Abstract
The total substitution by volume of natural coarse calcareous aggregate by coarse recycled brick aggregate (RBA) and coarse recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) has been investigated to produce more sustainable and environment‐friendly mortars. Aggregates were also partially substituted by their fines at 12.5% by volume. Mortars have been tested in terms of mechanical, microstructural, and durability properties. Results show that it is feasible to replace a natural calcareous aggregate entirely by recycled aggregates. In particular, the obtained mortars, even if more porous and more prone to the water capillary absorption than that manufactured with natural aggregates, result in less stiffness and thus are less subjected to crack formation, more permeable to water vapour, and less susceptible to sulphate attack.
Highlights
The total amount of construction and demolition waste (C&DW) is increasing year by year representing the highest amount of waste generated in Europe: in particular, in 2014, the construction sector produced 871 million tons of C&DW, 33.5% of the total waste generated [3]
recycled brick aggregate (RBA) obtained by crushing red clay bricks and recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) coming from a local plant that treats demolition rubble were used
RBA is used (M/S2), Vp reaches a value of 32%, which is 73% higher than the reference mortar. e increase in the total porosity of mortars is due to the use of recycled aggregates much more porous than the calcareous aggregate of the reference mortar M/S1
Summary
The total amount of construction and demolition waste (C&DW) is increasing year by year representing the highest amount of waste generated in Europe: in particular, in 2014, the construction sector produced 871 million tons of C&DW, 33.5% of the total waste generated [3]. E lowering of compressive strength when coarse calcareous aggregate is totally substituted by coarse RBA has been already reported by other authors and related to the increase of the mortar total porosity (Figure 3) owing to the high porosity of RBA [8, 9] and the increased w/b ratio [13, 44], which moves from 0.49 to 0.52 in the present campaign.
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