journal article·2025-09-11Open access

Frost Resistance and Life Prediction of Waste Polypropylene Fibre-Reinforced Recycled Aggregate Concrete

Xuechao Yang, Zehui Zhang, Hsing-Wei Tai, Bangxiang Li, Jiahui Li, Weishen Zhang, Tian Su, Jianping Liu

Coatings· Volume 15· Issue 9

Abstract

The inherent defects of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) lead to poor frost resistance in recycled aggregate concrete (RAC), limiting its application in cold coastal regions. Waste polypropylene fibre (WPF), utilized as a reinforcement material, can improve the frost resistance of RAC. This study systematically analyzes the influence of WPF on the frost resistance of RAC and establishes a life prediction model. The results indicate that the damage to concrete in a saline freeze–thaw environment is significantly greater than that in a freshwater environment. WPF mitigates the development of freeze–thaw damage in RAC effectively by bridging microcracks and segmenting interconnected pores, thereby optimizing the pore structure and enhancing the matrix compactness. After 125 freeze–thaw cycles, the attenuation amplitude of the relative dynamic elastic modulus (RDEM) for RAC incorporated with WPF decreased by 9.69% and 5.77% in freshwater and saline environments, respectively, while the compressive strength increased by 20.65% and 18.57%. Concurrently, the negative mass growth rate of RAC in freshwater decreased by 20.62%, and the mass loss in the salt solution decreased by 5.84%. Furthermore, life predictions based on both RDEM and the compressive strength loss rate demonstrate that WPF extends the service life of RAC. Notably, the RDEM-based prediction yields a longer life but corresponds to a larger strength loss, whereas the prediction based on the compressive strength loss rate, although slightly shorter, corresponds to a more stable residual strength.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Recycled Aggregate Concrete Performance

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Civil Engineering, School of Civil Engineering and Geomatics, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255000, China

China Design Testing Technology Co., Ltd., Nanjing 210000, China

Department of Civil Engineering, School of Higher-Educational Engineering Research Centre for Intelligence and Automation in Construction, Huaqiao University, Xiamen 361021, China

Department of Engineering and Management, International College, Krirk University, No. 3 Soi Ramintra 1, Ramintra Road, Anusaowaree, Bangkhen, Bangkok 10220, Thailand

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · China Postdoctoral Science Foundation · Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China

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