Construction and Building Materials 144 (2017) 392–398

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Construction and Building Materials

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

Mechanical properties of the concrete containing recycled fibers and

aggregates
a,⇑
Mohsen Ahmadi a, Saeed Farzin , Abolfazl Hassani b, Mana Motamedi a
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

h i g h l i g h t s

 Mixed Recycled Aggregates contain recycled materials such as concrete, facade stones.
 The recycled steel wires recovered from waste tires are used as fibers.
 Recycled fibers can retrieve adverse effect of recycled aggregates in concrete.
 The required slab thickness reduces as the recycled fibers dosage was increased.

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

Article history: Mixed Recycled Aggregates (MRA) is a mixture of recycled concrete and masonry materials. These kinds
Received 7 October 2016 of aggregates have lower strength and higher water absorption than natural aggregates. Therefore, the
Received in revised form 5 March 2017 concrete with recycled aggregates has lower strength than the concrete with natural aggregates. Using
Accepted 28 March 2017
the steel fibers recovered from waste tires in the concrete with recycled aggregates improves the
Available online 3 April 2017
mechanical properties of this concrete as well as solving the environmental problem of these waste steel
wires. In this study, the effect of recycled steel fibers on the mechanical properties of normal concrete and
Keywords:
the concrete with recycled aggregate are investigated. Additionally, the effect of fibers on the reduction of
Mixed Recycled Aggregates
Recycled steel fibers
concrete pavement thickness is studied. The replacement percentage of natural coarse aggregates with
Structural concrete these aggregates is 0, 50 and 100%, with fiber percentage being 0.5 and 1% of concrete volume. Main
results indicate that by adding recycled fibers into the concrete with recycled aggregates lead to the pro-
duction of structural concrete by 50% replacement of aggregates. Moreover, adding recycled fibers by 0.5
and 1% of concrete volume reduces the thickness of concrete pavement for the amount of 8 and 16%,
respectively.
Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction aggregates produced from the recycling of CDW [1]. In industrial

Due to restriction in resources and maintenance the environ-
ment quality, the need to recycle materials has become inevitable.
Construction and demolition waste (CWD) are considered to have a
good potential to be recycled. CDW can be graded after separation
and crushing, and can be used as aggregates in concrete produc-
tion. Generally, CDW is buried underground. Therefore, their recy-
cling not only solves the environment problems, but also helps to
maintain the limited natural resources. Recycled concrete aggre-
gates (RCA), recycled masonry aggregates (RMA) and Mixed Recy-
cled Aggregates (MRA) which is a mixture of concrete and masonry
materials having the highest volume amount, are the three types of
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: Saeed.farzin@semnan.ac.ir (S. Farzin).
countries, concrete waste has the most volume quantities in con-
struction waste so that 150 million tons of construction waste
are being produced annually in the European Union [2]. 170 mil-
lion tons of waste was estimated to be produced in the United
States in 2003 [3].
Both increment and reduction in the strength of concrete with
recycled aggregates compared with normal concrete have been
reported in previous researches [4–7]. The amount of this incre-
ment or reduction of concrete strength depends on water to
cement ratio (w/c) in the mixture, replacement percentage of nat-
ural aggregates, type of aggregates and aggregates moisture condi-
tions [4]. In general, by increasing the replacement of normal
aggregates with recycled aggregates, mechanical properties of con-
crete are reduced [5]. Moreover, in lower water to cement ratio,
this reduced amount is intensified [6,7]. Based on the research

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.03.215
0950-0618/Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 M. Ahmadi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 144 (2017) 392–398
results, if the ratio of water to cement is more than 0.55, the com-
pressive strength of concrete with 100% of recycled aggregates is
approximately equal to the strength of normal concrete [8].
Xiao et al. studied the use of recycled coarse aggregates by 30%
to 100% and the results showed that replacing of these aggregates
up to 30%, the decrease in compressive strength of concrete is neg-
ligible [9]. Debieb and Kenai investigated the use of crushed brick
as aggregates in concrete production. The reduction in concrete
compressive strength is considered by the replacement of crushed
bricks as coarse aggregates, fine aggregates and a mixture of both
to be 35%, 30%and 40%, respectively [10]. Wagih et al. Results indi-
cated that the optimum percentages of recycled coarse aggregates
are between 25% and 50% [5]. Carneiro et al. studied recycled
aggregates replacement with a combination of 55% mortar, 20%
concrete and 25% brick. Concrete with 25% of recycled aggregates
has a greater strength in comparison with concrete containing nat-
ural aggregates. The increment in the strength of concrete with
these aggregates is due to the change in concrete failure (fracture
of aggregates) owing to better adhesion of recycled aggregates
with cement paste [4].
Several solutions have been proposed to compensate the con-
crete strength reduction with recycled aggregates such as adding
fly ash, silica fume, increasing cement amount and using fibers
[2,11,12]. Since concrete is a brittle material, and its brittleness
increases by strength increment, adding fibers not only strength-
ens the concrete, but also converts it into a ductile material,
increasing its energy absorption [13]. The ability of fibers in
improving concrete properties with recycled aggregates depends
on type of fibers, content, aspect ratio, surface friction and tensile
strength of fibers [14].
Carneiro et al. studied the effect of steel fibers on concrete with
recycled aggregates. In this study, the recycled coarse aggregates
by the amount of 25%, the hooked steel fibers with the aspect ratio
of 65 and the volumetric ratio of 0.75% were used in the concrete.
The results indicated that adding fibers and recycled aggregates
increases concrete strength properties and improves failure pro-
cess as compared with the control concrete. The stress-strain
behavior of concrete with recycled aggregates is affected by recy-
cled aggregates, and concrete with these kinds of aggregates is
more brittle than control concrete [4]. Guo et al. showed that the
fibrous concrete with the recycled aggregates has equal or less
strength as compared with the fibrous concrete with natural aggre-
gates, having more strength than plain concrete [15].
Awchat et al. used recycled concrete with steel and polymer
fibers in concrete. Investigations demonstrated that increasing
fibers in concrete with the recycled aggregates, the flexural and
compressive strengths are increased [16]. In another study per-
formed on glass fibers in the concrete with the recycled aggregates,
the results indicated that fiber increment to 0.03% of concrete vol-
ume increases the compressive, tensile and flexural strengths [17].
Vytlacilova utilized the recycled masonry aggregates (RMA) and
the recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) individually, as recycled
aggregates by the amount of 100% with Polypropylene fibers.
According to the results, RMA showed better performance in the
concrete rather than RCA [18].
In previous researches, in addition to industrial fibers, recycled
fibers are used in the concrete [19–22]. Maddah et al. investigated
the effect of recycled steel fibers and recycled Polypropylene fibers
on the concrete, individually and in combination, with different
percentages and aspect ratios. They concluded that generally, duc-
tility, toughness and failure of concrete after cracking are improved
with these fibers, especially in combination condition [13]. Nowa-
days, a lot of waste tires are being released into the nature. As a
case in point, 600,000 tons of waste tires are being buried annually
in the European Union [23]. Every year, 242 million waste tires are
produced in the United States, being approximately 1.2% of urban
393
waste [24]. On the other hand, according to the European Commis-
sion, the burial of waste tires has been announced illegal since July
2006 [25]. However, recycling waste tires are being increased. 80%
of them are being recycled, while this percentage was equal to 20%
in 1990. One of the byproducts in the process of recycling waste
tires is waste steel beads. Beads are made by the steel wires with
high tensile strength (1500–1900 MPa), and used in car tires to
ensure keeping the tire in the rim [26].
Recently, many researches have been conducted on the con-
crete reinforcement with these recycled steel fibers, providing
acceptable results [25–26]. Moreover, the effect of various recycled
fibers of car tire such as recycled tire steel, recycled tire Fabric and
recycled tire rubber strip have been examined [22]. The behavior of
concrete reinforced with these fibers can be comparable to that of
concrete reinforced with industrially produced steel fibers [27].
The modulus of rupture, flexural toughness, and compressive
strength tests on fiber reinforced HPC confirm the promising appli-
cation of waste fiber to reinforce the concrete. The use of waste
fiber within the range of volume ratio of 0.2–0.5% is recommended
[28]. Centonze et al. investigated the behavior of reinforced con-
crete with the recycled steel fibers and industrial steel fibers after
cracking. The results indicated that the positive effect of recycled
steel fibers on the matrix toughness of concrete is similar to indus-
trial steel fibers [29]. Based on Aiello et al. results, disordered and
wave-shaped steel fibers from waste tires provide a better adhe-
sion between cement paste and fibers. However, it seems that
despite their geometrical disordered shape, these fibers have no
effect on the compressive strength of the concrete [30]. Papakon-
stantinou et al. concluded that adding waste steel beads to the con-
crete, compressive strength is reduced, toughness is considerably
increased and concrete workability is almost not affected [26].
The use of fibers in concrete pavements and subgrade slab pro-
duction goes back to 40 years ago [31]. Fibers are used to improve
the cracking performance of concrete pavements, reduce slab
required thickness, and increase the allowable distance of joints
[32]. Regarding Rolling’s results, using steel fibers with the volume
ratio of 1–2% in the airport rigid pavement increases the concrete
flexural strength by the amount of 35–70%. Moreover, the slab ulti-
mate capacity is increased according to the full-scale traffic loading
test [33]. Parker’s study results, the guidance for the army rigid
pavement design was published in 1979 for the first time. Parker’s
results showed that the steel fibrous concrete with the high ratio of
fiber content decreases the pavement slab thickness by an amount
of 30–50% [34]. Fiber reinforced concrete, increasing concrete effi-
cient flexural strength by 30%, reduces the required thickness of
the airport rigid pavement by 17% [32]. Most of the published
information about fibrous concrete pavements is associated with
1% and 2% of fibers which increases the amount of cement in these
kinds of concrete compared to the plain concrete. Nowadays, using
fibers in concrete slabs on the subgrade and concrete pavements
has been restricted to 0.5% of concrete volume, due to economic
and executive reasons [32].
2. Research aims
In this study, in order to investigate the effect of recycled aggre-
gates on the compressive, tensile and flexural strengths of the con-
crete, the natural coarse aggregates are replaced with these
aggregates by the amount of 0.50% and 100%. Furthermore, the
Steel wires recycled from waste tires are used as fibers in the nor-
mal concrete and the concrete with the recycled aggregates by the
volume ratio of 0.5 and 1%. In order to study the effect of aggre-
gates on the concrete strength, a similar gradation is utilized for
both natural and recycled aggregates. After concrete production
and 28 days of curing in water, compressive strength, indirect
394 M. Ahmadi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 144 (2017) 392–398

Table 1
Chemical composition of the cement (w%).

SiO2 CaO Al2O3 Fe2O3 MgO SO3

CEM II 42.5 R 21 64 5.4 3.9 3.4 2.3

tensile strength and flexural strength tests were performed on the

specimens. Eventually, the role of fibers and recycled aggregates on
the thickness of concrete pavement slab is studied.

3. Experimental program

3.1. Materials

Cement: Portland cement (ASTM type II 42.5 R) is used in this

Fig. 1. size grading of fine and coarse aggregates.
study with the specific gravity of 3.11 g/cm3 and the specific sur-
face area of 3027 g/cm2. The chemical properties of the cement
are shown in Table 1.

3.1.1. Natural aggregates

Natural river aggregates are utilized in this study. Physical
properties and the grading curve of used aggregates are demon-
strated in Table 2 and Fig. 1, respectively.

3.1.2. Recycled aggregates

In this study, CDW is collected from a burial site of urban waste,
being milled and graded after separating unwanted materials. In
Iran, most of the CDWs are of the Mixed Recycled Aggregates
(MRA). Therefore, other materials such as facade stones, bricks
and ceramic are included in waste as well as concrete. The recycled
aggregates used in this study are the coarse aggregates containing
43.2% crushed concrete, 28.6% facade stones, 14.2% crushed cera-
mic and 14% crushed bricks. The gradation of these aggregates is
similar to the natural coarse aggregates. The physical properties
of these aggregates are illustrated in Table 2. Fig. 2. Recycled Steel Fibers with other waste Materials.

3.1.3. Recycled steel fibers

There are several methods for recycling of waste tires, such as
Shredding Process, Cryogenic Process, and Pyrolysis Process. In
Iran, all recycling sites use shredding process for recovering steel
fibers from used tires .The shredding process reduces tire into rub-
ber granules and steel fibers through a number of cutting and gran-
ulating stages. In the first stage of processing, a complete tire is
chopped or shredded until it is reduced to pieces ranging in size
from about 50 to 150 mm. The rubber pieces, which still contain
steel, are then fed into a second shredder that reduces them to
smaller pieces. At the end of this stage, magnets are used to sepa-
rate the steel from the rubber. Fibers containing small amounts of
rubber and fluff are demonstrated in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 shows fibers after
the magnetizing process. In order to investigate the effect of recy-
cled steel fibers on concrete mechanical properties, the steel fibers
with the diameter of 1 mm and the length of 30–70 mm are uti-
lized in mixes. Fig. 3. Separated Recycled Fibers.

Table 2
Physical properties of aggregates.

Property Standard Natural Recycled

Fine Coarse Coarse
Maximum nominal size (mm) ASTM C136 2.38 19 19
Density (kg/m3) ASTM C127 2600 2610 2580
Water saturated surface dry Absorption (%) ASTM C127 2.1 1.25 6.25
Fineness modulus ASTM C136 3.03 – –
Sand equivalent (%) ASTM D2419 84 – –
 M. Ahmadi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 144 (2017) 392–398 395

Table 3
Proportions of the concrete mixtures.

Concrete type Cement Water FNA (kg/m3) CAN (kg/m3) CRA (kg/m3) Fibers (%) Superplasticizer (kg/m3)
R0F0 352 190 831 970 0 0 0
R50F0 352 190 831 485 485 0 1.76
R100F0 352 190 831 0 970 0 1.76
R0F0/5 352 190 831 970 0 0.5 1.76
R50F0/5 352 190 831 485 485 0.5 1.76
R100F0/5 352 190 831 0 970 0.5 1.76
R0F1 352 190 831 970 0 1 1.76
R50F1 352 190 831 485 485 1 1.76
R100F1 352 190 831 0 970 1 1.76

Fig. 4. compressive strength and splitting tensile strength tests after 28 days curing of specimens.

3.1.4. Superplasticizer 4. Experiment results and discussion

Carboxylate-based SPC-N1 superplasticizer with the specific
weight of 1 g/cm3 and 0.5% of cement weight is used in concrete
specimens in all mixes.
3.2. Mix design
In accordance with the instructions of using recycled aggregates
in some countries such as Japan, the replacement of natural fine
aggregates with recycled fine aggregates is not recommended
[35]. Because recycled fine aggregates contain a significant amount
of old adhered mortar which leads to having the problem in
obtaining required slump, a considerable increment in deforma-
tions, a sudden decrease in modulus of elasticity and strength.
Therefore, the recycled aggregates used in this study are just coarse
aggregates.
The mix design utilized in this study is based on AC1211.1-91
and volumetric method considering a cylindrical compressive
strength of 30 MPa, which includes 352 kg/m3 cement, 970 kg/m3
coarse aggregates, 831 kg/m3 fine aggregates and water to cement
ratio of 0.54. Table 3 indicates different amounts of aggregates in
concrete volume unit for several specimens. Concrete mixes are
labeled by Rx Fy, where x denotes the percentage of recycled
coarse aggregates and y denotes the volume ratio of recycled fiber.
For instance, in R100F0.5 mixture, the percentage of recycled
coarse aggregates is equal to 100%, while the amount of recycled
fibers is 0.5%. The quantity of water illustrated in mix designs is
based on the moisture of aggregates in saturated surface dry
(SSD). However, at the time of mixing process, dry aggregates were
entered into the mixing machine, the required amount of addi-
tional water was calculated and then, this amount of water was
added to the mixture. In this study, in order to investigate the
effect of recycled aggregates and fibers on concrete strength, the
water to cement ratio was maintained constant.
To prevent the evaporation of water from the unhardened con-
crete, the specimens were covered immediately after finishing
with impervious plastic. All specimens were molded one day after
casting and cured in water saturated with calcium hydroxide at
24 °C from the time of molding until the moment of tests. Samples
were tested after 28 days of curing. The average results of three
specimens for each mix are reported.
4.1. Compressive strength
The concrete compressive strength is measured using the cubic
specimens with the dimensions of 150 * 150 * 150 mm in accor-
dance with BS 1881-116 standard (Fig. 4). The average results
are illustrated in Fig. 5. In general, the replacement of natural
aggregates results in the reduction of the concrete compressive
strength, but this reduction value is negligible and its maximum
is 10%. For instance, the compressive strength of R100F0 mixture
is equal to 90.4% of the control mix (R0F0). The angularity of recy-
cled aggregates and the old cement paste adhered to these aggre-
gates develop better adhesion between the aggregates and the new
cement paste; furthermore, they partially compensate for the
strength weakness of some aggregates. Using recycled aggregates
allows water infiltration due to porosity and improves concrete
curing. Additionally, in accordance with previous results, if the
ratio of water to cement is larger than 0.55, the compressive
strength of concrete with 100% of recycled aggregates is approxi-
mately equal to normal concrete [8].
A comparison between the average compressive strength of
specimens in different amounts of fibers shows that adding fibers
by 0.5% increases the compressive strength to 10% at its highest
value. In contrast, adding fibers by 1% reduces the compressive
strength by 12% at its maximum amount. It has been indicated in
396 M. Ahmadi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 144 (2017) 392–398

Fig. 5. Splitting tensile strength (MPa) and compressive strength (MPa) of the concrete with different percentages of fibers and recycled aggregates.

many studies that adding steel fibers is of the inconsiderable effect
on compressive strength of fibrous concrete [13,36]. In fact, the
main effective factor on the compressive strength of concrete is
aggregate strength, cement paste strength and their interfacial
transition zone. Fiber addition has a slight effect on improving
the compressive strength if only specimens are well compacted.
Based on Aeillo et al. results, the compressive strength of concrete
is slightly affected by steel fibers recovered from waste tires.
Increasing these recycled fibers to 0.26% of concrete volume, the
compressive strength is slightly increased [27]. In addition, the
decrement in compressive strength of concrete in the specimens
containing 1% of fibers is due to the pores developed by adding
these fibers. Actually, the volume of pores developed in concrete
plays a key role on the compressive strength of the concrete. The
greater the length and the volume of these fibers is, the more pores
are developed and as a result, the compressive strength will be
lower.
recycled steel fibers, the production of structural concrete with
recycled aggregates is likely to be reasonable by 50% replacement.
4.3. Flexural strength
The flexural strength test was performed on the beam shaped
specimens with the dimensions of 100 * 100 * 500 mm in accor-
dance with ASTM C1018 standard (Fig. 6). The load-displacement
curves for different specimens are demonstrated in Figs. 7–9. The
average results of the flexural strength test are indicated in
Fig. 10. As shown in Fig. 10, unlike the tensile and compressive
strengths, the flexural strength increases by the replacement per-
centage increment of natural aggregates. The flexural strength
mean value for the control specimen is 3.05 MPa which reaches
to the amount of 3.42 and 3.51 MPa by replacing 50% and 100%

4.2. Indirect tensile strength

The indirect tensile strength test was performed on the cylindri-

cal specimens with the dimensions of 150 * 300 mm in accordance
with ASTM C496-96 standard after 28 days of curing (Fig. 4). The
average Results are illustrated in Fig. 5. According to Fig. 5, the ten-
sile strength, like the compressive strength, decreases by increas-
ing the replacement of recycled aggregates. As a case in point,
the mean value of the indirect tensile strength in the control spec-
imen is equal to 3.29 MPa, which is reduced to 3.04 MPa and
2.88 MPa by replacing 50% and 100% of natural coarse aggregates
Fig. 6. Flexural strength test after 28 days curing of specimens.
with recycled aggregates, respectively. Adding recycled aggregates,
the concrete tensile strength reduction value is approximately
equal to 10% at its maximum amount, similar to compressive
strength. It can be stated that the indirect tensile strength, likewise
the compressive strength, is hardly related to the recycled aggre-
gates which show conformity with the results of previous studies
[11,37].
Adding fibers to the concrete, including the different percentage
of recycled aggregates, concrete tensile strength is increased where
specimens containing 1% amount of fibers have the maximum
strength. 1% fiber addition to the concrete causes an increment of
49–68% at the maximum level to its tensile strength where the
greatest amount is due to concrete containing 100% of natural
coarse aggregates.
Investigating the tensile and compressive strengths of the con-
crete with recycled aggregates, it can be concluded that by adding Fig. 7. Load – displacement of the concrete containing 0% recycled aggregates.
 M. Ahmadi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 144 (2017) 392–398
Fig. 8. Load – displacement of the concrete containing 50% recycled aggregates.
Fig. 9. Load – displacement of the concrete containing 100% recycled aggregates.
Fig. 10. Flexural strength (MPa) and required thickness design (cm) of different concrete type.
Fig. 11. Fracture surface of the concrete containing 50% recycled aggregates.
397
natural aggregates with recycled aggregates, respectively. A factor
that can account for this claim is the better adhesion of recycled
aggregates with the cement paste compared to natural aggregates.
Natural aggregates are rounded shape with smooth surfaces, while
recycled aggregates are crushed and angular with rough surfaces
which allow the cement paste to penetrate into recycled coarse
aggregate pores providing better involvement between the cement
paste and aggregates. A simple concrete specimen fracture surface
containing 50% of recycled aggregates is shown in Fig. 11. As can be
seen, the fracture surface passed through the contact zone of
cement paste and aggregates around normal aggregates areas
and in the middle of aggregates for recycled aggregates.
The more fiber content is, the more flexural strength of concrete
becomes and this increment in concrete with 1% of fibers is greater
than the concrete with 0.5% of fibers. In contrast, the flexural
strength of concrete for specimens containing fiber is not depen-
dent on the replacement percentage of natural aggregates. For
instance, in specimens containing different percentage values of
recycled aggregates, the flexural strength is equal to approximately
3.9 MPa for the ones with 0.5% of fibers while this amount is equal
to 4.3 MPa of concrete with 1% of fiber content.
4.4. Effect of fibers on concrete pavement thickness
In this study, the PCA design method is utilized to investigate
the effect of recycled steel fibers on reducing the thickness of con-
crete pavement slab with recycled and natural aggregates. In the
PCA method, the parameters used in the design of slab thickness
based on fatigue failure mode include the concrete flexural
strength, the modulus of subgrade reaction and the amount of
loading repetition and variety. The details of the PCA concrete
398 M. Ahmadi et al. / Construction and Building Materials 144 (2017) 392–398
pavement thickness design are described in ‘‘Thickness Design for
concrete Highway and Street and Pavements” [38]. In this section,
in order to investigate the effect of the recycled fibers on the slab
thickness decrease, fixed and supposed values are considered for
each of these parameters except the flexural strength. The flexural
strength value is obtained for each of the mix designs in accor-
dance with Fig. 10.
To this end, to design concrete pavement considering the sub-
grade reaction (k) with the amount of 54.3 MPa/m and one million
single passes with the weight of 133.4 KN, the thickness is calcu-
lated for all mixes illustrated in Fig. 10. According to Fig. 10, adding
recycled fibers by 0.5% to 1% of concrete volume, the required
thickness of the slab is decreased from 8% to 16%. Likewise the flex-
ural strength in fiber-content specimens, the required thickness is
not related to the replacement percentage of aggregates, depend-
ing only on recycled fibers percentage.
5. Conclusion
Concrete mixtures with recycled aggregates demonstrate differ-
ent behaviors under compressive strength, indirect tensile strength
and flexural strength. Such that increasing the replacement per-
centage of natural coarse aggregates results in the reduction of
indirect tensile and compressive strengths and the increment of
flexural strength. Additionally, the concrete tensile and flexural
strengths as well as the concrete flexural toughness are increased
by the increment of fibers, such that the maximum strength was
obtained by adding 1% fibers to the concrete. On the contrary, add-
ing fibers by 0.5% and 1% resulted in an increment and then a
reduction in compressive strength, respectively. The flexural
strength in specimens containing fibers depends only on the
amount of fiber content, and the increment or the reduction of
the replacement percentage of natural coarse aggregates have no
effect on it. Since the design criterion in the concrete pavement
design is the modulus of rupture of the concrete (MOR), fiber addi-
tion increases MOR and as a result, the thickness of the concrete
pavement slab will be decreased. Adding 0.5% and 1% of recycled
fibers to the concrete reduces the thickness of the concrete pave-
ment slab by the amount of 8% and 16%, respectively.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the University of tarbiat modares,
Tehran, Iran. The authors would like to thank students: Rabeaeh
Kighaghadi, Hassan Taghavi and Hossein Yousefi for their
assistance.
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