Plient fiber reinforced pavement: from the lab to practice

Abstract: Much of the focus in the concrete industry to lower carbon footprint has been focused on reducing cement content. Yet, in some reinforced concrete the rebar carbon footprint may exceed that of the cement. Plient fibers are a new, recycled steel fiber product for reinforcing concrete pavements. These fibers, which have ~7x-15x lower carbon footprint than rebar on a per mass basis, are essentially a blend of micro and macro fibers with a distribution of lengths and shapes. While requiring a higher dosage than manufactured steel fibers for the same residual flexural strength, the fibers can fully replace rebar in certain pavement applications at the proper dosage. Overall, Plient fibers result in significant cost, time, and carbon footprint savings versus rebar-reinforced pavement. Laboratory testing confirms high fracture toughness, shrinkage crack resistance, and post-crack moment capacity. Subsequent field testing has included several pavement applications. Monitoring of the field applications indicates that Plient fiber reinforced concrete has improved resistance to joint degradation than rebar reinforced pavement while maintaining resistance to mid-panel cracking. Overall, the results of the field testing indicate Plient fiber reinforced concrete pavement should have lower initial costs, lower life-cycle costs, and a reduced carbon footprint versus rebar reinforced concrete pavement.