The influence of recycled concrete aggregate on the properties of concrete

Building and Construction Engineering Department, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq

Abstract

Use of Recycled Coarse Aggregate (RCA) in concrete can be described in terms of environmental protection and economy. This paper deals with the mechanical properties of concrete compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and modulus of rupture. Three kinds of concrete mixtures were tested, concrete made with Natural Coarse Aggregate (NCA) as a control concrete and two types of concrete made with recycled coarse aggregate (50% and 100% replacement level of coarse recycled aggregate). These kinds of concrete were made with different targets of compressive strength of concrete f ’c (35MPa) and (70 MPa). Fifty specimens were tested of the fresh and hardened properties of concrete. The waste concrete from laboratory test cubes was crushed to produce the Recycled Coarse Aggregate used in recycled concrete. A comparative between the experimental results of the properties for fresh and hardened concrete is presented in the paper. Recycled aggregate concrete (RCA) had a satisfactory performance despite the replacement ratios. It was found using the size of Recycled Coarse Aggregate (RCA) of (5-14) mm has quite similar in performance with the same size of Natural Coarse Aggregate (NCA), it is necessary to use high quality of recycled concrete (with low levels of impurities). Recycled aggregate as an alternative to natural aggregates -seems quite successful.