Conglomerati Cementizi Rinforzati con Fibre d’Acciaio riciclate da PFU

In the last years over three million tons of waste tyres were generated in the EU states, most of them were disposed into landfills. To manage this problem, in many of the states of the EU were enacted laws and instructions which transpose the European Union Landfill Directive (EU Landfill, 1999) aiming to significantly reduce the landfill disposal of waste tyres. In recent years some research works have proposed the use of rubber particles and steel fibres, obtained from waste tyres, for the use in concrete. Some studies have analysed the possibility to use waste tyre rubber in order to increase some specific properties of concrete, such as acoustic and thermal isolation and impact resistance. Moreover, the steel component, separated from rubber by a mechanical process generally followed by an electromagnetic procedure, can be successfully used to prepare Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC), as demonstrated by recent researches carried out at the University of Sheffield. On the basis of the previous considerations, this paper presents an experimental analysis of the performances of concrete reinforced by RSF (Recycled Steel Fibres) obtained by waste tyres. Workability, compressive and flexural strength and post-cracking behaviour of RSFRC have been evaluated for different volume ratios of added RSF. For comparison purposes, samples reinforced with industrially produced fibres have been also considered. According to results, it can be concluded that the recycled steel fibres, obtained from waste tyres, can be considered as reinforcement in concrete applications.