Effect of recycled coarse aggregate on concrete compressive strength

Abstract

The effect of recycled coarse aggregate on concrete compressive strength was investigated based on the concrete skeleton theory. For this purpose, 30 mix proportions of concrete with target cube compressive strength ranging from 20 to 60 MPa were cast with normal coarse aggregate and recycled coarse aggregate from different strength parent concretes. Results of 28-d test show that the strength of different types of recycled aggregate affects the concrete strength obviously. The coarse aggregate added to mortar matrix plays a skeleton role and improves its compressive strength. The skeleton effect of coarse aggregate increases with the increasing strength of coarse aggregate, and normal coarse aggregate plays the highest, whereas the lowest concrete strength occurs when using the weak recycled coarse aggregate. There is a linear relationship between the concrete strength and the corresponding mortar matrix strength. Coarse aggregate skeleton formula is established, and values from experimental tests match the derived expressions.