Construction and Building Materials

Quantifying the Potential of Cellulose Acetate Fiber Reinforcement for Enhancing

Mechanical and Durability Performances in Recycled Aggregate Concrete
--Manuscript Draft--

Manuscript Number: CONBUILDMAT-D-23-06003

Article Type: Research Paper

Keywords: RCA; RFA; Cellulose acetate fiber; mechanical performance; regression analysis;
durability

Corresponding Author: Tapas Kumar Dora, PhD

Rajam, Andhra Pradesh INDIA

First Author: Bimalendu Dash

Order of Authors: Bimalendu Dash

Jyoti Prakash Giri

P. Markendaya Raju

Tapas Kumar Dora, PhD

Abstract: The poor performance of virgin cement concrete and its significant carbon footprint
have prompted researchers to explore the concurrent integration of recycled coarse
aggregates (RCA) or recycled fine aggregates (RFA) along with fibers. This study aims
to investigate the mechanical and durability performance of concrete mixes with
varying percentages of RCA or RFA and different volume fractions of processed
cellulose acetate fiber (CAF) derived from waste cigarette filters. The results show that
the mechanical performances of the concrete mixes increase with up to 1.5% volume
fraction incorporation of CAF. Moreover, the replacement of RCA or RFA, combined
with the incorporation of CAF, exhibits a synergistic effect in enhancing the mechanical
performance of the concrete. The developed correlations for mechanical and durability
performances can serve as a valuable tool for designing concrete mixes with improved
mechanical and durability performances for CAF-reinforced concrete.

Suggested Reviewers: Rawaz Kurad

University of Lisbon
rawaz.saleem@gmail.com

Mahyuddin Ramli
Universiti Sains Malaysia
mahyudin@usm.my

Yahya C. Kurama
University of Notre Dame
ykurama@nd.edu

Subash Chandra Bose Gurram

Central Building Research Institute
subash.gb@gmail.com

Pedro R. Da Silva
Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon
silvapm@dec.isel.pt

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Cover Letter

To Date: 5th June 2023

The editor
Construction and Building Materials

Dear sir,
Enclosed is a paper, entitled “Quantifying the Potential of Cellulose Acetate Fiber
Reinforcement for Enhancing Mechanical and Durability Performances in Recycled
Aggregate Concrete”. Please accept it as a candidate for publication in the Journal of
Construction and Building Materials.

The study reports on the mechanical and durability performances of concrete mortar through
partial replacement of coarse aggregate with RCA and reinforcement of cellulose acetate fiber.
Similarly, the mechanical and durability performances of concrete mortar through partial
replacement of fine aggregates with RFA along with reinforcement of cellulose acetate fiber
were also studied.

The poor performance of the virgin cement concrete and excess carbon footprint instigates the
concurrent integration of recycled coarse aggregates (RCA) or recycled fine aggregates (RFA)
along with fibers. To explore this, the current study envisages an investigation of the
mechanical performance of concrete with the simultaneous reinforcement of cellulose acetate
fiber (CAF) derived from cigarette filter and recycled aggregates. Various cement concrete
mixes were prepared using 53-grade cement with various percentages (0%, 30%, 50%, 70%,
and 100%) integration of RCA and varying volume fractions (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, and 2.5%)
of RF. Similarly, different concrete mixes were prepared using RFA, thereby replacing natural
fine aggregates. The mechanical performances viz. compressive, tensile, and flexural strengths
of every mix were investigated. Two different models viz. polynomial and power model were
used to develop correlations for split tensile and flexural strength were in terms of the
compressive strength. Simultaneously, the different durability performances viz. sorptivity
coefficient, porosity and chloride penetration of the prepared concrete mortar were also
investigated. Thus, the developed correlations can be used for the design of concrete mix with
improved mechanical and durability performances for cellulose acetate fiber-reinforced
concrete.
We strongly believe the contribution of this study warrants its publication in the Construction
and Building Materials.

Finally, this paper is our original unpublished work and it has not been submitted to any other
journal for reviews.

Sincerely,

Dr. D. Tapas Kumar Dora

Associate Professor
GMR Institute of Technology, Rajam
Andhra Pradesh
Email: tapasdora@gmail.com
Manuscript (For revision, remove the original version and upload Click here to view linked References
clean version of revised paper)

Quantifying the Potential of Cellulose Acetate Fiber Reinforcement for Enhancing

1
2 Mechanical and Durability Performances in Recycled Aggregate Concrete
3
4 Bimalendu Dash1,2, Jyoti Prakash Giri2, P. Markendaya Raju3, D. T. K. Dora1,*
5
6 1
GMR Institute of Technology, Rajam, Andhra Pradesh – 532127, India.
7 2
Centurion University of Technology and Management, Odisha – 752050, India.
8 3
MVGR College of Engineering, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh – 535005, India.
9
10
11 *Corresponding author: D. T. K. Dora (tapasdora@gmail.com)
12
13
14 Abstract
15
16
17 The poor performance of virgin cement concrete and its significant carbon footprint have
18
19 prompted researchers to explore the concurrent integration of recycled coarse aggregates
20
21 (RCA) or recycled fine aggregates (RFA) along with fibers. This study aims to investigate the
22 mechanical and durability performance of concrete mixes with varying percentages of RCA or
23
24 RFA and different volume fractions of processed cellulose acetate fiber (CAF) derived from
25
26 waste cigarette filters. The results show that the mechanical performances of the concrete mixes
27
28 increase with up to 1.5% volume fraction incorporation of CAF. Moreover, the replacement of
29
30 RCA or RFA, combined with the incorporation of CAF, exhibits a synergistic effect in
31
32
enhancing the mechanical performance of the concrete. The developed correlations for
33 mechanical and durability performances can serve as a valuable tool for designing concrete
34
35 mixes with improved mechanical and durability performances for CAF-reinforced concrete.
36
37
38 Keywords: RCA; RFA; Cellulose acetate fiber; mechanical performance; regression analysis; durability
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 1. Introduction
1
2 The unremitting decay of natural resources used for the construction segment becomes a
3
4 serious menace to natural ecology and causes an ecological imbalance. Apart from energy, the
5
6 construction sector consumes more amount of resources. Especially in India, the resources
7
8
utilized in the construction sector is accounted as 80% of the total country resource
9 consumption [1]. Since 2020, India has not made sufficient effort for the resources
10
11 sustainability [2]. The maximum liability can be shouldered onto concrete for the resources
12
13 consumption. The huge entrenched greenhouse neutrality, demand of bulk volume of natural
14
15 resources and generation of discarded upon construction annihilation are the foremost concerns
16
17 with concrete [3]. Hence, the growing demand of construction accomplishments desire the
18
replacement of natural resources to produce of sustainable concrete. With respect to this,
19
20 recycled aggregates (RA) and debris of construction and demolition (C&D) are the impending
21
22 alternate. Alone in India, the C&D waste generation approximated as 150 million tonnes per
23
24 annum, accounting 35-40% of global generation [4], however, the recycling capacity is merely
25
26 6500 TPD [5]. Despite of various laws and policies framed by the Indian Government, the
27
28 management of debris of C&D became stimulating. Moreover, the recovery is restricted to
29 substandard application viz. backfilling and use as a substrate in road construction, however,
30
31 the functionality of RA contrasts to the original. Thus, for energy intensification and reduction
32
33 of carbon footprints in construction sectors, a significant portions of C&D debris need to be
34
35 reused and brought back to the construction for the substitution of the natural sourced materials,
36
37 and thus enabling the circular economy of C&D waste and treated as a resource. Thus, such
38
39
mineral debris from C&D and RA have attracted the research communities for their high-
40 valued application like incorporation in the concrete mix. The RA based concrete frequently
41
42 displayed mediocre mechanical and durability performances compared to orthodox concrete
43
44 until various research on the improvement of use of RA in concrete have emerged [6]. Since
45
46 then, the era of favouring RA has started to fulfil the demand of sustainability and recyclability
47
48 needs.
49
50 Since last half-a-decade, numerous attempts were made on the replacement of natural
51
52 aggregates with RA, being the foremost constituent of C&D, to produce concrete mix having
53
54 properties analogous to virgin concrete [7–12]. Utmost all cases comprise of attempt for
55
56 classification of RA into three foremost categories viz. recycled coarse, fine and ultrafine
57
58
cementitious elements. Two innovative methods like advanced dry recovery (ADR) and
59 heating air classification system (HACS) were used in industrial scale to categorize RA into
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 three different fraction [13–15]. The ADR method comprises of separating the recycled coarse
1
2 aggregates (RCA), while the HACS method deals with drying at high temperature and
3
4 separating ultrafine cementitious fractions from recycled fine aggregates (RFA).
5
Conventionally, electric-pulsed discharge fractionation [16] and microwave assisted
6
7 beneficiation [12] modes are established for recycling of end-of-life (EoL) concrete. The
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9 electric-pulsed discharge fragmentation method comprises of delamination of RA from mortar
10
11 based on their variance in energy absorption capacity. The method is advantageous in
12
13 improving the quality of RA and produces comparatively superior RCA without deteriorating
14
15 the inherent property. However, the supplied enhanced electric voltage inside water immersed
16 mortar discharge maximum cement into the sludge, which has to be dumped [3]. Relatively
17
18 superior RCA can also be produced in heating and rubbing method [10], however the
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20 application can be limited to soil stabilizing and addition to blast furnace slag cement. The
21
22 addition of such RCA exhibit analogous mechanical and durability performances when
23
24 compared to conventional concrete. Moreover, such RCA based concrete possess better
25
26 pumpability and castability. A two-step waste elimination method [9] comprised of heating
27 concrete rubble at 650 °C followed by grinding. Such superior quality RCA based concrete
28
29 exhibits enhanced mechanical performances with equivalent durability performances when
30
31 compared to virgin concrete. However, one hour of heating increases the cost of production of
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33 RA. Another method named smart crushing [11] enables producing RCA and RFA powders
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35 with analogous properties of natural aggregates by crushing gently the C&D to produce
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37
hydrated cement powder. However, constant crushing causes the formation of powders with
38 silica rich rather than calcium rich. Though all conventional methods are not widespread owing
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40 to the expensive nature, and thus could not be scaled-up. The ADR and HACS methods are
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42 balancing the quality and cost for such recycling end-of-life concrete [13]. The fractionated
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44 RCA and RFA composed of clean RA without fines and with fines respectively, thus can
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46 directly mix with the concrete.
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48 The mechanical and durability performances of the recycled concrete by the inclusion of the
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50 RCA fractions have been investigated well. As believed by maximum of investigators, the
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52 mortar adhered to the RCA surfaces becomes a hindrance for the application of the recycled
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54 concrete in the structural field [17,18], however, some other investigators considered it as a
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benefit in structural field [19–21]. An increased percentage replacement of RCA leads to poorer
57 mechanical strength of the concrete [22–25]. The inclusion of 30% RCA results in equivalent
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59 compressive strength (CS) with the concrete prepared using natural aggregates. Further, the
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 100% replacement natural aggregates with RCA results in decreased (20%) CS [26]. Similarly,
1
2 split tensile strength (TS) is also observed to decrease (10%) upon 100% replacement with
3
4 RCA [22,27,28]. Moreover, significant variance in the flexural strengths (FS) was not observed
5
upon replacement of coarse aggregates with RCA compared to Conventional Concrete
6
7 Aggregate (CC) [29]. Apart from RCA, RFA was also obtained from the C&D debris.
8
9 However, unlike RCA, RFA is remaining unutilized and is treated as waste, thereby, raising
10
11 issues related to landfill, and the waste of natural resources. Thus, the replacement of natural
12
13 fine aggregates with RFA draws attention of the scientific community to overcome the
14
15 economic consequence. Further, partial replacement of RFA allows effective utilization of such
16 waste. Several attempts were conducted on the augmentation of the mechanical strength of
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18 concrete through introduction of RFA. The CS and TS of the concrete were observed to reduce
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20 by 16% and 7% respectively upon a 100% RFA replacement ratio [30]. Further, high-strength
21
22 concrete with a 100% RFA replacement ratio exhibits a reduction in CS and TS by 4-12 % and
23
24 24% respectively [31–33]. The reduction in the mechanical strength compared to virgin
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26 concrete may be owing to high slump RFA in the range of 80-134 mm [24,31,32,34]. Various
27 mechanical behaviors like CS, TS, elastic modulus, and shrinkage strain were evaluated for
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29 concrete with different RFA replacement ratios (15, 30, 50, and 100%) [35]. Even, several
30
31 studies were reported on the durability of different replacement ratios of RFA in concrete [36–
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33 38]. However, the enhanced porosity and water absorption characteristics of RFA limit further
34
35 study on the mechanical strength through the introduction of RFA in concrete. The high
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porosity of RFA in turn increases the water absorption by about 11-13% (higher than natural
38 fine aggregates), which further reduces the workability of the concrete mix [30,32,34,39,40].
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40 Investigators have tiniest preferred for inclusion in the recycled concrete owing to the
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42 unfavourable issues like influencing the quantity of attached cement-paste, clumsy shape and
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44 high water sorption of RFA. Such factors of RFA have adverse effect on the mechanical and
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46 durability performances of recycled concrete. For tackling such disadvantages, various
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investigators worked to attain enhanced performances of RFA. Equipoising the intrinsic
49 properties though treatment of RA with carbon dioxide during curing was observed as
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51 beneficiary for attaining extraordinary durability performances [41]. Such treatment with
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53 carbon dioxide enables RFA to absorb less water with enhanced permeability. The addition of
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55 superplasticizers [42], fly-ash [43] and sodium silicate with silica fumes [44] in the RFA based
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57 concrete mix contribute towards enhanced CS and workability. However, the high time of
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casting the recycled concrete becomes a bottleneck for commercialization. Thus, the
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 reinforcement of fibers in the concrete mixture along with RCA or RFA can contribute towards
1
2 the increase in mechanical strength.
3
4 The reinforcement of fibers contributes towards making the concrete stronger, also helps in
5
6 disappearing the brittle nature [27,45,46]. The type of fiber used for reinforcement along with
7
8 its aspect-ratio effect the behavior of the concrete towards type of loading [47]. Thus, the
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10 reinforcement of fibers in the concrete attracts various researchers for attenuation of the
11
12 mechanical performance. The effect of steel fiber on the punching strength was investigated by
13
14
Mari et al. [48]. The CS and FS of RFA was investigated further with the inclusion of steel
15 fibers of varying aspect ratios [49]. Fattouh et al. [50] have investigated the contribution of
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17 steel fiber along with silica fumes on the mechanical properties of concrete in both tap-water
18
19 and seawater curing. Moreover, better stronger performance was resulted by the reinforcement
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21 of recycled steel fibers in RCA based concrete [27]. The highest CS, TS, and FS were observed
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23 for concrete with 0% and 50% RCA with 0.03% reinforcement of glass-fiber [51]. The CS,
24
TS, and FS by Inclusion of glass fiber (GF) and RA in M40 grade cement was observed to be
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26 47, 4.8, and 4.82 MPa. respectively [52]. Further, Zhang et al. [53] have determined the optimal
27
28 ratio of GF in concrete for the maximization of TS. Polypropylene fibers play a significant role
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30 in influencing the mechanical strength of concrete for both Natural Coarse Aggregates (NCA)
31
32 and RCA. The highest improvements for RCA over unreinforced RCA are, respectively, TS
33
34 increases of 12.01% and FS increases of 17.15%. According to the findings for each series,
35 fiber should make up 0.5% of the overall weight [54]. Further, the simultaneous effect on the
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37 mechanical performance of concrete mix with varied reinforcement of GF and replacement of
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39 NCA with RCA was investigated [55].
40
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42 The reinforcement of fibers in concrete mix not only contribute towards the mechanical
43 performances, also augment its durability. Thus, researchers have investigated the durability of
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45 the fiber-reinforced concrete along with inclusion of recycled aggregates. Reinforcement of
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47 steel fiber augments the resistivity against chloride infiltration and the sustainability in acidic
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49 environment for both virgin and RA concrete [56,57]. The effect of reinforcement of glass
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51 fibers in the RCA based concrete mortar was further investigated [55]. They observed an
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53 increased chloride infiltration as the RCA volume increases in the concrete mix. At higher
54 dosage of GF also contribute towards an augmented chloride infiltration. The effect of glass,
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56 polypropylene and steel fibers on the CS, TS, FS and porosity of the concrete mix was also
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58 explored[58]. They revealed that the porosity of the mortar increases upon higher dosage (2 %)
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60 of glass and steel fibers. However, a reverse trend was observed for the inclusion of higher
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 dosage of polypropylene fibers. Polypropylene fibers, being synthetic fiber, are flexible and
1
2 thus can easily seal the voids in the mortar.
3
4 Cigarette filters, composed of cellulose acetate fibers, are considered as a solid waste with an
5
6 annual generation of about 5.7 trillion globally [59]. Such waste are either landfilled or
7
8 incinerated leads to water and air pollution. A quick scan of the current literature finds that
9
10 studies examining the impact of cellulose acetate fiber (CAF) on the mechanical performance
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12 and durability of RA concrete are uncommon. Moreover, there is no accessible study on the
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mechanical strength performance of CAF-reinforced mixes manufactured using natural coarse
15 and fine aggregates with concerning replacement using RCA and RFA. To explore this, in this
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17 work assessment and comparison of the mechanical performance of RF-reinforced mixtures
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19 including various RCA levels was investigated. Six altered volume-fractions of CAF (0, 0.5,
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21 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5%) were added to concrete mixtures containing 0, 30, 50, 70, and 100% RCA
22
23 and RFA for M30 grade of concrete. Moreover, different mechanical performances such as
24
CS, TS, and FS were measured for different samples. Furthermore, using these experimental
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26 values, regression correlations were obtained for TS and FS concerning CS and % of CAF.
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28 Simultaneously, the durability characteristics like sorptivity coefficient and chloride
29
30 penetration of the as prepared concrete mortar was also investigated.
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2. Materials
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35 For the current investigation, RA were fractionated by combining ADR and HACS methods to
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37 form superior quality RCA and RFA. The fractionated RCA and RFA were used for the partial
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39 replacement of natural coarse and fine aggregates respectively. The source of RA was a
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destroyed building in Andhra Pradesh, India. The collected gravels and sand from the bank of
42 river Nagavali were treated as natural coarse and fine aggregates respectively. The RCA and
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44 RFA obtained from the destroyed building were carefully graded in concurrence with the size
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46 range of natural aggregates. For average particle size distribution analysis standard sieving
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48 method was used. A Napthalene based superplasticizer CERAPLAST 300 (Cera-Chem Pvt.
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50 Ltd., Chennai, TamiNadu) was used to attain enhanced workability and better compaction in
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the concrete. The 53-grade cement [60] was used for making the samples, as it is widely used
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53 in Indian construction sectors. The property of used cement is tabulated in Table 1. The specific
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55 gravity of cement was observed to be 3.12, thus compact and stronger concrete is feasible. The
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57 sieve analysis suggested that the 8% (by weight) of cement are passed through a 90 micron
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59 screen, thus better workability and improved concrete strength is feasible.
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 Property Value
1
2
Specific gravity 3.12
3 Fineness of
4 Cement 8%
5 Normal
6 Consistency 32%
7
8 Initial Setting time 50min
9 Final Setting time 8hr.20min
10 Table 1. General Properties of OPC
11
12
13 As revealed from the standard consistency plunger test, 32% water is required to attain the
14
15 paste consistency. Moreover, the cement used in this study begins to harden after 50 min of
16
17 mixing and achieves its final set after 8 h and 20 min. For the attainment of desired properties
18
19 in concrete, the mixing proportions were carefully chosen based on the neat cement properties.
20
21 The physical properties of produced RA is presented in Table 2.
22
23 Types of Specific Bulk Water
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25
aggregate gravity density(kg/m3) absorption
26 NFA 2.61 2610 1%
27 NCA 2.629 2629.9 1%
28
29
RFA 2.02 2020 16.05%
30 RCA 2.02 2020 16.05%
31 Table 2. Properties of aggregates
32
33 The used natural fine aggregates (NFA) exhibit a specific gravity of 2.61. Additionally, NFA
34
35 possesses a water absorption rate of 1%, thus it can absorb up to 1% of its weight in water.
36
37 However, natural coarse aggregate (NCA) exhibits a slightly higher specific gravity of 2.629
38
39 and thus a slightly higher bulk density of 2629.9 kg/m3 compared to NFA. Like NFA, NCA
40
has a water absorption rate of 1%. The third type of aggregate listed in the table is RFA, which
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42 possess a specific gravity of 2.02, lower compared to NFA. Moreover, RFA possess a higher
43
44 water absorption rate of 16.05%, thus it can absorb a significantly higher amount of water
45
46 compared to NFA. The fourth type of aggregate listed in Table 2 is RCA, which has similar
47
48 properties to RFA. Different chemicals used for chloride penetration and acid attack tests were
49
50 purchased Sigma Aldrich Pvt. Ltd., India. All chemicals used for performing such tests were
51 used as received from the vendor. Distilled water was prepared using water distillation unit
52
53 present in the laboratory and used for processing of cigarette filters.
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56 3. Experimental section
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58 3.1 Processing of cigarette filters
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 The cigarette filters (CF) were collected from the nearby cafeteria and bars of the local market.
1
2 The collected filters contains some burnt tobacco, unburnt tobacco, wrapped paper and
3
4 impurities like lipstick and saliva. The wrapped paper and tobacco part attached to the filters
5
were first removed manually. The obtained 1000 filters were first treated with 10 lit of 0.02%
6
7 of H2SO4 (w/v) for 1h at room temperature. The CFs were removed and again treated with new
8
9 H2SO4 solution and continuously stirred for 30 min and such decantation and washing was
10
11 repeated for two times. Upon further decantation, the CFs were rinsed with 5 lit of ethanol for
12
13 two times. The treated filters were further rinsed with 5 lit of diethyl ether followed by
14
15 treatment with 5 lit of hexane. The treatment with diethyl ether and hexane were repeated for
16 three times. The obtained filters were suspended in acetone for the precipitation of cellulose
17
18 acetate fibers and further washed with distilled water. After washing the fibers were sundried
19
20 for 24 h before reinforcing in the concrete mix. The properties of cellulose acetate fibers after
21
22 processing is presented in Table 3.
23
24
25 Property Results
26 Density 1.28 – 1.32 g/cm3
27 Tensile strength 31 – 55.2 MPa
28
29 Young’s Modulus 2.4 – 4.1 GPa
30 Colour Light brown
31 Moisture <2%
32
33 Water absorption 25 – 28%
34 Fiber diameter 3 denier
35 Fiber length 18 µm
36
37 Table 3. Properties of CAF
38
39 3.2 Concrete mix design
40
41
42 The different concrete mixtures were prepared as per standard design code IS: 10262-2009
43
44
[61]. Tables 4 and 5 depict the mixture proportions for various components in the concrete
45 mixtures for RCA-CAF and RFA-CAF respectively. For reference, a conventioanl mix was
46
47 prepared without any RCA, RFA, and CAF. The other mixes are prepared by volumetric
48
49 replacement of coarse aggregate with RCA and the incorporation of different volume fractions
50
51 of CAF and labelled as RCAmCAFn. Similarly, different concrete mixes were prepared
52
53 through volumetric replacement of NFA with RFA, along with reinforcement of varied volume
54
fractions of CAF, and labeled as RFAmCAFn. The “m” and “n” denote the % of RCA or RFA
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56 (0, 30, 50, 70, 100 %) and % of volume fraction of CAF (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5%) respectively
57
58 in concrete mix proportion (Table 4 for RCA and Table 5 for RFA). The water-cement ratio
59
60 was kept constant at 0.45 in all the samples of concrete mix. The workability of each mix is
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 maintained at the same level for all mixes, so that the slump can be selected in the range
1
2 between 75-85 mm. Superplasticizer was mixed in the RF reinforced mixes for the
3
4 compensation of loss of workability owing to the presence of RF. Moreover, as the RF fractions
5
increased in fiber-reinforced mixes, an enhanced quantity of superplasticizer was used. All
6
7 mixtures were prepared in a mechanical mixer (capacity of 0.15 m3 and 20 rpm). Based on the
8
9 requirement, extra water was used for the preparation of RCA and RFA mixes. Tap water, after
10
11 confirming pH = 7, was used for the preparation of all mixes.
12
13
Extra
14 RCA OPC NFA NCA RCA RF Water
15 Mixture water
(%) (kg/m ) (kg/m ) (kg/m ) (kg/m3)
3 3 3 (%) (kg/m3)
16 (kg/m3)
17 RCA0RF0 (ref) 392 620 1086 0 0 185
18
19 RCA0RF0.5 392 620 1086 0 0.5 185
20 RCA0RF1 392 620 1086 0 1 185
21 0
RCA0RF1.5 392 620 1086 0 1.5 185
22
23 RCA0RF2 392 620 1086 0 2 185
24 RCA0RF2.5 392 620 1086 0 2.5 185
25 RCA30RF0 392 620 760 326 0 185
26
27
RCA30RF0.5 392 620 760 326 0.5 185
28 RCA30RF1 392 620 760 326 1 185
29
30 24
RCA30RF1.5 392 620 760 326 1.5 185
30
31
RCA30RF2 392 620 760 326 2 185
32 RCA30RF2.5 392 620 760 326 2.5 185
33 RCA50RF0 392 620 543 543 0 185
34
35
RCA50RF0.5 392 620 543 543 0.5 185
36 RCA50RF1 392 620 543 543 1 185
50 42
37 RCA50RF1.5 392 620 543 543 1.5 185
38
RCA50RF2 392 620 543 543 2 185
39
40 RCA50RF2.5 392 620 543 543 2.5 185
41 RCA70RF0 392 620 326 760 0 185
42 RCA70RF0.5 392 620 326 760 0.5 185
43
44 RCA70RF1 392 620 326 760 1 185
70 54
45 RCA70RF1.5 392 620 326 760 1.5 185
46 RCA70RF2 392 620 326 760 2 185
47
48 RCA70RF2.5 392 620 326 760 2.5 185
49 RCA100RF0 392 620 0 1086 0 185
50 RCA100RF0.5 392 620 0 1086 0.5 185
51
52 RCA100RF1 392 620 0 1086 1 185
100 62
53 RCA100RF1.5 392 620 0 1086 1.5 185
54 RCA100RF2 392 620 0 1086 2 185
55
56 RCA100RF2.5 392 620 0 1086 2.5 185
57 Table 4. Detail description of Mix proportion for RCA
58
59
60
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 Extra
1 RFA OPC NFA RFA NCA RF Water
Mixture water
2 (%) (kg/m3) (kg/m ) (kg/m3)
3 (kg/m3) (%) (kg/m3)
3
(kg/m3)
4 RFA0RF0(ref) 392 620 0 1086 0 185
5 RFA0RF0.5 392 620 0 1086 0.5 185
6 RFA0RF1 392 620 1086 1 185
0
7 0
8 RFA0RF1.5 392 620 0 1086 1.5 185
9 RFA0RF2 392 620 0 1086 2 185
10 RFA0RF2.5 392 620 0 1086 2.5 185
11
12 RFA30RF0 392 434 186 1086 0 185
13 RFA30RF0.5 392 434 186 1086 0.5 185
14 RFA30RF1 392 434 186 1086 1 185
15 30 22
16 RFA30RF1.5 392 434 186 1086 1.5 185
17 RFA30RF2 392 434 186 1086 2 185
18 RFA30RF2.5 392 434 186 1086 2.5 185
19
20 RFA50RF0 392 310 310 1086 0 185
21 RFA50RF0.5 392 310 310 1086 0.5 185
22 RFA50RF1 392 310 310 1086 1 185
23 50 38
24 RFA50RF1.5 392 310 310 1086 1.5 185
25 RFA50RF2 392 310 310 1086 2 185
26 RFA50RF2.5 392 310 310 1086 2.5 185
27
28 RFA70RF0 392 186 434 1086 0 185
29 RFA70RF0.5 392 186 434 1086 0.5 185
30 RFA70RF1 392 186 434 1086 1 185
31 70 50
32 RFA70RF1.5 392 186 434 1086 1.5 185
33 RFA70RF2 392 186 434 1086 2 185
34 RFA70RF2.5 392 186 434 1086 2.5 185
35
36
RFA100RF0 392 0 620 1086 0 185
37 RFA100RF0.5 392 0 620 1086 0.5 185
38 RFA100RF1 392 0 620 1086 1 185
39 100 58
40
RFA100RF1.5 392 0 620 1086 1.5 185
41 RFA100RF2 392 0 620 1086 2 185
42 RFA100RF2.5 392 0 620 1086 2.5 185
43
44
Table 5. Detail description of Mix proportion for RFA
45
46
3.3 Testing methods of concrete specimen
47
48 The mechanical properties viz. CS, TS and FS were obtained for all type of RCAmCAFn and
49
50 RFAmCAFn mixes. Before evaluation of the various mechanical performances, all mixes were
51
52 casted in different shaped mold and kept for 24 h. Then, the casted specimens were removed
53
54
from the mold and cured in tap-water for 28 days for further evaluation of various strengths.
55 All type of mixes were casted in the form of cube of 150 mm and tested for CS in a 2000 kN
56
57 capacity compression testing machine (TESTMAK, TMC-5236/110). Similarly, the TS was
58
59 measured by using the compression testing machine (TESTMAK, TMC-5236/110) having
60
61
62
63
64
65
 1000 kN capacity. For this the mixes were casted in the form of cylinder (150 × 300 mm).
1
2 Further, the mixes were casted in the form of a prism (100 × 100 × 500 mm) and tested in a
3
4 Universal testing machine (Fine Spavy Associations Pvt. Ltd., TUE-C-1000) for evaluation of
5
FS.
6
7
8 The durability performances viz. sorptivity coefficient, porosity and chloride penetration of
9
10 different concrete mix were evaluated. For sorptivity coefficient and porosity evaluation, the
11
12 prepared cylindrical shaped mortar (150 × 300 mm) was cross-sectionally cut into a disc (100
13
14
× 50 mm). The sorptivity and porosity test were repeated three times and the average values
15 are presented. For chloride infiltration test, the prepared concrete mixes were casted in a
16
17 cylindrical mold (150 × 300 mm) and cured for 14 days in tap water. The water-cured cylinders
18
19 were further dried in a hot air oven for 72 h at 50 °C, followed by cooling to ambient
20
21 temperature. After cooling, the samples were dipped in a 3% NaCl solution for 91 days.
22
23 Further, the samples were removed and split. The infiltrated chloride was precipitated by
24
spraying 0.1N AgNO3 solution, so as to enable the reaction between chloride and AgNO3 to
25
26 form a precipitate of silver colored AgCl2. The depth of silver color was measured and noted
27
28 in mm.
29
30
31 To obtain the Fourier transform infrared, FTIR (NICOLET iS50) spectra, the processed fiber
32
were ground with KBR pallets and then 64 scans were taken at an interval of 4 cm-1. For thermal
33
34 gravimetric analysis (STD-Q600, TA Instruments, USA), a weighed sample of processed
35
36 cellulose acetate fiber was heated in air medium from ambient temperature to 900 °C at a ramp
37
38 rate of 5 °C/min. To obtain morphology of the cellulose acetate fiber reinforced concrete, the
39
40 sectional cut samples were frist dried at room temperature for three days. After drying the
41
42 microstructures of the samples were evaluated in a scanning electron microscope (FEI Quanta
43 200 F SEM). For pore size distribution (6.4 nm to 1100 µm) of cement mortar was obtained by
44
45 using mercury intrusion pore size analyser (Anton Par, PoreMaster 33). For this, the extracted
46
47 small fragments from the specimen were placed in the pressure vessel and degassed at 10 mm
48
49 Hg. Then the pore size distribution was recorded for all samples under raising pressure in
50
51 nitrogen atmosphere.
52
53 4. Results and discussions
54
55
56 4.1 Characterizations of processed cellulose acetate fibers
57
58 The FTIR spectra of the processed cellulose acetate fiber is presented as Fig. 1. The strong
59
60 peak at 3144 cm-1 is ascribed to the presence of –OH group. The presence of aliphatic C=O
61
62
63
64
65
 group was confirmed at 1625 cm-1. However, the processed CF from the earlier work [59], the
1
2 C=O group was observed at 1740 cm-1. The shift of C=O peak may be owing to the difference
3
4 in the method of processing of CFs. A high intensity peak was observed at 1625 cm-1, thereby
5
confirming the presence of C-H group owing to symmetric deformation of methyl group. The
6
7 asymmetric C-O-C group is ascribed through a high intensified peak at 1061 cm-1 owing to the
8
9 stretched aliphatic esters. However, low intense peak at 1061 cm-1 ascribed to C-O-C owing to
10
11 acid treatments was observed.
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46 Fig. 1. FTIR spectra of processed CAF
47
48 The outcome of the TGA and DTG is presented in Fig. 2. As revealed from Fig. 2, the first
49
50 phase of degradation of cellulose acetate fiber of about 12% at 120 °C. At initial stage of the
51
52 heating, the decrease may be due to the evaporation of water molecules attached to the fibers.
53
54 At 320 °C, a sharp decrease in 47% of fiber weight is observed. This the temperature was
55 sufficient to decrease the intermolecular force of attraction, thereby breaking the bond and
56
57 cellulose acetate fibers degrades. The third and slow phase of degradation of about 18% beyond
58
59 320 °C, is due to conversion of the cellulose acetate fibers into carbonaceous product.
60
61
62
63
64
65
 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32 Fig. 2. TGA and DTG analysis of processed CAF
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48 Fig. 3. SEM morphology of processed fiber at (a) lower (b) higher magnification
49
50
51 The morphology of the cellulose acetate fibers is presented in Fig. 3a. As observed from Fig.
52 3, the fibers are entangled and seems like polymeric chains. The polarized –OH groups present
53
54 on the surface of the fibers induce an electrostatic force of attraction among the fibers to remain
55
56 together. However, the fibers looks stiff not damaged ones [59], thus the incorporation of such
57
58 processed cellulose acetate fibers do not instiagate porosity in the concrete matrix. Moreover,
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
 upon further magnification (Fig. 3b), some impurities like nicotine still present on the surface
1
2 of the fibers and attached to it.
3
4 4.2. Properties of natural and recycled aggregates
5
6
7 The standard sieve analysis of the natural and recycled aggregates are presented in Fig. 4. As
8
9 observed, after grading of RCA equivalent to NCA, the size range of RCA is analogous to
10
11
NCA. Similarly, the graded RFA have the similar size range of RFA compared to NFA. The
12 particle size range of NCA and RCA fall in 10 to 20 mm, whereas for NFA and RFA is 75
13
14 micron to 4 mm.
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49 Fig. 4. Gradation curves of natural and recycled aggregates
50
51 Figs. 5a and b represent the fresh densities of the various cellulose acetate fiber reinforced RCA
52
53 and RFA based concrete mixes respectively. The increased RCA or RFA replacements cause
54
55 decrease in the fresh density of the concrete. The density of RCA and RFA are lower than the
56
57 corresponding natural aggregates (Table 2). Upon RA replacements, the weight of natural
58
59 aggregates decreases, thereby decreasing the density of the concrete.
60
61
62
63
64
65
 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26 Fig. 5. Fresh densities of (a) RCA (b) RFA based mixes with varying dosage of CAF
27
28 Moreover, the size of RCA and RFA were chosen similar to NCA and NFA respectively (Fig.
29
30 4a and b respectively), so size of the RAs has least effect on the fresh density of the concrete.
31
32 Furthermore, the total volume of aggregates including RCA and NCA (RCA based) and
33
34 including RFA and NFA (RFA based) remain same in all concrete mixes. Thus the reference
35
36
mix, RCA0CAF0 (Table 4) and RFA0CAF0 (Table 5) exhibit more density compared to other
37 RCA and RFA based mixes. Simultaneously, density of the concrete mix also depends upon
38
39 the water requirement for its preparation. More water equivalent to volume of natural
40
41 aggregates is consumed upon replacement with RAs in both RCA and RFA mixes, which may
42
43 also contribute towards the decreased density of RCA and RFA mixes.
44
45 As observed from Figs. 5a and b, the fresh density decreases with increase in CAF
46
47 reinforcement in both RCA and RFA based concrete mix. Upon increase in CAF content, bulk
48
49 amount of fibers accumulated at different places and their homogeneous dispersion throughout
50
51 the concrete mix becomes infeasible [45]. The non-homogenous dispersion of CAF causes
52
53 creation of voids in the concrete, thereby instigating a decreased density. Though the density
54
55
of synthesized CAF (952 kg/m3) is less than even water, the density of fibers have minimal
56 effect on the overall density of the concrete. Further, the experimental values of fresh densities
57
58 are linearized and corresponding linear correlations are presented in Figs. 5a and b.
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
 4.3. Mechanical performances
1
2
3
4.3.1. Compressive strength
4
5 CS values of all mixes with recycled concrete aggregate (such as 0%, 30%, 50%, 70%, and
6
7 100% of RCA) with varying % of incorporation of CAF (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 of the total volume
8
9 of concrete) are presented in Fig. 6a. Compared to the nominal mix, compressive strength was
10
11
observed to decrease by 2.57% for 30%, 3.1% for 50%, 3.62% for 70%, and 4.64% for 100%
12 RCA replacement. The decrease in CS upon increasing RCA content may be attributed to the
13
14 increased water requirement for preparation of mix. Further, the density of RCA is less than
15
16 natural coarse aggregates, so upon equivalent volumetric addition of NCA instigates decreased
17
18 CS. Similarly, Fig. 6b represents the variation in CS with different volumetric replacement of
19
20 RFA and varying dosage of CAF. Compared to the nominal mix, compressive strength was
21
22
observed to decrease by 0.09% for 30%, 0.34% for 50%, 0.58% for 70%, and 0.86% for 100%
23 RFA replacement. Like RCA-based concrete mix, similar trends of CS were observed upon
24
25 volumetric replacement of RFA owing to the lower density of RFA than NFA. However, the
26
27 % decrease CS upon replacement of RFA is less compared to RCS replacement in the concrete
28
29 mix. This may be ascribed to reduction in voids in the concrete mortar, in-turn owing to the
30
31 fine size of RFA compared to RCA.
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54 Fig. 6. Compressive strength of (a) RCA (b) RFA based concrete mixes with varying
55 dosage of CAF
56
57 Upon increased dosage of CAF in the RCA based concrete mix, the CS increases up to 1.5%
58
59 of reinforcement (Fig. 6a). However, beyond 1.5% reinforcement of CAF causes a decreased
60
61
62
63
64
65
 CS. The increased CS can be attributed to the decrease in voids, in-turn due to filling-up the
1
2 voids in the concrete mix with increased CAF. Moreover, the increase in CAF reinforcement
3
4 inhibits crack development across the mortar during compression loading, and thus contributed
5
towards increased CS. However, beyond 1.5% reinforcement, the bulk accumulation of CAF
6
7 causes improper distribution throughout the concrete mix, thereby leaving behind pores, in-
8
9 turn porosity of the mortar increases, and thus instigates a decreased CS. Among all RCA-
10
11 concrete mixes, RCA50CAF1.5 exhibits the highest CS, which is around 2% more than the virgin
12
13 concrete mix. The trends for variation of CS for different volumetric reinforcement of CAF for
14
15 RFA-based concrete mix is similar to RCA-based (Fig. 6b). However, RFA50CAF1.5 exhibits
16 highest CS among all RFA-based concrete mix, 3% higher than the virgin concrete mix.
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51 Fig. 7. Relationship between compressive strength and fresh density for (a) RCACAF
52 (b) Plain RCA (c) RFACAF and (d) Plain RFA mixes
53
54 To formulate the relationship between CS and fresh density of different mixes, experimental
55
56 values of CS were plotted against corresponding fresh densities and presented in Fig. 7. As
57
58 observed, the CS values for RCA and RFA-based concrete mix with different volumetric
59
60 reinforcement of CAF (Fig. 7a and c respectively) are better fitted to a second order polynomial
61
62
63
64
65
 equation, whereas for plain RCA and RFA-based mixes (without CAF reinforcement) are more
1
2 fitted to linear equation (Fig. 4b and d respectively). The coefficient of correlation (R2) values
3
4 for all RCACAF and RFACAF mixes were compared and observed that RCA70 and RFA70
5
exhibit maximum R2 values, thus presented here. Moreover, the R2 values for RCACAF and
6
7 RFACAF mixes were found to be 0.8744 and 0.9163 respectively. Similarly, for plain RCA
8
9 and RFA based mixes, the R2 values were observed as 0.9178 and 0.9755 respectively. The R2
10
11 values for the CAF reinforced both RCA and RFA-based concrete mixes are less as compared
12
13 to the corresponding plain mixes. Thus, the plain mixes possess more mechanical strength as
14
15 compared to the CAF reinforced mixes. This may be due to the marginal variation of fresh
16 density and CS with volumetric reinforcement of CAF in the concrete mix.
17
18
19 4.3.2. Split tensile strength
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43 Fig. 8. Split tensile strength for (a) RCA (b) RFA based mixes with varying dosage of
44 CAF
45
46 Fig. 8 represents the variation of TS for different RCA and RFA-based concrete mixes with
47
48 varying volumetric reinforcement of CAF. As observed during loading experimentation, the
49
50 CAF fiber held the concrete sample after first crack generation. TS values are observed to
51
52 decrease for all the RCA mix of an amount of 1.32%, 1.58%, 1.85% and 2.37% for 30% RCA,
53
50% RCA, 70% RCA, and 100% RCA respectively compared to virgin concrete mix. Earlier
54
55 investigations revealed that TS is more declining with % RCA replacements [62]. However,
56
57 the present study reveals that the increased volumetric replacement of RCA has marginal effect
58
59 on TS. The combined method of fractionation (ADR and HACS) instigates more angular shape
60
61
62
63
64
65
 of the RCA compared to NCA, thereby offering enhancing friction and thus improved
1
2 interconnect with cement mortar and other RA. Similarly, as revealed from Fig. 5b, with
3
4 increase in RFA replacements the TS values decreases. TS values are observed to decrease for
5
all the RFA mix of an amount of 0.06%, 0.2%, 0.3% and 0.46% for 30% RFA, 50% RFA, 70%
6
7 RFA, and 100% RFA respectively compared to virgin concrete mix. However, the loss in TS
8
9 in case of RFA-based concrete mixes are less than the RCA-based concrete mixes. The reason
10
11 is similar as described for CS.
12
13
14
The increased volumetric reinforcement of CAF caused an increase in TS for all RCA and RFA
15 based mixes. The average increase in TS of about 1.15%, 2.33%, 3.5%, 2.62%, and 1.45% for
16
17 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2% and 2.5% dosage of CAF in RCA-based concrete mixes compared to plain
18
19 RCA mixes. Similarly, the average increase in TS of about 1.12%, 2.28%, 3.43%, 2.56%, and
20
21 1.41% for 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2% and 2.5% dosage of CAF in RFA-based concrete mixes
22
23 compared to RFA mixes. Thus, it is revealed that the interlocking of CAF fibers with RFA is
24
better compared RCA, which can be attributed to the smaller fractions of RFA compared to
25
26 RCA. For both RCA and RFA-based mixes, the optimum dosage of CAF is 1.5%. Among all
27
28 RCA-based mixes, RCA30CAF1.5 exhibits maximum TS, which is about 2% higher compared
29
30 to reference mix. Similarly, among all RFA-based mixes, RFA30CAF1.5 possess maximum TS
31
32 by about 3.45% higher compared to reference mix. The interlocking characteristics of CAFs
33
34 with RCA, RFA and cement paste is better as compared to other fibers, thus the % loss in TS
35 even beyond 1.5% is marginal.
36
37
38 4.3.3. Development correlations between split-tensile strength and compressive strength
39
40
41
The experimental values of TS (fs) were plotted against corresponding CS (fc) values for both
42 RCACAF and RFACAF mixes in Fig. 9a and b respectively. Simultaneously, the experimental
43
44 values of TS were compared with the calculated values obtained from earlier developed
45
46 correlations (Table 6). As observed for both plain RCA and RFA mixes, the experimental TS
47
48 are more coincides with the calculated from correlation developed by Zain et al. [63]. However,
49
50 upon CAF reinforcement, the TS values deviates from the calculated values differently. At
51
lower CAF reinforcement i.e. RCA0CAF0.5, TS values are more close to calculated values
52
53 obtained from correlation developed by Ali and Qureshi [55]. Similarly, for RCA30CAF1.5,
54
55 RCA30CAF2, RCA50CAF2, RCA50CAF2.5, and RCA70CAF2 mix, the values of TS agree well
56
57 with the analytical ones obtained from Ali and Qureshi [55].
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
 Type of Split tensile strength(ft) Flexural strength(fb)
1 Concrete
2
3
4 𝑓𝑡 = 0.55√𝑓𝑐 (ACI:318 [68]) 𝑓𝑏 = 0.62√𝑓𝑐 (ACI:318 [68])
5 Plain Concrete
6 𝑓𝑡 = 0.19𝑓𝑐0.75 (GB:10,010 [65]) 𝑓𝑏 = 0.81√𝑓𝑐 (CEB [65])
7 (Normal and
8 high strength 𝑓𝑡 = 0.24𝑓𝑐0.65 (Xiao et al. [64]) 𝑓𝑏 = 0.7√𝑓𝑐 (IS:456 [69])
9 concrete)
10 0.81𝑓𝑐
11 𝑓𝑡 = 0.1×0.8𝑓 +7.11 (Zain et al. [63])
𝑐
12
13 𝑓𝑡 = 0.301 × (0.8𝑓𝑐 )0.65 (Iravani [66])
14
15
16 Glass Fiber 𝑓𝑡 = 0.60√0.8𝑓𝑐 (Choi and Yuan 𝑓𝑏 = 0.94√0.8𝑓𝑐 (Hillez and
17 (GF) [67]) Ziara [70])
18 Reinforced
19 𝑓𝑡 = (−0.17 × 𝐺𝐹 2 + 0.23 × 𝐺𝐹 + 𝑓𝑏 = (1.07 × 𝐺𝐹 3 − 2.08 ×
20
concrete
21
0.45)√𝑓𝑐 (Ali and Qureshi [55]) 𝐺𝐹 2 + 1.16 × 𝐺𝐹 + 0.62)√𝑓𝑐
22 (Ali and Qureshi [55])
23
24 Table 6. Existing formulas to estimate split tensile strength (ft) and flexural strength (fb)
25 of concrete from its cubical compressive strength (fc)
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50 Fig. 9. Comparison of experimental values of split tensile strength for (a) RCA (b) RFA
51
52
based mixes with calculated ones obtained from compressive strength using earlier
53 developed correlations
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22 Experimental Predicted, fs (MPa)
23
24 Choi and Ali and
ACI: 318 Xiao et al. Zain et al. Iravani
25 fc (MPa) fs (MPa) GB [65] Yuan Qureshi Eq. (1) Eq. (3)
[68] [64] [63] [66]
26 [67] [55]
27 38.76 3.42 3.42 2.95 2.59 3.04 2.81 3.34 3.51 3.42 3.43
28
29 38.8 3.46 3.43 2.95 2.59 3.04 2.81 3.34 3.52 3.48 3.47
30
31 38.84 3.5 3.43 2.96 2.59 3.04 2.81 3.34 3.52 3.52 3.51
32
33 38.88 3.54 3.43 2.96 2.59 3.04 2.81 3.35 3.52 3.53 3.55
34
35 38.85 3.51 3.43 2.96 2.59 3.04 2.81 3.34 3.52 3.52 3.52
36
37
38.81 3.47 3.43 2.95 2.59 3.04 2.81 3.34 3.52 3.48 3.48
38 38.55 3.41 3.41 2.94 2.58 3.03 2.80 3.33 3.49 3.41 3.41
39
40 38.59 3.45 3.42 2.94 2.58 3.03 2.80 3.33 3.50 3.47 3.45
41
42 38.63 3.49 3.42 2.94 2.58 3.03 2.80 3.34 3.50 3.51 3.49
43
44 38.67 3.53 3.42 2.95 2.58 3.03 2.80 3.34 3.51 3.52 3.53
45
46 38.64 3.5 3.42 2.94 2.58 3.03 2.80 3.34 3.50 3.51 3.50
47
38.6 3.46 3.42 2.94 2.58 3.03 2.80 3.33 3.50 3.47 3.46
48
49 IAE* (%) 1.70 15.27 25.76 12.82 19.46 4.08 1.28 0.35 0.20
50
51 Table 7. Comparison of the calculated values of split tensile strength from earlier and present correlations with the experimental ones
52
53
for RCACAF concrete mix
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
 However, for RCA100 with CAF reinforced mixes, the TS values completely deviates from
1
2 the earlier developed correlations. Similarly, for higher CAF reinforcement (2.5%) in RFA
3
4 mixes the TS experimental values are agreeing well with the analytical values obtained from
5
the correlation developed by Ali and Qureshi [55]. However, for other RFACAF mixes, the
6
7 values completely deviated from the earlier developed correlations. Furthermore, the ratios of
8
9 TS to CS values for both RCACAF and RFACAF mixes are more compared to the
10
11 corresponding plain RCA and RFA mixes, thereby confirming the incorporation of CAF in the
12
13 concrete mixes are proved to be favourable for TS compared to CS. The amount of deviation
14
15 in TS values in CAF reinforced RCA mixes from the earlier developed correlations were
16 calculated and presented in Table 7. As revealed, the calculated integral absolute error (IAE)
17
18 for Xiao et al. [64] is maximum (25.75), thus the calculated values of TS deviates more from
19
20 the experimental ones. Similarly, other correlations developed earlier [63,65–67] are not
21
22 agreeing well to the experimental TS values. Two correlations suggested by ACI: 318 [68] and
23
24 Ali and Qureshi [55] have shown appreciable IAE values of 1.69 and 1.28 respectively.
25
26 Although the calculated values of TS from correlation suggested by ACI: 318 are closer to
27 experimental values, however deviates at higher dosage of CAF in certain RCA based concrete
28
29 mix. Similarly the correlation developed by Ali and Qureshi are more deviating at lower dosage
30
31 of CAF in certain RCA based concrete mix. Moreover, the IAE values of the different
32
33 correlations were calculated for RFACAF concrete mixes and presented in Table S1,
34
35 supplementary file. As observed, except ACI:318 and Ali and Qureshi, the IAE values for
36
37
different correlations are more, thus exhibiting more deviation from the experimental values of
38 TS for RFACAF mixes. Similar to RCA based mixes, the ACI: 318 and Ali and Qureshi
39
40 correlations are deviating more at higher and lower dosage of CAF in RFA-based mixes. As
41
42 observed in both the cases of RCA and RFA based mixes, the TS values of plain mixes can be
43
44 calculated by using earlier correlations either ACI: 318 or Ali and Qureshi. However, upon
45
46 reinforcement of CAF instigates deviation for these two correlations. Thus for accurate
47
48
estimation of split tensile strength and decreased IAE, empirical correlations were obtained for
49 RCA and RFA mix with CAF reinforcement. For this, two different approaches viz. polynomial
50
51 𝑓𝑠
and power models were used. To obtain a polynomial correlation, the values of was plotted
52 𝑓𝑐0.5
53
54 against CAF (%) and fitted with a second order quadratic equation for both RCACAF (Fig.
55
56 10a) and RFACAF mixes (Fig. S1a, supplementary file). Similarly, for obtaining power
57 correlation, values of fs were platted against fc and then fitted to a power equation (Fig. 10b
58
59 for RCACAF and Fig. S1b, supplementary file for RFACAF mix). The coefficient of
60
61
62
63
64
65
 correlations (R2) values for each RCACAF and RFACAF mixes were calculated after each type
1
2 of fitting. The best fitting correlations with maximum R2 values are presented. The obtained
3
4 polynomial correlations for RCACAF and RFACAF mixes are presented as eqs. (1) and (2)
5
respectively.
6
7
8 𝑓𝑠 = (−0.00776 × 𝐶𝐴𝐹 2 + 0.0234 × 𝐶𝐴𝐹 + 0.5488)√𝑓𝑐 (1)
9
10
11 𝑓𝑠 = (−0.0075 × 𝐶𝐴𝐹 2 + 0.0226 × 𝐶𝐴𝐹 + 0.5487)√𝑓𝑐 (2)
12
13
14 Similarly, the obtained power correlations for RCACAF and RFACAF mixes are represented
15
16 as eqs. (3) and (4) respectively.
17
18
19 𝑓𝑠 = 9.3857 × 10−18 × 𝑓𝑐11.072 (3)
20
21
22
23 𝑓𝑠 = 3.9512 × 10−18 × 𝑓𝑐11.22 (4)
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
Fig. 10. (a) The polynomial relationship for k1 and CAF (%) and (b) the power
45 relationship for split tensile strength against compressive strength for RCACAF mixes
46
47 The coefficient of correlations (R2) for the polynomial equations (Eqs. 1 and 2) were observed
48
49
as 0.897 and 0.885 from Figs. 10a and S1a, supplementary file respectively. Similarly, the R2
50 values for eqs. 3 and 4 from Figs. 10b and S1a, supplementary file were found be equal as
51
52 0.9999. Thus, the power model is better suited to the experimental data compared to the
53
54 polynomial model for both RCACAF and RFACAF mixes. For a better understanding best
55
56 fitting models, IAEs for both eqs. (1) and (2) for the RCACAF mix were calculated (Table 7)
57
58 as 0.35 and 0.20 % respectively. Similarly, for the RFACAF mix, the IAEs for eqs. (3) and (4)
59
are observed as 0.27 and 0.15 % respectively (Table S1, supplementary file). Thus, the R2
60
61
62
63
64
65
 values are in concurrence with the IAEs, thereby suggesting the power models are more
1
2 agreeing with the experimental values for both RCACAF and RFACAF mixes. Thus power
3
4 models (Eqs. 3 and 4) can be treated as high accuracy prediction correlations for estimation of
5
TS values for different CS values.
6
7
8 4.3.4. Flexural strength
9
10
11
Fig. 11 represents the variation of FS for different RCA and RFA-based concrete mixes with
12 varying volumetric reinforcement of CAF. FS values are observed to decrease for all the RCA
13
14 mix of an amount of 1.4%, 1.6%, 1.9% and 1.8% for 30% RCA, 50% RCA, 70% RCA, and
15
16 100% RCA respectively compared to virgin concrete mix. Similarly, as revealed from Fig. 11b,
17
18 with increase in RFA replacements the FS values decreases. FS values are observed to decrease
19
20 for all the RFA mix of an amount of 0.15%, 0.27%, 0.38% and 0.54% for 30% RFA, 50%
21
22
RFA, 70% RFA, and 100% RFA respectively compared to virgin concrete mix. However, the
23 loss in FS in case of RFA-based concrete mixes are less than the RCA-based concrete mixes.
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
Fig. 11. Flexural strength for (a) RCA (b) RFA based mixes with varying dosage of CAF
48
49
50 The increased volumetric reinforcement of CAF caused an increase in FS for all RCA and RFA
51
52 based mixes. The average increase in FS of about 0.92%, 1.85%, 2.77%, 2.02%, and 1.10% for
53
54 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2% and 2.5% dosage of CAF in RCA-based concrete mixes compared to plain
55
RCA mixes. Similarly, the average increase in FS of about 0.9%, 1.81%, 2.72%, 2.04%, and
56
57 1.13% for 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2% and 2.5% dosage of CAF in RFA-based concrete mixes
58
59 compared to RFA mixes. For both RCA and RFA-based mixes, the optimum dosage of CAF
60
61
62
63
64
65
 is 1.5%. Among all RCA-based mixes, RCA30CAF1.5 exhibits maximum FS, which is about
1
2 2.84% higher compared to reference mix. Similarly, among all RFA-based mixes,
3
4 RFA30CAF1.5 possess maximum TS by about 2.77% higher compared to reference mix.
5
6 4.3.5.. Development of correlation between flexural strength and compressive strength
7
8
9 The experimental values of FS (fb) were plotted against corresponding CS (fc) values for both
10
11
RCACAF and RFACAF mixes in Fig. S2a and b (see supplementary file) respectively.
12 Simultaneously, the experimental values of FS were compared with the calculated values
13
14 obtained from earlier developed correlations (Table 6). The FS values for the plain RCA and
15
16 RFA-based mixes are aligned with calculated ones from the codal correlation prescribed by IS:
17
18 456 [69]. However, upon reinforcement with CAFs, the FS values deviates from all the earlier
19
20 developed or codal correlations. The IAE values for different earlier correlations are presented
21
22
in Table 8 for RCACAF concrete mix. As observed, the IAE values are more for the
23 correlations suggested earlier [55,65,68,70], however, the codal correlation IS:456 [69]
24
25 deviates with marginal IAE of 1.51. Still, the IS:456 correlation deviates from experimental
26
27 values for higher dosage of CAFs.
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47 Fig. 10. (a) The polynomial relationship for k2 and CAF (%) and (b) the power
48 relationship for flexural strength against compressive strength for RCACAF mixes
49
50 Thus, similar to TS, correlations were developed for FS using polynomial (Fig. 12a) and power
51
52 (12b) models for RCACAF mixes. From Fig 12, the following second order quadratic (Eq. 5)
53
54 and power (Eq. 6) correlations were obtained.
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22 Experimental Predicted, fb (MPa)
23 ACI: 318 Ali and Qureshi
24 fc (MPa) fb (MPa) CEB [65] IS:456 [69] Hillez and Ziara [70] Eq. (5) Eq. (6)
[68] [55]
25
26
38.55 4.35 3.849 5.029 4.346 5.220 4.631 4.346 4.346
27
28 38.59 4.39 3.851 5.032 4.348 5.223 4.635 4.408 4.385
29
30 38.63 4.43 3.853 5.034 4.351 5.226 4.639 4.446 4.425
31
32 38.67 4.47 3.855 5.037 4.353 5.228 4.644 4.461 4.465
33
34 38.64 4.44 3.854 5.035 4.351 5.226 4.640 4.448 4.435
35
36 38.60 4.4 3.852 5.032 4.349 5.224 4.636 4.411 4.395
37
38 38.34 4.33 3.839 5.015 4.334 5.206 4.607 4.334 4.342
39
40 38.38 4.37 3.841 5.018 4.337 5.209 4.612 4.396 4.381
41
42 38.42 4.41 3.843 5.021 4.339 5.211 4.616 4.434 4.421
43
44 38.46 4.45 3.845 5.023 4.341 5.214 4.621 4.449 4.462
45
46 38.44 4.42 3.844 5.022 4.340 5.213 4.618 4.437 4.442
47
48 38.40 4.38 3.842 5.019 4.338 5.210 4.614 4.400 4.401
49
50 IAE* (%) 12.77 13.95 1.51 18.28 5.15 0.27 0.20
51 Table 8. Comparison of the calculated values of flexural strength from earlier and present correlations with the experimental ones for
52 RCACAF concrete mix
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
 𝑓𝑏 = (−0.0076 × 𝐶𝐴𝐹 2 + 0.023 × 𝐶𝐴𝐹 + 0.7)√𝑓𝑐 (5)
1
2
3 𝑓𝑏 = 6.385 × 10−14 × 𝑓𝑐8.723 (6)
4
5 Similarly, the polynomial and power fitting curves for experimental FS values of RFACAF
6
7 mixes are presented in Fig. S3a and b (see supplementary file) respectively. The following
8
9 correlations were obtained for RFACAF mixes.
10
11
12 𝑓𝑏 = (−0.0075 × 𝐶𝐴𝐹 2 + 0.0227 × 𝐶𝐴𝐹 + 0.7)√𝑓𝑐 (7)
13
𝑓𝑏 = 3.156 × 10−14 × 𝑓𝑐8.85
14
15
(8)
16
17 For both RCA and RFA based CAF reinforced mixes, the R2 values are more for power
18
19 correlations. Moreover, the IAE values for Eqs. 6 and 8 are observed as 0.20 and 0.21
20
21 respectively lower compared to IAEs for eq. 5 and 7, thus the power equations can be utilized
22
23 for the prediction of flexural strength.
24
25 4.4. Durability performances
26
27
28 The durability performances viz. sorptivity coefficient (SC), porosity and chloride penetration
29
(CP) were investigated for all RCACAF and RFACAF mixes and presented in Figs. 13 (a, b,
30
31 c) and 14 (a, b, c) respectively.
32
33
34 4.4.1. Sorptivity coefficient
35
36 As revealed from Fig. 13a, the SC increases as both RCA and CAF % increases. For CAF
37
38 reinforced RCA0 concrete mix, significant increase in SC is not observed up to 0.5% CAF
39
40 inclusion, however, beyond which a sharp increase was observed. Moreover, for RCA30
41
42 concrete mixture, there is a steady increase in SC upon increase in % reinforcement of CAF.
43
44 For RCA50, 70 and 100 concrete mix, SC tend to increase slowly up to 1.5% of CAF
45
46
reinforcement, beyond which increases rapidly. Furthermore, the CAF reinforcement (from 0
47 to 2.5%) in the RCA based concrete mix instigates an overall increase in SC by more than 12%.
48
49 The increase in SC concerning volume fraction of CAF may be owing to the increase in
50
51 porosity, thereby creating microchannels for the penetration of water. Similarly, as the RCA
52
53 content in the concrete mix increases, the SC tend to increase owing to increase in water
54
55 demand. From virgin concrete mix to RCA50CAF, the SC values significantly changes,
56
however, no significant difference in SC is observed from RCA50CAF and RCA70CAF.
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33 Fig. 13. (a) Sorptivity coefficient (b) Porosity and (c) chloride penetration for different
34 RCA based mixes with varying dosage of CAF
35
36 Further, an identifiable increase in SC was observed for RCA100CAF. The SC variation for
37
38 different RFA based mixes is presented in Fig. 14a. Like RCACAF mixes, similar trend
39
40
concerning SC are observed for RFACAF. However, the variation of SC concerning to RFA
41 inclusion differs. From RFA30CAF to RFA70CAF, the difference in SC is less, however, the
42
43 difference increases for RFA100CAF. An increase in SC about 3%, 9%, 17%, 28% and 39%
44
45 were observed for various dosage of CAF of 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2% and 2.5% respectively related
46
47 to plain RFA mix.
48
49 4.4.2. Porosity
50
51
52 The porosity of the concrete mortar usually effects the durability performances. The sorption
53
54 of water depends upon length of microchannels, which in-turn effected by the presence of
55
56 interfacial voids and the connection among the voids. The effect of volume fraction of CAF
57 and RCA on the porosity is depicted in Fig. 13b. Porosity follows similar trend as SC, thus
58
59 increases with increase in % of CAF and RCA in the concrete mix. The increase in RCA causes
60
61
62
63
64
65
 a decrease in volume % of concrete, however demands higher water, and thus resulting in
1
2 higher porosity. Moreover, up to 1.5% of dosage of CAF, the increase in porosity in the mortar
3
4 is not significant, however, beyond 1.5%, a rapid increase in porosity was observed. The
5
increase in fiber volume fraction (beyond 1.5%) instigates an accumulation of fibers owing to
6
7 their greater stiffness, thereby causing uneven distribution of RF in the mortar. Further, the
8
9 nonhomogeneous distribution may instigate more interfacial voids, in-turn increases the void
10
11 volume and thereby the porosity. The trend of porosity for RFA based mixes is similar to RCA
12
13 based mix (Fig. 14b). An increase in porosity about 2%, 5%, 11%, 18% and 25% were observed
14
15 for various dosage of RF of 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2% and 2.5% respectively related to plain RFA
16 mix.
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52 Fig. 14. (a) Sorptivity coefficient (b) Porosity and (c) chloride penetration for different
53 RFA based mixes with varying dosage of CAF
54
55 4.4.4 Chloride penetration
56
57 The chloride infiltration performances with varying dosages of CAF is presented in Fig. 13c
58
59 and 14c respectively for RCA and RFA based mixes. With increase in RCA content,
60
61
62
63
64
65
 chlorinated water infiltration into the mortar increases. An increase of 8%, 11%, 12%, 27%
1
2 and 28% were observed for different RCA mixes related to RCA0. This increase may be owing
3
4 to the increase in porosity, which further instigates the easy path for the infiltration of
5
chlorinated water. Further, as observed from Fig. 13c, with increase in CAF% in the concrete
6
7 mortar, the chloride penetration also increases. The trend of increase in chloride penetration is
8
9 analogous to increase in porosity. Up to 1.5% of RF reinforcement, chloride penetration
10
11 increase is slow, however, beyond 1.5%, the infiltration increases rapidly. This may be due to
12
13 the increasing trend of porosity concerning the CAF %. The CP performances is similar for
14
15 RFA based mixes compared to RCA based mixes. An increase in chloride penetration about
16 2%, 4%, 7%, 18% and 20% were observed for various dosage of CAF of 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%
17
18 and 2.5% respectively related to plain RFA mix.
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
Fig. 15. Correlations for (a) sorptivity coefficient (b) porosity and (c) chloride
53
54 penetration for different mixes with fresh density
55
56 As observed, the different durability characteristics depends upon the fresh densities of the
57 concrete mixes. So to evaluate the correlations, the SC, porosity and CP values for optimum
58
59 CAF reinforcement (1.5%) were plotted against respective fresh densities and presented in Fig.
60
61
62
63
64
65
 15a, b and c respectively. As observed the data are best fitting to the polynomial models. The
1
2 respective second order polynomial correlation were presented for the calculation of SC,
3
4 porosity and CP for both RCA and RFA based cement mixes. Moreover, the R2 values are in
5
the acceptable range, so the proposed correlations can be used for the estimations of different
6
7 durability performances with known fresh densities.
8
9
10 4.5 Characterizations of cracked concrete
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26 Fig. 16. SEM morphology of RCA-based concrete mix at (a) lower and (b) higher
27 magnification
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47 Fig. 17. Comparison of (a) cumulative pore volume (b) pore size distribution among
48 reference, RCA50CAF1.5 and RFA50CAF1.5 concrete mixes
49
50 The morphology for concrete mortar for RCA50CAF1.5 upon crack generation is presented in
51
52 Fig. 16a. As observed the CAF hold the cracked sections. Some voids can also be observed in
53
54 the cement matrix. Upon further magnifications (Fig. 16b), it is observed the CAF are
55
56
homogeneously distributed in the portion of no crack. Further, the cumulative pore volume and
57 pore size distribution of the optimized concrete mortar are presented in Fig. 17a and b
58
59 respectively. As revealed, the cumulative pore volume of virgin concrete is less than that of the
60
61
62
63
64
65
 RCA50CAF1.5. Similarly, the cumulative pore volume for RFA50CAF1.5 is slightly more than
1
2 reference concrete. However, the average pore sizes of RCA50CAF1.5 and RFA30CAF1.5 are less
3
4 compared to the virgin concrete mix.
5
6 5. Conclusion
7
8
9 The current study aims at the preparation of concrete mixes using 30, 50, 70, and 100% RCA
10
11
by the replacement of coarse natural aggregates and reinforcement with different volume
12 fractions of CAF (0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2.5 %). Similarly, natural fine aggregate was replaced by
13
14 RFA with varied volume fractions of CAF in the concrete mixes. The reinforced CAF was
15
16 derived by processing of waste cigarette filters. The various mechanical performances viz. CS,
17
18 TS and FS; and durability performances viz. SC, porosity and CP of different prepared samples
19
20 were evaluated. Moreover, the experimental values of TS and FS were correlated concerning
21
22
CS using two different models viz. polynomial and power models. The experimental
23 investigations and correlation developments have drawn the following conclusions.
24
25
26 1. Compared to the nominal mix, compressive strength was observed to decrease by 2.57%
27
28 for 30%, 3.1% for 50%, 3.62% for 70%, and 4.64% for 100% RCA replacement. Similarly,
29
30
compared to the nominal mix, compressive strength was observed to decrease by 0.09%
31 for 30%, 0.34% for 50%, 0.58% for 70%, and 0.86% for 100% RFA replacement.
32
33 RFA50CAF1.5 exhibits highest CS among all RFA-based concrete mix, 3% higher than the
34
35 virgin concrete mix.
36
37 2. TS values are observed to decrease for all the RCA mix of an amount of 1.32%, 1.58%,
38
39 1.85% and 2.37% for 30% RCA, 50% RCA, 70% RCA, and 100% RCA respectively
40
41
compared to virgin concrete mix. Similarly, TS values are observed to decrease for all the
42 RFA mix of an amount of 0.06%, 0.2%, 0.3% and 0.46% for 30% RFA, 50% RFA, 70%
43
44 RFA, and 100% RFA respectively compared to virgin concrete mix.
45
46 3. Among all RCA-based mixes, RCA30CAF1.5 exhibits maximum TS, which is about 2%
47
48 higher compared to reference mix. Similarly, among all RFA-based mixes, RFA30CAF1.5
49
50 possess maximum TS by about 3.45% higher compared to reference mix.
51
4. FS values are observed to decrease for all the RCA mix of an amount of 1.4%, 1.6%, 1.9%
52
53 and 1.8% for 30% RCA, 50% RCA, 70% RCA, and 100% RCA respectively compared to
54
55 virgin concrete mix. Similarly, FS values are observed to decrease for all the RFA mix of
56
57 an amount of 0.15%, 0.27%, 0.38% and 0.54% for 30% RFA, 50% RFA, 70% RFA, and
58
59 100% RFA respectively compared to virgin concrete mix.
60
61
62
63
64
65
 5. For all mechanical performances, the optimized reinforcement of CAF is 1.5%.
1
2 6. The calculated values of TS and FS from the earlier developed and codal correlations were
3
4 compared with the experimental values and found to deviate from the experimental values
5
with higher IAE. Further correlations were developed using polynomial and power model.
6
7 The power model correlation is agreeing well with the experimental values of both TS and
8
9 FS values.
10
11 7. An increase in SC about 3%, 9%, 17%, 28% and 39% were observed for various dosage
12
13 of CAF of 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2% and 2.5% respectively related to plain RFA mix. Similarly,
14
15 an increase in porosity about 2%, 5%, 11%, 18% and 25% were observed for various
16 dosage of RF of 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2% and 2.5% respectively related to plain RFA mix.
17
18 Simultaneously, an increase in chloride penetration about 2%, 4%, 7%, 18% and 20% were
19
20 observed for various dosage of CAF of 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2% and 2.5% respectively related
21
22 to plain RFA mix.
23
24
Acknowledgement
25
26
27 The authors acknowledge GMR Institute of Technology, Rajam for providing facilities for
28
29 preparing the specimens and investigating mechanical and durability studies. The authors also
30
31 acknowledge to Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi for characterization of prepared
32
specimen and cellulose acetate fiber.
33
34
35 Funding
36
37
38
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public,
39 commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
40
41
42 Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process
43
44 During preparation of this work the authors did not use any AI or AI-assisted technologies in
45
46 writing process. The authors reviewed and edited the content as needed and take full
47
48 responsibility for the content of the publication.
49
50
51 References
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Supplementary Interactive Plot Data (CSV)

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Supplementary Interactive Plot Data (CSV)
Supplementary file.docx
Highlights Click here to view linked References

Title: Quantifying the Potential of Cellulose Acetate Fiber Reinforcement for Enhancing
Mechanical and Durability Performances in Recycled Aggregate Concrete

Highlights

 Synthesis of cellulose acetate fiber through processing of cigarette filters

 Reinforcement of cellulose acetate fiber in recycled aggregate based concrete
 Evaluation of mechanical and durability performances
 Development of correlations for Split tensile and flexural strengths
 Characterization of cellulose acetate fiber and concrete
Declaration of Interest Statement Click here to view linked References

Declaration of competing interests:

X The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or
personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this
paper.

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which

may be considered as potential competing interests.