Properties of Cementitious Materials with Recycled Aggregate and Powder Both from Clay Brick Waste

Abstract

The utilization of recycled brick aggregate (RBA) and recycled brick powder (RBP) in cementitious materials helps the reclamation of clay brick waste in construction and demolition waste. This work studied the properties of cementitious materials with RBA as aggregate and RBP as supplementary cementitious material. The RBA has lower apparent density and higher water absorption than natural aggregate, and RBP with an irregular micro-structure contains high content of silicon and aluminum oxides and possesses excellent pozzolanic activity. Incorporating RBP decreases the fluidity and increases the setting time, but the incorporated RBP improves the pore structure and decreases the average pore diameter of cementitious materials, thereby decreasing the permeability. Utilizing RBA increases the drying shrinkage, while the incorporated RBP decreases the drying shrinkage of cementitious materials; the mortar with 50% RBA and 30% RBP has the lower drying shrinkage than the common mortar without RBA and RBP. Incorporating RBA and high-volume RBP decreases the mechanical strength, while there is no obvious decrease in the mechanical strength for the mortar with 50% RBA and 30% RBP. Moreover, the flexural strength to compressive strength ratio increases with RBA and RBP incorporating. Utilizing RBA increases the water transport, while the water transport properties decrease with the RBP incorporation; incorporating appropriate content of RBA and RBP can obtain the cementitious materials with low permeability. Particularly, a significant decrease in chloride ingress occurs with the substitution of RBP.