Procedure to produce recycled concrete aggregate

Recycled concrete aggregate was produced by crushing of ―old concrete cubes used for
compressive strength testing and one precast reinforced concrete column, which had
inappropriate dimensions (Figure 1). The strength class of old concrete cubes was C30/37 and
the corresponding value of compressive strength for precast column was C40/50, nomenclature
according to Eurocode 2. The primary crushing was done with a pneumatic hammer (Figure 1)
and the secondary crushing was performed in a rotating crusher. The obtained material after the
primary and secondary crushing is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1. Waste concrete for recycling: concrete cubes and precast column.

Figure 2. Recycled material after (a) primary and (b) secondary crushing.

a b

Crushed concrete particles were separated into standard fractions of coarse aggregate (4–8
mm, 8–16 mm and 16–31.5 mm), as seen in Figure 3.
 Figure 3. Recycled concrete aggregate fractions. From left to right; 4–8 mm, 8–16 mm
and 16–31.5 mm coarse aggregates.

All component materials were tested prior to mix proportion design. The results of natural
aggregate testing are shown in Table 1 and grading curves are shown in Figure 4.
Testing of natural aggregate and recycled aggregate

Table 1. Results of natural aggregate testing.

Tested property Measured Grain size Quality

value 0/4 4/8 8/16 16/32 requirement
Crushing resistance mass loss (%) - 14.0 18.6 23.8 30
(in cylinder)
Freezing resistance test mass loss (%) 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.5 12
Content of weak grains (%) - 0 0 0 3 (4)
Crushing resistance mass loss (%) - 26.3 29.0 29.2 30
(Los Angeles test)
Water absorption after (%) 0.7 0.4 0.4 0.3 -
30 minutes
Fines content (%) 1.6 0.23 0.15 0.12 5 (<1)
Specific gravity kg/m3 2,655 2,666 2,669 2,671 2,000–
3,000
Bulk density, uncompacted kg/m3 1,611 1,490 1,470 1,460 -
Bulk density, compacted kg/m3 1,729 1,590 1,570 1,560 -
 Figure 4. Grading curves of natural aggregate.
100

90

80

70
Sieve passing, (%)

4/8
60 0/4
50 8/16
16/31.5
40

30

20

10

0
0 0.125 0.25 0.5 1 2 4 8 16 31.5 63
Sieve size, (mm)

The results of recycled concrete aggregate testing are shown in Table 2 and grading curves in
Figure 5.
Properties of natural and recycled concrete aggregate were tested according to Serbian
standards for natural aggregates and quality requirements given in Tables 1 and 2 are also
according to Serbian standard for natural aggregates: SRPS B.B2.010:1986 [22]. As it can be
seen from Table 2, recycled aggregate with grain sizes of 8/16 and 16/32 don’t satisfy the weak
grains content and crushing resistance quality requirements for natural aggregates. This was
expected because of the mortar and cement paste attached to the stone particles in the recycled
aggregate.

Table 2. Results of recycled concrete aggregate testing.

Tested property Grain size Quality

Measured value
4/8 8/16 16/32 Requirement
Crushing resistance mass loss (%) 18.3 26.7 30.7 30
(in cylinder)
Freezing resistance test mass loss (%) 2.0 1.4 1.0 12
Chemical testing (mortar chloride content 0 in 0 in 0 in 0.1
part of recycled aggregate) sulfate content traces traces traces 1.0
pH 9.85 9.85 9.85 -
Content of weak grains (%) 0 3.7 7.1 3 (4)
Crushing resistance Mass loss (%) 29.6
(Los Angeles test) after
33.7 34.0 30
Water absorption (%) 4.59 2.87 2.44 -
30 minutes
Fines content (%) 0.45 0.23 0.36 1.0
Specific gravity kg/m3 2,346 2,458 2,489 2,000–
3,000
Bulk density, uncompacted kg/m3 1,275 1,239 1,236 -
Bulk density, compacted kg/m3 1,388 1,323 1,325 -

0Figure 5. Grading curves of recycled concrete aggregate.

100

90

80

70
Sieve passing, (%)

60
4/8 8/16 16/31.5
50

40

30

20

10

0
0 0.125 0.25 0.5 1 2 4 8 16 31.5 63
Sieve size, (mm)

According to test results, natural river aggregate satisfies quality requirements given in and
cement satisfies prescribed quality requirements given in EN 197-1:2,000.
Mix Proportion Design

Concrete mix proportions were calculated according to above listed conditions and are shown
in Table 3. Dried recycled aggregate, basic water content and additional water quantity were
used to achieve the required workability of RAC.

Table 3. Design quantities of component materials.

Concrete Cement Effective Aggregate Additional Effective Total Bulk
mixture (kg/m³) water (kg/m³) water water- water- density
(kg/m³) (kg/m³) cement cement (kg/m³)
ratio ratio
R0 350 180 1857 0 0.514 0.514 2,387
R50 350 180 1816 19 0.514 0.569 2,365
R100 350 180 1776 37 0.514 0.620 2,343

Water absorption of recycled aggregates was studied in time intervals for a total of 24 hours.
By analyzing the results, it was found that the major changes in the quantity of absorbed water
occur in the first 30 minutes. On the other hand, it is known that the major change in the
consistency of ―ordinary concrete‖ (without chemical admixtures) occurs in the first 20–30
minutes. Also, after production, concrete must be transported to the site. Taking into account the
underlying attitudes, 30 minutes from the moment of adding water to the concrete mixer was
adopted as the reference time for the required workability.
Additional water quantity was calculated on the basis of water absorption of recycled
aggregate after 30 minutes, Table 2.
The substitution of natural coarse aggregate with recycled aggregate is made by weight,
provided that all mixtures have the same granulometric composition, corresponding to the
Fuller’s curve (Dmax = 31.5 mm). Percentage participation of each aggregate fraction in
aggregate mixture is given in Table 4 and corresponding quantity of each aggregate fraction is
given in Table 5.
 Table 4. Percentage participation of each aggregate fraction in aggregate mixture.
Concrete Natural river aggregate Recycled concrete
type aggregate
0/4 4/8 8/16 16/32 4/8 8/16 16/32
R0 33 16 21 30 0 0 0
R50 33 8 10.5 15 6.5 7.5 19.5
R100 33 0 0 0 13 15 39

Table 5. Design amounts of different aggregate fractions.

Concrete Content of natural river aggregate (kg/m³) Content of recycled aggregate

(kg/m³)
mixture 0/4 4/8 8/16 16/32 4/8 8/16 16/32
R0 612 298 390 556 0 0 0
R50 600 145 191 272 118 136 354
R100 586 0 0 0 231 266 693

4. Conclusions
On the basis of our comparative analysis of test results of the basic properties of concrete
with three different percentages of coarse recycled aggregate content (0%, 50% and 100%), the
following conclusions are made.
The way of preparing recycled aggregate for concrete mixtures influences the concrete
workability: workability of concrete with natural and recycled aggregate is almost the same if
―water saturated—surface dry‖ recycled aggregate is used. Also, if dried recycled aggregate is
used and additional water quantity is added during mixing, the same workability can be achieved
after a prescribed time. Additional water quantity depends on the time for which the same
workability has to be achieved. It is determined as water quantity for which the recycled
aggregate absorbs for the same period of time.
Bulk density of fresh concrete is slightly decreased with increasing quantity of recycled
aggregate.
The type of coarse aggregate has no influence on the air content in concrete.
Concrete compressive strength mainly depends on the quality of recycled aggregate. If good
quality aggregate (obtained by crushing higher strength class concrete as in this case) is used for
the production of new concrete, the recycled aggregate has no influence on the compressive
strength, regardless of the replacement ratio of natural coarse aggregate with recycled aggregate.
The same conclusion is valid for concrete tensile strength (splitting and flexural).
 The water absorption of concrete depends on the quantity of recycled aggregate. The amount
of absorbed water is proportionally increased with increasing recycled aggregate content. Water
absorption depends on the porosity of cement matrix in the new concrete and porosity of cement
matrix of the recycled concrete: if recycled aggregate is produced from low porosity waste
concrete, water absorption of the new concrete depends on the achieved structure of the new
cement matrix.
Wear resistance of the concrete depends on the amount of recycled aggregate. Concrete wear
resistance decreases with increasing recycled aggregate content, due to the increased quantity of
hardened cement paste, which wears easier than grains of natural aggregate.
The modulus of elasticity of concrete also decreases with increasing recycled aggregate
content as a consequence of lower modulus of elasticity of recycled aggregate compared to
natural aggregate.
Shrinkage of concrete depends on the amount of recycled concrete aggregate. Concrete with
more than 50% of recycled coarse aggregate has significantly more shrinkage compared to
concrete with natural aggregate. Increased shrinkage is a result of the attached mortar and
cement paste in the recycled aggregate grains.
The bond between recycled aggregate concrete and reinforcement is not significantly
influenced by recycled concrete aggregate, because it is realized through new cement paste.
According to these test results, the performance of recycled aggregate concrete, even with the
total replacement of coarse natural with coarse recycled aggregate, is mainly satisfactory, not
only in terms of the mechanical properties, but also the other requirements related to mixture
proportion design and production of this concrete type. The only two properties those are lower
than for the natural aggregate concrete properties are the modulus of elasticity and shrinkage
deformation. Because of that, it is not recommended to apply this type of concrete for structural
elements for which large deformations can be expected. Also, this type of concrete shouldn’t be
used for structures exposed to aggressive environment conditions without appropriate previous
testing, as there are opposing conclusions about durability-related properties of RAC in existing
literature [3,16,30,32].
Based on the results of the load tests on the reinforced concrete beams, it is concluded that
used coarse aggregate type and quantity has no significant influence on the pattern and width of
cracks. First, crack appears in the middle of the span at a load level equal to about one third of
the ultimate load regardless of the concrete type. The measured crack widths were
approximately the same for all three tested beams.
On the other hand, concrete compressive stresses depend on the quantity of recycled concrete
aggregate for all load phases. Increasing the quantity of coarse RCA up to 100% increased the
concrete compressive stress up to 25% in these tests.
Deflections of tested beams do not depend on the type and quantity of used aggregate in the
elastic area—similar deflections were registered regardless of the concrete type. However, in the
post elastic area, with increasing quantity of coarse recycled aggregate the deflection value
increased. The deflection increase compared to deflection of the ―R0‖ beam is 4% for the
―R50‖ beam and 10% for the ―R100‖ beam for the service load level. The main reason for
such behavior of the tested beams is a lower modulus of elasticity of concrete types R100 and
R50 in comparison to referent concrete R0.
All the conclusions made in this work about the tested properties of fresh and hardened
concrete and consequently, about the behavior of beams subjected to bending, are valid for
recycled aggregate concrete produced with quality recycled aggregate, obtained from
demolished concrete with good mechanical properties, as it was the case in this experimental
research.