To address the issues of high carbon emissions from concrete and high energy consumption in the manufacturing of traditional steel fibers, this study investigates the feasibility of replacing industrial steel fibers (ISF) with recycled tire steel fibers (RSF) in high-performance cement-based materials. The study examines the effects of fiber type and dosage on the mechanical properties within the systems of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) and slurry-infiltrated fiber concrete (SIFCON) and analyzes the carbon emission levels using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method. Research results indicate that the compressive and tensile strengths of SIFCON are significantly higher than those of UHPC. Under the same conditions, RSF has little difference in tensile performance when compared with ISF, suggesting a great substitution potential. Carbon emission analysis shows that although the total carbon emissions of the SIFCON system are relatively high, its performance improvement is remarkable. Both the carbon emission per tensile strength and carbon emission per compressive strength are lower than those of UHPC, demonstrating a high degree of environmental friendliness. Overall, this study shows that RSF can not only effectively enhance the performance of high-performance cement-based materials but also reduce carbon emissions, making it a reinforcing material with both excellent performance and sustainability.
Keywords: LCA; RSF; SIFCON; UHPC; carbon emissions; mechanical properties.