Construction and Building Materials 240 (2020) 117978

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Review

An evaluation of the recycled aggregate characteristics and the recycled

aggregate concrete mechanical properties
Guoliang Bai a,b, Chao Zhu a, Chao Liu a,⇑, Biao Liu a
a
School of Civil Engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture & Technology, Xi’an 710055, China
b
Key Lab of Structural Engineering and Earthquake Resistance, Ministry of Education (XAUAT), Xi’an 710055, China

h i g h l i g h t s

 The quantitative relationships between the content of old mortar and the quality of recycled aggregate were obtained.
 The effects of the recycled aggregate proportion on the mechanical properties of concrete were analyzed.
 A method for improving the performance of recycled aggregates suitable for engineering applications was proposed.
 Some suggestions for further popularization and application of recycled concrete were put forward.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The difference between the properties of recycled aggregate (RA) and natural aggregate (NA) are caused
Received 6 July 2019 due to the old mortar attached to RA. In this review, the quantitative relationships were represented
Received in revised form 13 November 2019 about the content of old attached mortar and the performance of RA at the material level. In term of
Accepted 28 December 2019
the component level, the influence of replacement ratio of RA on the mechanical properties of concrete
was summarized. Finally, some researches have focused on ways to improve the properties of aggregate.
The results show that the method of stripping old mortar to improve the performance of recycled aggre-
Keywords:
gates was not the only way to promote the application of recycled aggregates. However, by evaluating
Recycled aggregate concrete
Attached mortar
some simple and economical methods such as controlling the water-cement ratio, adjusting the aggre-
Mechanical properties gate moisture content and the different mixing method can improve the performance of recycled con-
Aggregate reinforcement crete in order to meet the requirement of concrete quality. Three aspects of the performance
prediction, application range and reinforcement method for RAs were illustrated in the article. It was
believe that the results could promote the accurate application for RAs with different quality in engineer-
ing, thus the application range of RAs was expanded.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. The characteristic of recycled concrete aggregates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1. Correlation between attached mortar content and aggregates particle size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2. Correlation between attached mortar content and water absorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3. Correlation between attached mortar content and saturated surface dry density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.4. Correlation between attached mortar content and Los Angeles abrasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.5. Correlation between attached mortar content and sulphate content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3. The effect of the recycled aggregate proportion on the mechanical properties of concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.1. The compressive strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2. The split tensile strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.3. The flexural strength. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.4. The shrinkage and creep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: chaoliu@xauat.edu.cn (C. Liu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.117978
0950-0618/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 G. Bai et al. / Construction and Building Materials 240 (2020) 117978

4. Performance enhancement of recycled aggregate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

4.1. Separation of adhered mortar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.2. Strengthening of adhered mortar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Declaration of Competing Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1. Introduction
In the last decades, a large-scale reconstruction of old urban
areas has been carried out in China, the dramatic increase in the
amount of construction and demolition waste (CDW, about 30%–
40% of municipal solid waste) [1,2]. In addition, China consumes
about 40% of the world’s cement and steel each year due to a mass
of fresh construction. The extensive type exploitation for a long
time has caused a significant shortage of natural resources in China
[3,4]. The exploitation of natural resources was prohibited widely
by the government.
The most scientific and effective approach to deal with CDW at
the present stage was to crush, wash, sift and classify to obtain RA,
and then partially or completely replace the natural aggregate (NA)
with RA for preparation of concrete. A series of standards and pro-
cedures have been published to facilitate the carry out of this
action [5,6]. The category of RA will be determined by structural
form of the demolished construction and the resource production
technology. RAs can be divided into recycled concrete aggregate,
recycled brick aggregate, and recycled mixed aggregate as shown
in Fig. 1. Meanwhile, the miscellaneous materials such as wood
blocks, paper scraps, plastics and other pollutants are also con-
tained in RAs [7–9]. At present, compared with other recycled
coarse aggregate types, recycled concrete aggregate is the most
extensive implemented RA in construction, and organizations in
many countries have developed specifications [10–12]. In this
paper, the performance and application of recycled concrete aggre-
gate were focused on.
The old mortar adhered on the surface of aggregate was the
most fundamental difference between RA and NA as shown in
Fig. 2 [13,14]. The amount of mortar attached to the aggregate sur-
face will be determined by the processing technology and quantity
during the production of RAs. According to Nagataki [15], the more
the crushing process, the less bonding mortar and the higher the
density of the RA. However, the density of recycled fines will
decrease due to excessive crushing process. The processing stage
should not be too much or too little for high quality RA, otherwise
the aggregates cannot be used for certain applications [16]. The
presence of adhering old mortar results in the water absorption,
crushing index, and Los Angeles wear coefficient of RA were higher
than original aggregate [17–19], resulting in the performance of
recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) is weaker than natural aggre-
gate concrete (NAC).
Recycled concrete aggregates were commonly used in road
bases and some secondary roads in China at present stage. The
application in the terms of building structure was merely in the
low-rise demonstration house. It can be said that the promotion
and application of RAC was lagging behind in China.
In this review, The characteristic of RAs was evaluated by quan-
titatively analyzed between attached mortar content and key indi-
cators of RAs, such as density, water absorption, Los Angeles wear
coefficient and sulfate content at the material level. In term of the
component level, the effects of the proportion of RA on the
mechanical properties of RAC were analyzed, and the factors of
water-cement ratio and aggregate moisture content were also
considered. In addition, the reinforcement techniques of RAs were

Fig. 1. Main categories of recycled coarse aggregate.

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of recycled concrete coarse aggregate.

 G. Bai et al. / Construction and Building Materials 240 (2020) 117978
discussed. The results of the review can be used to forecast the per-
formance of RA, so as to provide reference for its accurate applica-
tion in engineering. Finally, several optimized approaches were
recommended to expand the application scope of RAs and guaran-
tee the sustainable development of the construction industry.
2. The characteristic of recycled concrete aggregates
2.1. Correlation between attached mortar content and aggregates
particle size
The particle size of RA varies with the production process
[20,21]. Several researchers [22–25] observed that there was a cer-
tain relationship between the particle size of RA and the content of
the attached mortar. The results extracted from literature [22,26–
30] are shown in Fig. 3. From the plot it is evident that the attached
mortar content increase with decrease in the aggregate size. This
behavior may be attributed to the processing techniques. The
amount of adhesive mortar on the recycled coarse aggregate was
reduced at the beginning of mechanical processing. However, as
it gradually crumbles the cement mortar accumulates in small-
sized RA [31]. This is also the reason why the density of recycled
fine aggregate is generally lower than that of recycled coarse
aggregate. The 95% confidence interval of statistics indicates that
in a batch of aggregate with the same aggregate particle size, the
probability of the average value of the attached mortar content
falling into the dark red portion is over than 95%. The 95% predic-
tion interval represents the range of the predicted bound mortar
content for a given aggregate size. The addition of confidence inter-
val promotes the application of this relation in practical
engineering.
2.2. Correlation between attached mortar content and water
absorption
The water absorption was a decisive index affecting the perfor-
mance of recycled aggregate. Literature shows that RA has a higher
water absorption capacity than raw aggregate caused by the pore
structure of bonded mortar [13,32]. Similar observations was car-
ried out by Hansen et al. [22] who found that the water absorption
of RA was 2.3–4.6 times higher than that of NA regardless of the
strength of original concrete [22,24]. Several studies show that
the high absorbency of RA leads to the reduction of RAC workabil-
ity, which can be compensated by pre-soaking. However, excessive
water absorption of aggregate will adversely affect the strength of
Fig. 3. Relationship between attached mortar content and fraction size.
3
concrete. Therefore, some codes prohibit the use of RA with a water
absorption rate higher than 7–10% in structural concrete [13,34].
Brito et al. [35] investigated the effect of multiple recycling on
the concrete performance and noted that the water absorption rate
of RA enhanced with the number of recycling increased due to the
progressively augment of adhered mortar content. However, in
consideration of the research was executed in fewer cycles, it is
impossible to determine whether this upward trend will continue
indefinitely or whether the absorption will gradually approach a
certain value. The correlation between adhered mortar content
and water absorption of RA are shown in Fig. 4. The 95% confidence
interval and prediction interval of the correlation are given in the
figure. It indicates that in a batch of aggregate with the same
attached mortar content, the probability of the average value of
the water absorption falling into the dark red portion is over than
95%. The 95% prediction interval can provide a reference for the
water absorption index prediction of a single individual.
2.3. Correlation between attached mortar content and saturated
surface dry density
The saturated surface dry density was another decisive factor to
determine aggregate quality. The saturated surface dry density of
aggregate must be taken into account when considering its water
absorption in the process of mixing and stirring [36]. Researchers
have found that the saturated surface dry density of RA has nothing
to do with the grade of original concrete [22], but the water-
cement ratio of original concrete and the amount of aggregate
adhesion mortar [37]. Additionally, Debieb et al. [38] reported that
the proportion of more than 20% recycled fine aggregate will result
in a large loss of the machinability of RAC, which has a significant
relationship with the surface dry density of RA. The relationship
between adhered mortar content and saturated surface dry density
in the collected literature is shown in Fig. 5. The plot presents that
the saturated surface dry density of RA decreases with the aug-
ment of the attached mortar content. Consistent with the forego-
ing, the 95% confidence interval and prediction interval can be
used as an auxiliary to improve the accuracy of predicting the sat-
urated surface dry density.
2.4. Correlation between attached mortar content and Los Angeles
abrasion
At present, RA was principally used in road engineering
[39–44]. The wear resistance has been investigated by several
Fig. 4. Relationship between attached mortar content and absorption.
4 G. Bai et al. / Construction and Building Materials 240 (2020) 117978
Fig. 5. Relationship between attached mortar content and saturated surface dry
density.
Fig. 6. Relationship between attached mortar content and Los Angeles abrasion.
studies. Fig. 6 illustrates the relationship between the content of
attached mortar and the Los Angeles abrasion for literature: the
higher content of adhesion mortar, the greater Los Angeles abra-
sion was. shown in the figure, the higher dispersion of the data
may be caused by the quality difference of the RA. The 95% confi-
dence interval of statistics indicates that in a batch of aggregate
with the same content of adhered mortar, the probability of the
average value of the Los Angeles abrasion falling into the dark
red part is over than 95%. Some studies have reported that the wear
coefficient in Los Angeles increase gradually with the decrease of
the particle size of RA due to the smaller the aggregate particle size
was, the more worn away parts of the stones were. In addition, the
relevant national norms on aggregate Los Angeles wear coefficient
also made provisions. Spanish standards for structural concrete
stipulate that Los Angeles aggregate wear factor should be
less than 40%. This index should be less than 50% for structural
concrete and for pavement concrete should not be more than
40% in China.
2.5. Correlation between attached mortar content and sulphate
content
Generally, the sulfate as main component of gypsum was abun-
dant in RA because of its high content of gypsum. So controlling the
sulfate content of aggregate was particularly meaningful as the
expansion of concrete will be caused by excessive sulfate content
[45]. Previous studies have noted that sulfate content in the RA
was higher than NA due to the presence of sulfate in adhered old
mortar [46]. Fig. 7 shows that the sulfate content increases with
the increase of content of attached mortar. The 95% confidence
intervals and prediction intervals provide references for the accu-
rate application of the obtained relations. In addition, Spanish stan-
dards require aggregates to contain less than 0.8% sulfate, while
China sets a 1% limit.
3. The effect of the recycled aggregate proportion on the
mechanical properties of concrete
3.1. The compressive strength
The compressive strength is the most effective characteristic of
concrete, which affects the mechanics, durability and other proper-
ties of concrete [47–50,63]. This review shows a consensus that the
compressive strength of concrete decrease as the replacement rate
of RA increase, irrespective of aggregate type and quality, as
observed in all publications (except a RA generated from a high
grade/quality source concrete and incorporated in a new low
grade/quality concrete mixture). The results also show that the
increase of the content of RA was unfavorable to the compressive
strength of concrete. However, there are a few cases in which the
incorporation of a small proportion of recycled aggregate can
increase the strength of concrete [37,51]. This special case was lar-
gely attributed to the good control of the grading of RA [47]. Fig. 8
(a) presents the relative compressive strength of concrete with dif-
ferent replacement ratio of RA, regardless of type and quality.
There is a clear trend that the incorporation of RCA leads to lower
compressive strengths when compared to that of the control con-
crete. A 95% confidence interval was included in Fig. 8. As indi-
cated, there is a 95% probability that the RAC specimens
containing 100% coarse RCA could have about 0.766 times lower
compressive strengths than that of corresponding NAC specimen.
However, in a few cases RAC exhibited similar or even slightly
greater strength. Since this was observed mostly for specimens
containing RCA, it is possible that the bond strength in the inter-
face transition zone (ITZ) between the old attached mortar and
new cement paste may be improved for some reasons. The boxplot
obtained by exploratory analysis of data with SSPS software is
shown in Fig. 8(b), the outlier and extremes in the data were evi-
dent in the figure. It can be observed from the quartile distance
Fig. 7. Relationship between attached mortar content and sulphate content.
 G. Bai et al. / Construction and Building Materials 240 (2020) 117978 5

Fig. 8. Relationship between replacement ratio of recycled coarse aggregate and relative compressive strength (a) and exploratory analysis box plot (b).

that the higher the replacement ratio of RA, the greater the disper-
sion of data, which was probably caused by the difference in the
properties of RA.
In addition, the compressive strength of RAC decreases with the
increase of water-cement ratio, which was similar to ordinary con-
crete [52,53]. However, the compressive strength of RAC varies
greatly at the lower water-cement ratio [53]. Khan [52] concluded
that the water-cement ratio of RAC should be 0.05–0.1 less than
NAC to achieve the similar compressive strength value, which
was attributed to the low water utilization ratio of the ITZs
between old adhered mortar and aggregate. In terms of water
absorption rate, with the increase of water absorption rate, the
intensity of RAC decrease under normal circumstances [37]. How-
ever, Ryu [54] mentioned in the article that the decrease of com-
pressive strength with the increase of water absorption rate was
not obvious. He believed that the quality of the ITZ generated on
the aggregate would affect the compressive strength and not only
depend on the water absorption.
3.2. The split tensile strength
The indirect method was usually applied to calculate the ten-
sile strength of concrete. The splitting tensile test was considered
as the most commonly used evaluation method. Bairagi et al. [58]
reported that the split tensile strength of RAC was 6%, 10% and
40% less than that of NAC when 25%, 50% and 100% RA replace-
ment ratio were used, respectively. Similar results were noted
for specimen that the split tensile strength decreases with the
increase of RA replacement ratio [37,47,50,51]. On the contrary,
many literatures show that the tensile strength of RAC was the
same or even exceeds the tensile strength of virgin aggregate con-
crete when the replacement ratio of RA was as high as 30%
[51,55,56]. The relationship between the incorporation ratio of
RA and relative splitting tensile strength is shown in Fig. 9(a). It
can be observed that with the increase of the RA replacement
ratio, the concrete shows a slight trend of decrease in the relative
tensile strength of split. The upper and lower 95% confidence
intervals are also included in the figure. The 95% upper and lower
confidence levels were defined by UCL and LCL. It suggested that
there had a 95% probability of the relative split tensile strength of
concrete with 100% incorporation of RCA was 0.832 times lower
than that of virgin aggregate concrete. As can be clearly found
from the boxplot of Fig. 9(b), there are many abnormal points
in this group of data. The results of the interquartile range show
that the dispersion of the data increases slightly with the increase
of the replacement rate of the RA, indicating that the difference in
aggregate quality has a limited effect on the tensile strength of
the concrete.

Fig. 9. Relationship between replacement ratio of recycled coarse aggregate and relative split tensile strength (a) and exploratory analysis box plot (b).
6 G. Bai et al. / Construction and Building Materials 240 (2020) 117978

In addition, the split tensile strength was reported to be affected the reduction in concrete volume due to the loss of internal mois-
by curing conditions. Fonseca et al. [51] shows that for the RAC ture. It has been investigated by many scholars that the shrinkage
with 50% RA content, the concrete split tensile strength under open of RAC increases with the replacement ratio of RA increases
environment and water immersion conditions were higher than [32,50,77–79]. This situation was due to the fact that a larger pro-
laboratory culture conditions. However, the tensile strength of portion of water is required for the preparation of RAC. Matias et al.
concrete under different curing conditions was similar when the [77] reported that the pre-soaking of RA for 24 h results in an
specimen with 100% replacement ratio was investigated. At the increase in dry shrinkage as it would results in an increase in
same time, literature observed that the concrete split tensile entrained water in the RAC. It shows that moisture situation of
strength increase with the decrease of water-cement ratio, which RA also affects the drying shrinkage of RAC. However, drying
was quite encouraging [57]. shrinkage can be reduced by adding mineral admixture to RAC
[50,80]. Domingo-Cabo et al. [79] noticed that RAC with a lower
3.3. The flexural strength RA replacement ratio (20%) showed similar shrinkage to NAC at
28 days. However, after 6 months, the shrinkage of the 20%, 50%,
Some researchers noted that the flexural strength of concrete and 100% replacement RAC was 4%, 12%, and 70% higher than that
decrease gradually with the increase of the proportion of RA of NAC, respectively. Other studies have shown that improved mix-
[33,58–61]. Bairagi et al. [58] reported that the flexural strength ing process can also reduce the shrinkage of RAC [78]. The variation
of RAC with 25%, 50% and 100% replacement ratio of RA were 6%, of drying shrinkage of RAC with respect to time investigated by
13% and 26% lower than that of NAC respectively. This behavior researchers is present in Fig. 11. The variation tends to flatten
was attributed to poor bonding quality between the old adhered out over time, indicating that the shrinkage of RAC decreases over
mortar and the new cement paste. Oliveira et al. [62] believes that time.
the flexural strength of RAC was lower than that of NAC regardless
of RA moisture conditions. However, when saturated RA was used,
the loss of flexural strength was more significant [65]. The relation-
ship between the replacement ratio of RCA and relative flexural
strength is shown in Fig. 10(a). It can be observed from the plot
that with the increase of the incorporation of RA, the decrease of
the relative flexural strength of concrete is limited. The 95% LCL
illustrated that there is a 95% probability that the flexural strength
of RAC with 100% RCA content is about loss below 16.8% when
compared with NAC. You can obtain from the boxplot of Fig. 10
(b) that the median value of the relative flexural strength of con-
crete with different proportion of RA was equal basically. However,
the relative flexural strength value was more discrete under the
high replacement ratio of RA. Furthermore, the flexural strength
decrease with the increase of water-binder ratio. Concrete with
higher flexural strength can be prepared by using RA with lower
water absorption [65].

3.4. The shrinkage and creep

Drying shrinkage and creep were two parameters of deforma-

tion for concrete. Creep was the increase in deformation of con-
crete under a sustained load, while dry shrinkage was caused by Fig. 11. Shrinkage rate of RAC for different experimental researches.

Fig. 10. Relationship between replacement ratio of recycled coarse aggregate and relative flexural strength (a) and exploratory analysis box plot (b).
 G. Bai et al. / Construction and Building Materials 240 (2020) 117978 7

4. Performance enhancement of recycled aggregate
The performance improvement of RA was carried out through
the treatment of attached mortar, which was mainly divided
into the separation of old mortar and the strengthening of old
mortar. The following two aspects will be stated.
4.1. Separation of adhered mortar
Montgomery [64] removes the adhesive mortar in the particles
through ball mill to improve the quality of aggregate. Later, hot
grinding appeared. Tateyashiki. et al and Ma. et al. [65,66] obtained
high-quality RAC by heating then grinding. However, the perfor-
mance of the RA was reduced due to the generation of microcracks
during the grinding process. Katz [67] used ultrasonic water clean-
ing to remove the attached mortar. This method was suitable for
the separation of mortar with poor adhesion, but not for mortar
with strong adhesion. Tam et al. [68] adopted acid solution immer-
sion to remove the attached mortar on the aggregate surface. This
way will increase the acid content in RA with high cost and low
feasibility.
4.2. Strengthening of adhered mortar
Kou et al. [69] claimed that the mechanical properties of RAs
can be promoted by treating with a PVA polymer solution. Wan
et al. [70] treated RCA with 1% PVA solution and found that the
compressive and workability of concrete were heightened.
Silicon-based waterproof polymers have been proved to signifi-
cantly improve aggregate quality [71,72]. In general, PVA and
silicon-based waterproof polymers can effectively enhance the
quality of recycled aggregate and the workability of RAC, but they
cannot improve or even have a negative effect on the compressive
strength of concrete. According to previous research reports, Tam
et al. [73] reported a two-stage mixing approach (TSMA) to process
the regeneration aggregate, in TSMA, recycled aggregates, cement
and half of the water were mixed in advance. TSMA could improve
the microstructure of old mortar and ITZ by producing a thin layer
of cement slurry on RA. As shown in Fig. 12, the compressive
strength of RAC can be improved effectively by this process.
Another improved hybrid methods were proposed by Tam et al.
[74,75], and the modified TSMA are drawn in Figs. 13 and 14. It
was found that the modified TSMA was encouraging for improving
concrete compressive strength. Liang et al. [76] suggested mortar
mixing approach (MMA) and sand enveloped mixing approach
(SEMA) to enhance the performance of RAC. The specimens were
produced with 100% RA, which was surface pretreated 7 days
before mixing. The mixing techniques are shown in Figs. 15 and 16.
The TSMA seems to be a rather effective method for the analysis
and comparison of the above methods for improving the perfor-
mance of RA due to its cost-effectiveness and operability. Mean-
while, it providing excellent results for all mechanical
experiments, this technology can be widely applied during the
practical engineering.

Fig. 12. Two stage mixing approach (TSMA).

Fig. 13. Modified TSMA1.

Fig. 14. Modified TSMA2.

8 G. Bai et al. / Construction and Building Materials 240 (2020) 117978
Fig. 15. Mortar mixing approach.
Fig. 16. Sand enveloped mixing approach.
5. Conclusion
In this paper, the effect of the adhered mortar content on the
aggregate performance at material level, the influence of the incor-
poration of recycled aggregate on the concrete mechanical perfor-
mance at component level, and the performance improvement
technology of recycled aggregate were summarized and analyzed.
The following conclusions could be drawn.
 It was inevitable that RA will adhere to old mortar on the sur-
face due to the production technology. The presence of these
adhering mortars was the essential reason why the quality of
RA was weaker than that of NA.
 Quantitative analysis was carried out between the old mortar
content and density, water absorption, wear coefficient, and
sulfate content of several aggregate key indicators. These data
can be used to establish the demand for RAs for different
applications.
 The loss of compressive strength of concrete was more sensitive
to the incorporation of RA than the tensile strength and flexural
strength of concrete. In addition, the water-cement ratio and
the water absorption rate of the aggregate were also significant
effects on the quality of the concrete. This result can provide a
reference for the application of RA. For example, different
preparation techniques can be employed for components of dif-
ferent forms of stress in the construction process.
 In terms of RAC reinforcement, the TSMA method seems to be a
fairly worthwhile method due to cost-effectiveness and
operability.
 There are many quantitative studies on the content of attached
mortar and aggregate properties, but the relationship between
the adhered mortar content and the mechanical properties con-
crete mostly stays in qualitative research. Therefore, more
quantitative experiments should be carried out on the content
of old mortar and the mechanical properties of RAC, and the
quantitative relationship between the content of adhered mor-
tar and the mechanical properties of RAC should be established,
so that to achieve the pre-judgment of the performance of RAC
in terms of different application requirements.
 The performance of RAC was inferior to that of NAC. The pursuit
of special techniques to strip old adhered mortar to improve the
property of RAC does not seem to be a practical means.
However, the concrete can be improved within a certain range
by some simple and low-cost approach such as adjusting
water-cement ratio, aggregate water content, mixing method
and admixture. The performance of RAC can be adjusted to suit
the quality requirements of specific engineering pairs of con-
crete. For example, it can be applied to some road projects, or
some minor parts of the main structure to promote the applica-
tion range of RAs, so as to ensure the sustainable development
of the construction industry.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (Grant NO. 51878546), the Natural
Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi Province (Grant NO.
2019JM-597), the Innovative Talent Promotion Plan of Shaanxi
Province (Grant NO. 2018KJXX-056), the Key Research and Devel-
opment Projects of Shaanxi Province (Grant NO. 2018ZDCXL-
SF-03-03-02) and the Science and Technology Innovation Base of
Shaanxi Province (Grant NO. 2017KTPT-19) for financial support.
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