Work

Mechanical performance and pavement response of basalt fiber reinforced coal gangue based composites for sustainable road applications

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Coal gangue is widely generated during coal mining, but its application in pavement materials is limited by insufficient mechanical performance. This study developed a gangue–fly ash–cement–fiber (GFCF) composite and evaluated the effects of basalt fiber dosage on mechanical properties, microstructure, and pavement-scale deformation through laboratory tests, XRD, SEM, and three-dimensional numerical simulations. The results showed that unconfined compressive strength and splitting tensile strength increased with fiber content up to 0.6% and slightly decreased at 0.8%. The 0.6% fiber mixture achieved the highest 28 d UCS and splitting tensile strength of 14.47 MPa and 1.51 MPa, respectively. However, the reduction in compressive resilient modulus with increasing fiber content indicated a strength–stiffness trade-off. Numerical simulations revealed that fiber-dependent material differences had limited effects on settlement, whereas vehicle speed and traffic-load magnitude produced greater deformation variations. XRD and SEM observations qualitatively confirmed matrix densification and possible fiber–matrix interaction during curing. Overall, 0.6% fiber provided the most favorable strength-oriented performance within the tested range, while the numerical results provide comparative evidence for evaluating the pavement-scale response of the GFCF base layer and support the high-value utilization of coal gangue in pavement engineering.

Source: Scientific Reports

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-79281-9