Abstract
The urgent need to change the less positive impacts of the construction industry on the environment, and more specifically the production and use of concrete, is the main motivation for the research for more efficient and environmentally sustainable solutions. This paper presented the results of an experimental campaign whose ultimate goal was to produce high-performance self-compacting concrete (SCC) using recycled aggregates (RA) from the precast industry. The results of the fresh-state and mechanical properties tests performed on six concrete mixes (using RA from the precast industry) were presented. The first concrete mix is a reference mix using natural aggregates only (100% NA), and the remaining five mixes had various contents of fine (FRA) and coarse (CRA) recycled aggregates in concrete’s composition: (2) 25/25% (25% RA); (3) 50/50% (50% RA); (4) 100/100% (100% RA); (5) 0/100% (100% CRA); (6) 100/0% (100% FRA). The results showed that the high-performance concrete mixes with RA from the precast industry performed worse than the reference mix. However, taking into account all the mechanical properties studied, it can be concluded that RA from precast concrete elements are of very good quality and can be incorporated in the production of high-performance SCC. The potential demonstrated by the combined use of fine and coarse recycled aggregates was also emphasized. This type of work is expected to effectively contribute to raise awareness among the various players in the construction industry, particularly in the precast concrete industry, to the feasibility of using RA in significant quantities (notably coarse aggregates) and to the safety needed to assume structural functions, even for applications where high performance is required.
Highlights
IntroductionThe quality of the mortar depends on the water/binder ratio used in the original concrete and its quality depends on the strength of the concrete and the crushing method used [1]
Because aggregates account for 55–80% of the concrete volume [5], this study focused on the use of recycled aggregates (RA) from the precast industry replacing natural aggregate (NA), which saves natural resources, and frees landfill space
Replacing NA with AR caused decreased compressive strength and splitting tensile strength. This is explained by the poorer quality of RA due to their adhered mortar, which is responsible for increasing the porosity and cracking of RA, weakening the transition zone connections between
Summary
The quality of the mortar depends on the water/binder ratio used in the original concrete and its quality depends on the strength of the concrete and the crushing method used [1]. In this sense, RA from the precast industry usually have a higher quality compared to those obtained from construction and demolition waste (CDW). RA from the precast industry usually have a higher quality compared to those obtained from construction and demolition waste (CDW) This is mainly due to the quality of the original precast concrete that usually has compressive strength values above
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