Abrasion resistance of concrete made with recycled aggregates

Abstract

Global sustainable development will require using every resource to its maximum potential. The potential of construction and demolition waste's inert fraction can be maximised if it is reused as recycled aggregates (RA) for concrete production. However, there are technical risks involved in this technique, particularly due to lack of knowledge in terms of the long-term behaviour of concrete made with these aggregates. Abrasion resistance is one of the least known properties of hardened concrete but nevertheless one of the most important for certain applications (hydraulic structures and floors/pavements). Hardly any research has been published on this property for concrete made with RA. In this paper, the results of four experimental research projects supervised by the author are put together to draw conclusions on this property. It is concluded that there is no loss of abrasion resistance with the incorporation of RAs and that there are reasons to believe that it even improves, even though the quantification of that improvement needs further investigation to be accurate.