Mechanical properties and microscopic mechanism of basalt fiber-reinforced red mud concrete

This study employed basalt fiber to reinforce red mud concrete to fabricate basalt fiber-reinforced red mud concrete. The effects of the length and dosage of basalt fiber on fluidity and strength of concrete were evaluated and the effect mechanism was explained by microscopic results. The results showed that red mud and basalt fiber exhibited negative effects on the concrete fluidity, and the BF dosage needed to be less than 0.2 % for the fluidity requirement. Moreover, BF dosage had more significant improvement effect on the strength of red mud concrete than BF length, and the optimum dosage of BF was 0.2 %. The microscopic results showed that the reinforcement effect was attributed to the reticulated three-dimensional support structure formed by BF within the matrix. Additionally, a 3D surface prediction model was presented based on the experimental data to establish the compressive and flexural strength of basalt fiber-reinforced red mud concrete. The established 3D surface strength prediction model had a good correlation coefficient.