Experimental assessment of mechanical and physical performance of latex modified concrete with fine recycled aggregate

Abstract

One of the most crucial building materials is concrete. However, producing concrete consumes a significant amount of natural resources. Attention has been focused on using concrete debris and recycling it in the building industry to solve this issue. This study investigates latex-modified concrete's physical and mechanical performance when replacing fine natural aggregates (FNA) with different percentages of fine recycled aggregates (FRA). The study includes conducting laboratory tests to investigate the workability, slump loss, compaction factor, compressive strength, ultrasound pulse velocity, absorption, and porosity. When replacing fine natural aggregates (FNA) with different percentages of fine recycled aggregates (FRA), it was found that there is an inverse relationship between the slump, compressive strength, compaction factor, and the percentage of RFA. The existence of SBR latex in concrete to form polymer modified concrete led to a higher decrease in workability compared to unmodified concrete. The absorbability increases as the proportion of fine natural aggregates are replaced by recycled fine aggregates, possibly due to the higher porosity of recycled fine aggregates. The same conclusion can be generalized to the results of the porosity test. However, adding the polymer improves the absorption resistance and reduces the porosity when replacing the fine natural aggregate with the fine recycled aggregate. Additionally, the outcomes demonstrated that SBR latex compensates for the compressive strength loss caused by recycled fine aggregates.