Effectiveness of hair and wave polypropylene fibers for concrete roads

Human hair fibers are abundantly available as waste and wave polypropylene fibers are commercially available. These fibers are studied with limited scope from only material point of view. In this study, the mechanical properties of hair fiber reinforced concrete (HFRC) and wave polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete (WPFRC) are explored for its possible applications in concrete roads. The properties are experimentally evaluated as per ASTM standards and the effectiveness of fibers in concrete are checked by comparing with that of control mix. In addition, by using the relevant properties, concrete road design is also compared. It is found that the compressive, flexural and splitting-tensile strengths of HFRC are improved by 12.4%, 16.2% and 19.1%, respectively, and that of WPFRC are increased by 11.7%, 21.5% and 17.5%, respectively. With these improvements, the thickness of concrete road for a particular studied loading condition can be reduced by 12.5 mm. This can result in cost saving (per lane per km) of 3% and 1.7% by use of HFRC and WPFRC, respectively. The performance of concrete road is also expected to be better because of improved toughness of HFRC and WPFRC.