAC with the addition of 1%
HSF and SCMs (10%SF, 30%GGBS, 20%FA and 15%RHA) w.r.t control RAC.
Chloride ion penetration resistance is the important durability
parameter of concrete exposed to marine environments and deic-
ing salts. CP is the main cause of the deterioration of structural
steel which ultimately leads to failure of concrete structures.
Mainly due to increased porosity, RAC shows less CP resistance
than NAC [24]. The use of mineral admixtures greatly improves
the CP resistance of concrete which can increase the life of concrete
structures in chloride bearing environments. CP values of PRAC and
FRAC mix with varying types of SCM and age are shown in Fig. 12.
Reduction in CP depth with the inclusion of HSF and SCM is also
shown in Fig. 13. Both SCMs and HSF improve the CP resistance
of RAC.
CP of RAC reduces by 2–7% due to fiber-reinforcement.
Improvement in CP resistance due to HSF can be caused by a reduc-
tion in permeability of the specimen. These results are different
than those found out by Frazao et al. [63]. Frazao et al. reported

Fig. 10. 24-HR Water absorption (WA) capacity of (a) Plain RAC (RPCA) and (b) Fiber reinforced RAC (FRAC) with different types of SCMs.
 L.A. Qureshi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 263 (2020) 120636
Fig. 11. Reduction in Water Absorption Capacity of RAC with the addition of 1% HSF
and SCMs (10%SF, 30%GGBS, 20%FA and 15%RHA) w.r.t control RAC.
that CP resistance of concrete reduces with the inclusion of steel
fibers. The difference in the results of Frazao et al. and the present
study, is due to the adoption of different techniques to measure the
CP resistance of concrete. Frazao et al. used rapid migration tech-
nique that utilizes external aid of electrical charges to rapidly pass
chloride ions through the specimen, whereas, in the present study,
immersion technique was used where chloride ions could pene-
trate concrete slowly (given enough time) or naturally as they
would do in the real environment. CP can increase due to the
higher conductivity of steel fiber-reinforced concrete [43] if an
external electrical charge is applied. Therefore, it is hypothesized
that using rapid migration techniques can give a false interpreta-
tion of CP resistance of HSF reinforced concrete.
Using SCMs, CP resistance of RAC reduces by 21–46%. The
improvement order (from the lowest to highest) is 10%SF-RAC
(21–27% increase), 15%RHA-RAC (26–31% increase), 20%FA-RAC
(30–40% increase), and 30%GGBS-RAC (44–46% increase). Improve-
ment in CP resistance due to SCM is primarily ascribed to the
reduced permeability of binder matrix owing to pozzolanic reac-
tions and filler effect [25]. CP resistance of concrete also improves
with increasing in alumina content of binder [66]. FA and GGBS
cause maximum improvement in CP resistance, this can be ascribed
Fig. 12. Chloride Penetration (CP) after 28 and 90-days of immersion in 10%NaCl solution (a) Plain RAC (RPCA) and (b) Fiber reinforced RAC (FRAC) with different types of
SCMs.
9
Fig. 13. Reduction of Chloride Penetration in RAC with the addition of 1% HSF and
SCMs (10%SF, 30%GGBS, 20%FA and 15%RHA) w.r.t control RAC.
to their high alumina contents than OPC binder. Higher alumina
content leads to an increase in C3A which effectively binds chloride
ions [66]. Results of SF, GGBS, and FA are also in line with those of
Kou et al. [25]. Improvement order of CP resistance in the study of
Kou et al. was (from higher to lower) GGBS, FA, and SF. Improvement
in CP resistance due to SF and RHA incorporation is largely caused by
the growth of more C-S-H and filler effect. Whereas, in the case of FA
and GGBS concretes, in addition to pozzolanic reaction and filler
effect, chloride binding effect due to high alumina content, also con-
tributes towards improvement in CP resistance.
Utilization of both HSF and SCMs improves the CP resistance of
concrete by 40–67% depending upon the type of SCM and age of
testing. The maximum improvement of 63–67% in CP resistance
is caused by 1% HSF and 30%GGBS. The benefits of coupling SCM
and HSF on CP resistance are more than the sum of benefits
achieved due to their separate incorporation. For example, 30%
GGBS and 1% HSF individually improve the CP resistance by 44%
and 7%, respectively, at 28-days, whereas, their combined incorpo-
ration improves the CP resistance by more than 63% at the same
age, see Fig. 13. This shows the additional improvement of 12%
achieved by coupling HSF and GGBS. Similar behavior is also
observed when other SCMs are coupled with HSF.
10 L.A. Qureshi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 263 (2020) 120636

3.2.3. Acid attack resistance (AAR)

Various types of acids are present in the residential and indus-
trial wastewaters. Acids aggressively react with free portlandite
(CH) leading to the production of expansive salts in a neutraliza-
tion reaction. Unlike natural aggregate, RCA contains CH in the
adhered mortar and it has high porosity; therefore, RAC offers high
potential for acid attack deterioration (also known as calcification)
[11,67]. The loss in mass of each mix due to acid attack is shown in
Fig. 14. Improvement in AAR (or reduction in mass loss to acid
attack) due to the inclusion of HSF and SCM is also shown in
Fig. 15. Results show significant improvement in the AAR of RAC
due to the incorporation of both fibers and SCMs.
The inclusion of HSF improves the AAR of RAC by 15 and 17% at
28 and 90-days, respectively. The main reason for this improve-
ment can be ascribed to the restriction of permeation of sulfate
ions into the specimen. Moreover, expansion created by ettringite
production due to acid attack can be controlled effectively by fiber-
reinforcement. HSF also helps in maintaining the integrity of the
Fig. 15. Improvement in Acid Attack Resistance (AAR) of RAC with the addition of
concrete matrix even after deterioration caused by acid attack. 1% HSF and SCMs (10%SF, 30%GGBS, 20%FA and 15%RHA) w.r.t control RAC.
According to Bassuoni and Nehdi [68], fiber-reinforcement plays
a beneficial role in controlling cracks and improved tensile behav-
ior of binder matrix can lead to an increase in concrete’s integrity lin, on AAR of concrete, has been reported previously [69]. A study
under acidic attack. Fiber-reinforcement limits the expansion due reported [70] that slag promotes more gypsum production than FA,
to internal buildup of pressure from the production of gypsum that’s why GGBS concrete shows lesser resistance than other SCM-
and ettringite. concretes. But GGBS has lower lime content than that of the
AAR of RAC improves significantly with all types of SCMs. AAR cement; therefore, GGBS-concrete shows better AAR than OPC-
of RAC improves by 42–46%, 23–28%, 33–35%, and 36–40% with concrete. RHA concrete has also shown [35] better resistance than
the addition of 10%SF, 30%GGBS, 20%FA, and 15%RHA, respectively, that of the OPC concrete.
depending upon the age of exposure. These improvements in AAR The coupling effect of SCM and 1% HSF shows significant
can be ascribed to three main reasons (1) inclusion of SCM signif- improvement (52–83%) in AAR. Combined incorporation of 1%
icantly reduces the CaO content of binder that will ultimately pro- HSF and 10%SF improves the AAR of RAC by 74–83%. Similarly,
duce less quantity of CH compared to that of the OPC concrete (2) combined incorporation of 1% HSF and 20%FA improves the AAR
SCM inclusion causes a further reduction in CH by pozzolanic reac- of RAC by 64–81%. The composite effect of HSF and SCM again
tion and develop of durable and water-insoluble C-S-H (3) reduc- shows the conquest over the sum of the individual effects of HSF
tion in permeability due to filler effect of SCMs decreases the and SCM on the durability of RAC. Enhancement of bond strength
penetration of the aggressive acidic solution into the microstruc- of fibers with the binder matrix and reduction in permeability both
ture of RAC. Faster pozzolanic reactions in the case of SF-RAC causes phenomenal improvement in AAR of RAC.
ensure the highest AAR among all other SCM-concretes. Silica-
rich SCMs cause more improvements in AAR. For example, RHA 3.2.4. Significance of SCMs in corrosion resistance of steel fiber
owing to its high silica content causes more improvement in AAR reinforced RAC
than FA and GGBS. GGBS-concrete shows less resistance than other Loss of tensile strength of fiber-reinforced concretes exposed to
SCM-concretes due to its low silica content and high lime content. acidic and chloride environments, is an indicator of degradation of
The positive effect of mineral admixtures like FA, SF, and metakao- chemical constituents of concrete and reduction in bond strength

Fig. 14. Loss in Mass due acid attack after 28 and 90-days of immersion in 5%H2SO4 solution (a) Plain RAC (RPCA) and (b) Fiber reinforced RAC (FRAC) with different types of
SCMs.
 L.A. Qureshi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 263 (2020) 120636
Fig. 16. Loss in tensile strength of the specimens exposed to (a) chloride environment and (b) acidic environment after 90-days.
of steel fiber due to corrosion. The loss of splitting tensile strength
of fiber-reinforced concrete exposed to chemical environments is
calculated using Eq.(3). These results depicted in Fig. 16 show that
mixes having SCMs show lesser strength degradation in chemical
environments than fiber-reinforced mixes without SCM. The supe-
rior performance of SCM mixes has already been ascribed to the
strengthening of the binder matrix due to the better pore size
refinements and pozzolanic reactions. Less penetration of chlorides
due to SCMs protects the alkaline layer around steel fibers which
helps in retaining bond strength of fibers with the binder matrix.
f STS Exposed
f STS Loss ð%Þ ¼ ð1  Þ  100
f STSNormal
fSTS_Loss = Loss in tensile strength (%).
fSTS_Exposed = Tensile strength of steel fiber reinforced RAC after
exposure to chemical environment (MPa).
fSTS_Normal = Tensile strength of unexposed steel fiber-reinforced
concrete (MPa).
4. Conclusions
In this study, coupling effects of hook-ended steel fibers (HSF)
(1% volume fraction) and supplementary cementitious materials
(SCMs) (10% silica fume (SF), 30% ground-granulated blast furnace
slag (GGBS), 20% fly ash (FA), and 15% rice husk ash (RHA)) were
studied on mechanical and durability properties of recycled aggre-
gate concrete (RAC). Following are the important conclusions
derived from the experimental results:
1. Inclusion of SCMs and HSF improved the compressive strength
of RAC at both 28 and 90-days. Use of 15%RHA and 10%SF was
more effective in improving (7–19%) the compressive strength
of RAC than that of the 20%FA and 30%GGBS. Inclusion of 1%
HSF increased (5.5–7%) the compressive strength of RAC. 1%
HSF + 10%SF and 1% HSF + 15%RHA improved the compressive
strength of RAC by 22–25% and 18–24%, respectively.
2. The coupling effect of SCMs and fiber-reinforcement signifi-
cantly improved the elastic modulus of RAC. A maximum
improvement of 14.5–23% in the elastic modulus was caused
by the combined incorporation of 1% HSF and 10%SF. Combined
incorporation of 20%FA/30%GGBS and 1% HSF also caused
improvement of 16% in elastic modulus of RAC at 90-days.
11
3. The tensile strength of RAC increased by 28% due to a 1% HSF
addition. SCM inclusion also caused improvements of 7–14%.
Coupling effect of 1% HSF and 10%SF increased the splitting ten-
sile strength by 41–44%. The coupling effect of fibers and other
SCMs also improved the tensile strength by more than 39% at
the age of 90-days.
4. It is suggested that the addition of SCM in the binder matrix
increases the pullout and bond strength of steel fibers. There-
fore, the coupling effect of HSF and SCM show more benefit
than the sum of benefits of their individual incorporation in
RAC.
ð3Þ 5. In the coupling effect of SCM and HSF on water absorption
(WA) capacity of RAC, SCM played a more useful role in terms
of improving the permeability resistance of concrete. On the
other hand, HSF inclusion slightly changed the WA resistance
of concrete. With the combined incorporation of SCM (SF,
GGBS, RHA, and FA) and HSF, WA of RAC can be reduced by
20–31%.
6. Chloride ion penetration (CP) resistance was enhanced by 20–
46% with the SCM inclusion in the binder matrix. 1% HSF inclu-
sion improved the CP resistance by about 2–7%. In both plain
and HSF-reinforced RAC mixes, maximum CP resistance was
noticed with GGBS. FA-RAC showed better CP resistance than
that of the SF and RHA-RAC. Coupling 30%GGBS and 1% HSF
improved the CP resistance of RAC by 64 and 67% at 28 and
90-days, respectively.
7. Acid attack resistance (AAR) was substantially increased by the
addition of both fiber-reinforcement and SCMs. 1% of HSF
improved the AAR of RAC by 15–17%. The addition of SCMs
(without fibers) increased the AAR of RAC by 21–46%. In terms
of AAR, 10%SF-RAC and 15%RHA-RAC were superior to 20%FA-
RAC and 30%GGBS-RAC. Coupling effect of 1% HSF and 10%
SF/15%RHA improves the AAR of RAC by 66–74% and 80–82%
at 28 and 90-days, respectively.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Liaqat Ali Qureshi: Data curation, Writing - original draft,
Conceptualization, Methodology. Babar Ali: Data curation,
Conceptualization, Writing - review & editing. Asad Ali: Validation,
Formal analysis, Resources.
12 L.A. Qureshi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 263 (2020) 120636

Declaration of Competing Interest Aggregates, Civ. Eng. J. 5 (2019) 1007–1019, https://doi.org/10.28991/cej-

2019-03091307.
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