Freeze–thaw durable recycled aggregate concrete with basalt fiber–calcium carbonate whisker hybrid reinforcement for cold-region built environment applications

Information from the abstract

Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) reuses demolition waste, but its porous aggregate and weak interfacial zones make it vulnerable to freeze–thaw damage in cold regions. This study asked whether multi-scale hybrid reinforcement can close this durability gap, and at which whisker dosage. Basalt fiber (BF) bridges macro-scale cracks and calcium carbonate whisker (CW) fills pores and restrains microcracks, acting at different scales and damage stages. Six mixtures with 25% pretreated recycled aggregate, 0.1 vol.% BF, and 0.1–0.5 vol.% CW underwent 300 freeze–thaw cycles and were assessed by mass loss, dynamic modulus, compressive strength, SEM, and MIP. At 0.3 vol.% CW, mass loss fell by 87.1%, 72.10% of the dynamic modulus was retained, and damage was limited to D = 0.28; 0.5 vol.% CW caused agglomeration. Reinforcement added about 3% embodied carbon and cut durability-normalized carbon intensity by 69%. The results yield a dosage-based design rule; aggregate treatment alone is insufficient.

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Related topics: Recycled Aggregate Concrete Performance · Innovative concrete reinforcement materials · Structural Behavior of Reinforced Concrete