Investigation of the Mechanical Behaviors of Sustainable Green Reactive Powder Concrete Produced Using Ferrochrome Slag and Waste Fiber

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This paper explores the use of ELT fiber with chromium waste (ferrochrome slag) as an alternative to aggregates and fibers used in traditional Reactive powder concrete (RPC), representing a potentially environmentally friendly and engineering-applicable research direction. After careful review, I believe that several areas in the paper require improvement and further elaboration, and therefore suggest a major revision.

Main Revision Suggestions

1. The paper should provide a detailed description of the particle size control and treatment methods for chromium waste to ensure the accuracy and reproducibility of the experimental results.
2. The introduction can be enriched by citing the following articles: doi:10.1016/j.cscm.2022.e01073

10.1016/j.cscm.2022.e01049

3. It is suggested to deepen the interpretation of the results of the microstructural analysis, revealing the mechanism of the influence of chromium waste and ELT fibers on RPC performance, and propose corresponding explanations and hypotheses.
4. regarding Fig.8, Fig.9, and Fig.16, please add the error bar.
5. The conclusion can be shortened.

Other Notes

During the revision of the paper, the author should also pay attention to the following points:

• Ensure that the numbering of charts, tables, and formulas in the paper is consistent and the format is uniform.
• Check and correct issues such as paragraph indentation, font size, and line spacing in the paper to ensure its neatness and aesthetics.
• Carefully verify the citation format of the references to ensure compliance with the requirements of the journal or conference.

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

 

• The logical structure of the paper should be clearer, and the transitions between paragraphs should be smoother to ensure that readers can easily understand the author's thinking and research results.
• Enhance the explanation of professional terminology and concepts, avoid using overly complex sentence structures, and improve the readability of the paper.
• Carefully check and correct grammatical errors, spelling errors, and punctuation errors in the paper to ensure the accuracy and standardization of language expression.

Author Response

We are grateful for your valuable contribution by reviewing our article. We hope the changes we made are sufficient. Changes made in line with your suggestion are highlighted in turquoise in the article.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

In this paper, the authors used the wastes from ferrochrome production process to replace the high strength aggregate used in reactive powder concrete (RPC) and investigated whether the fibers extracted from end-of-life automobile tires (ELTs) could replace the microsteel fibers used in RPC. Subsequently, green reactive powder concrete (GRPC) made from all material wastes except binder and chemical additives was developed and its physical and mechanical properties were examined by adding different proportions of ferrochrome wastes to the GRPC and evaluating their economics. The manuscript is more detailed in terms of experiments and the experimental methods used are accurate. I recommend the publication of this paper, but some problems should be addressed before publication.

 

1. Can the authors provide more details on the bonding process between the fibers and the concrete matrix? Are adhesion promoters or surface treatments used to enhance the bond between the fibers and the matrix?

 

2. When performing the three-point bending test, the authors set the loading speed of the equipment as 0.5-1mm per minute. Is it necessary to set a variety of different loading speeds here to further test the specimen performance?

 

3. The study mentions a considerable increase in mechanical properties when fibers in the proportions of 4% by volume are added to the mixture. Is there a threshold where further increases in fiber proportion would not result in significant improvements, or could it potentially have negative effects on the concrete's properties?

 

4. In Paragraph 3 of “Results and Discussion” part, the description of the flexural strength of specimens with 1% of industrial fibers does not correspond to the information in Fig. 9, and it is necessary for the authors to analyze the trend of the flexural strength of specimens with a percentage of fibers added from 1% to 4%. Some relevant comments need to be provided.

 

5. In Paragraph 7 of “Results and Discussion” part, the description of the increase of 78% in the flexural strength of the specimens with the addition of industrial fibers appears to be incorrect and does not correspond to the content of Figure 16.

 

 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Comments on the Quality of English Language

not bad

Author Response

We are grateful for your valuable contribution by reviewing our article. We hope the changes we made are sufficient. Changes made in line with your suggestion are highlighted in green in the article.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

dear professor,

revision letter:

Paper title "Investigation of the Mechanical Behaviors of Green Reactive Powder Concrete Produced Using Ferrochrome Slag and Waste Fiber" 

This study describes the development of green reactive powder concrete (GRPC), which is made entirely of waste materials with the exception of binder and chemical additive. In GRPC, olivine, serpentine, rum, slag, and pure waste were utilized as ferrochrome wastes for the powder and aggregate. First, using various ratios, the mechanical and physical characteristics of ferrochrome wastes were investigated in the absence of fiber GRPC. After that, the best combination was chosen, and various proportions of ELT fiber and industrial steel were put to it. 

This is an exciting topic and may improve the knowledge in this regard. However, several points to be considered by the author may improve the level of the manuscript significantly.

Such points are addressed as follows:

1. The abstract must be improved. It should be expanded. Please use numbers or % terms to clearly shows us the results in your experimental work.

2.References should be provided for all the statements in the introduction. For some statements, references are not provided.

3. What problem was studied and why is it important?

4. use some recent references to explain results such as 

Mansour, Walid, and Sabry Fayed. "Flexural rigidity and ductility of RC beams reinforced with steel and recycled plastic fibers." Steel and Composite Structures, An International Journal 41.3 (2021): 317-334.‏

Fayed, Sabry, and Walid Mansour. "Evaluate the effect of steel, polypropylene and recycled plastic fibers on concrete properties." Advances in concrete construction 10.4 (2020): 319-332.‏

Author Response

We are grateful for your valuable contribution by reviewing our article. We hope the changes we made are sufficient. Changes made in line with your suggestion are highlighted in yellow in the article.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

authors have revised their manuscript as per my previous comments, and no further comment. 

Author Response

Additions were made in the new revision of the article.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf