Effect of Recycled Concrete Aggregates and Natural Pozzolana on Rheology of Self-Compacting Concrete

Abstract

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) is a very fluid concrete in which its compaction can take place under the effect of its own weight, without vibration. SCC is characterized by its high volume of paste, and the use of superplasticizers. Very little work is reported in the literature on the use of recycled aggregates in SCC. The main objective of this paper is to study the effect of coarse and fine recycled concrete aggregates on the fresh properties of SCC, by substitution of either 100% or 50% of natural aggregates by recycled aggregates. The effect of substitution of 15% by weight of cement of natural pozzolana on the fresh properties of SCC is also studied. The results have shown that the substitution of 50% or 100% of natural aggregates by recycled concrete aggregates gives SCC with very comparable rheological properties to that of the reference SCC. However, SCC with recycled aggregates are less stable against bleeding. The addition of natural pozzolana decreases workability for both SCC with natural aggregates or with recycled aggregates.