Abstract
Recently, concerns have been rising about the impact of increasing the depletion of natural resources and the relevant generation of construction and demolition waste, on the environment and economy. Therefore, several efforts have been made to promote sustainable efficiency in the construction industry and the use of recycled aggregates derived from concrete debris for new concrete mixtures (leading to so-called recycled aggregate concrete, RAC) is one of the most promising solutions. Unfortunately, there are still gaps in knowledge regarding the durability performances of RAC. In this study, we investigate durability of structural RAC subjected to wet-dry cycles. We analyze the results of an experimental campaign aimed at evaluating the degradation process induced by wetting and drying cycles on the key physical and mechanical properties of normal- and high-strength concrete, produced with coarse recycled concrete aggregates (RCAs) of different sizes and origins. On the basis of the results we propose a degradation law for wetting and drying cycles, which explicitly makes a possible correlation between the initial concrete porosity, directly related to the specific properties of the RCAs and the resulting level of damage obtained in RAC samples.
Highlights
The construction sector is one of the most environmentally impactful industrial activities in the world, as it requires a significant amount of natural resources and energy and generates an enormous volume of waste [1,2]
This study reports the results of an experimental study on the physical and mechanical performance of structural concrete made with either natural or recycled aggregates and subjected to degradation processes similar to environmental conditions of temperature and humidity variation
It summarizes the results of an experimental investigation aimed at analyzing one of the aspects related to the durability of normal and high strength concretes produced with different types of
Summary
The construction sector is one of the most environmentally impactful industrial activities in the world, as it requires a significant amount of natural resources and energy and generates an enormous volume of waste [1,2]. Nowadays, the reuse and recycling of construction and demolition waste (CDW) is a convenient solution to make this sector more “circular” This poses many challenges, significant efforts have been made in relation to the recycling of concrete and other cement-based waste, such as the production of recycled concrete aggregates (RCAs) [3]. This has been motivated by the need to reduce landfilled CDW and by the growing scarcity of viable sources of virgin aggregates, mainly in regions close to metropolitan areas [4,5]. The importance of studying the characteristics of the RCAs is explained by the high percentage of volume that aggregates occupy in the concrete, and their properties significantly influence the properties of the final concrete [9]
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have