Fiber Concrete Reinforced with Cord from Tires Using Low-Emission Recycling (Nearly Zero Waste)

This paper presents the possibilities of using steel cord from car tires as a structural concrete reinforcement obtained after initial mechanical treatment. The steel wire constituting tire reinforcement after mechanical separation from rubber is not further processed and, in the form partially contaminated with rubber, is stored in landfills. Further processing is usually not economically justified. The purpose of the work is to determine the physical properties of fiber concrete, made of ordinary concrete with the addition of steel fibers recovered from tires, obtained in the process of relatively easy recycling. The work is mainly experimental. The literature review presents the basics of the current state of knowledge regarding the methods of making and testing elements made of fiber-reinforced concrete. In the next part, the authors’ own research and results of testing fiber-reinforced concrete with wires after pre-cleaning are shown. Chapter five summarizes the results of research and juxtaposes the most important observations that can be used for the practical use of fibers obtained in a simple recycling technology. The utilitarian value of the work is to show the practical possibilities of recovery (recycling) of used tires, in particular for the fiber-reinforcement of concrete. Among other things, it was shown that the addition of steel fibers (contaminated with rubber) to approximately 1.3% reduces the shrinkage of concrete with these fibers by 7–10% compared to a fiber-free concrete matrix cured under the same conditions.