Enhancing Recycled Concrete Performance by Using Chemical Activators

Abstract

The need for sustainable and eco-friendly construction materials and processes is rising significantly. In these circumstances, recycling of concrete can be a lifesaver. Although, various recycling techniques have already been introduced. But none of them can fulfill the term recycle refers to. They mostly focus on merely reusing coarse aggregates (CA) or fine aggregates (FA). To come out of this, this paper is focused not only on the reuse of both coarse and fine materials (RCA, RFA) but also on introducing a new process in which those materials can be used in their old form, as recycling refers to. In this experiment, we use all kinds of materials recollected from recycled concrete (fine, coarse, recycled cement particles). Those materials are vetted into two parts. One is for recycling coarse aggregates and one is for rebuilding concrete using recovered fine, coarse, and cement particles. First, we discuss the collection and treatment system procedure of recycled demolished concrete. The second part will consist of various standardized tests for reuse and evaluation. The third part will describe the treatment needed for the materials for chemical (Using Na2SiO3, NaOH, and Na2CO3) reactivation. Finally, we will test the recycled material’s performance as concrete and establish an authentic process of recycling and reusing concrete materials. With that, we obtain the most optimum usage of recycled concrete aggregate mixing ratio Cement: CA (coarse aggregate): RCA (recycled coarse aggregate): FA (fine aggregate): RFA (recycled fine aggregate) is 1: 2: 2: 0.8: 1.2: 0.8 (With molar solution of Na2SiO3 and NaOH + KOH) and other ration of mixing with their respected properties (Compressive Strength).