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Carpet fibres used to create stronger concrete

Australian engineers have found a way to make stronger, crack-resistant concrete with carpet fibres.

Lead researcher Chamila Gunasekara from RMIT University said the team had developed a technique using waste carpet fibres to reduce early-age shrinkage cracking in concrete by up to 30 per cent, while also improving the concrete’s durability.

Published in the Construction and Building Materials journal, the team has shown that waste carpet material can be used to improve concrete.

“Cracking in early-age concrete slabs is a long-standing challenge in construction projects that can cause premature corrosion, not only making a building look bad but also risking its structural integrity and safety,” Gunasekara said.

“Scrap carpet fibres can be used to increase concrete’s strength by 40 per cent in tension and prevent early cracking, by reducing shrinkage substantially.”

Laboratory concrete samples have been created using the various textile materials and shown to meet Australian Standards for engineering performance and environmental requirements.

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Gunasekara said the disposal of carpets and other textiles including discarded fabrics poses an enormous environmental challenge.

“Australia is the second largest consumer of textiles per person in the world, after the US. The average Australian purchases 27kg of new clothing and textiles every year, and discards 23kg into landfill,” he said.

“Burning carpet waste releases various toxic gases, creating environmental concerns.”

Shadi Houshyar, a textile and material scientist at RMIT, said firefighting clothes waste also posed a challenge, as the same qualities that made these materials ideal for firefighting also made them difficult to recycle.

“Up to 70 per cent of textile waste would be suitable for conversion into usable fibres, presenting an opportunity in the materials supply chain,” Houshyar said.

The research team is engaging with partners including Textile Recyclers Australia, Godfrey Hirst Australia and councils in Victoria to conduct field studies of on-ground slabs made of reclaimed textiles.

These field trials will help capture the unexpected conditions encountered in real-world construction projects.

The team is collaborating with Professor Andrzej Cwirzen Luleå University of Technology in Sweden on computational modelling.

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