Recycled tyre fibres boost concrete fire resistance

The team used fibres extracted from the textile reinforcement commonly embedded into tyres Adding these fibres to the concrete mix was shown to reduce the concrete’s tendency to spall – where surface layers of concrete break off – explosively under the intense heat from a fire.

The fibres melt under the intense heat from a fire, leaving networks of tiny channels. This means that moisture trapped within the concrete is able to escape, rather than becoming trapped, which causes the concrete to break out explosively.

“Because the fibres are so small, they don’t affect the strength or the stiffness of the concrete,” said lead author of a paper on the research in the journal Fire Technology Dr Shan-Shan Huang. “Their only job is to melt when heat becomes intense. Concrete is a brittle material, so will break out relatively easily without having these fibres help reducing the pressure within the concrete.”