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Concrete with recycled aggregates: the Portuguese experimental research

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Abstract

The main objective of this study is to define expedient procedures to estimate the properties of structural concrete that contains recycled aggregates. Experimental results from Portuguese research, most of which supervised by the first author, were used to establish a relationship between some properties of hardened concrete (compressive strength, splitting and flexural tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, abrasion resistance, shrinkage, water absorption, carbonation penetration and chloride penetration) and the density and water absorption of the aggregates’ mixture and also the compressive strength of concrete at the age of 7 days. The workability and density were also analysed for fresh concrete. The graphic analysis of each property shows the relationship between those for recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) mixes and a reference mix using natural aggregates only (RC). The density and water absorption of all the aggregates in the mixture, for each substitution rate, were calculated in order to represent the exact proportion of each type of aggregate (natural and recycled). This method proved to be viable to estimate the variation of the properties of concrete with recycled aggregates by obtaining results for the three parameters mentioned above. This innovative procedure can contribute to increasing the use of recycled aggregates in the construction sector and make it a sustainable activity.

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Abbreviations

Ab_capRAC :

Capillary water absorption of the recycled aggregates concrete

Ab_capRC :

Capillary water absorption of the reference concrete

Ab_imRAC :

Water absorption by immersion of the recycled aggregates concrete

Ab_imRC :

Water absorption by immersion of the reference concrete

carbonationRAC :

Carbonation depth of the reference concrete

carbonationRC :

Carbonation depth of the recycled aggregates concrete

CDW:

Construction and demolition waste

chloride pen.RAC :

Chloride penetration depth of the reference concrete

chloride pen.RC :

Chloride penetration depth of the recycled aggregates concrete

DCNA :

Density of the coarse natural aggregates

DCRA :

Density of the coarse recycled aggregates

DFNA :

Density of the fine natural aggregates

DFRA :

Density of the fine recycled aggregates

Dmix :

Weighed density of the aggregates in the concrete mix

DRAC :

Weighed density of the aggregates in the recycled aggregates concrete

DRC :

Weighed density of the aggregates in the reference concrete

D′RAC :

Density of the recycled aggregates concrete

D′RC :

Density of the reference concrete

EcRAC :

Modulus of elasticity of the recycled aggregates concrete

EcRC :

Modulus of elasticity of the reference concrete

FA:

Percentage of fine aggregates in the mix

fc7RAC :

7-day compressive strength of the recycled aggregates concrete

fc7RC :

7-day compressive strength of the reference concrete

fcRAC :

28-day compressive strength of the recycled aggregates concrete

fcRC :

28-day compressive strength of the reference concrete

fspRAC :

Splitting tensile strength of the recycled aggregates concrete

fspRC :

Splitting tensile strength of the reference concrete

ftRAC :

Flexural strength of the recycled aggregates concrete

ftRC :

Flexural strength of the reference concrete

NA:

Natural aggregates

RA:

Recycled aggregates

RAC:

Recycled aggregates concrete(s)

RC:

Reference concrete (mix without recycled aggregates)

shrinkageRAC :

90-day shrinkage of the reference concrete

shrinkageRC :

90-day shrinkage of the recycled aggregates concrete

substFRA :

Substitution rate of fine recycled aggregates with fine natural aggregates

substCRA :

Substitution rate of coarse recycled aggregates with coarse natural aggregates

w/c:

Water/cement

waRAC :

Weighed water absorption of the aggregates in the recycled aggregates concrete

waRC :

Weighed water absorption of the aggregates in the reference concrete

ΔlRAC :

Abrasion loss of mass of the reference concrete

ΔlRC :

Abrasion loss of mass of the recycled aggregates concrete

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the ICIST research centre and Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) of the Technical University of Lisbon, in Lisbon, Portugal, where most of the experimental work presented here was carried out. The Faculty of Engineering of Porto Faculty (FEUP), the University of Aveiro (UA) and the Polytechnic University of Barcelona, where part of the experimental work was carried out, are also acknowledged for providing the necessary detailed data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DECivil-IST, Technical University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal

    Jorge de Brito & Fátima Alves

  2. Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal

    Jorge de Brito

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  1. Jorge de Brito
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  2. Fátima Alves
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Correspondence to Jorge de Brito.

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de Brito, J., Alves, F. Concrete with recycled aggregates: the Portuguese experimental research. Mater Struct 43 (Suppl 1), 35–51 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-010-9595-7

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