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Mechanical properties of green concrete

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ICCEET 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 888 (2020) 012022 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/888/1/012022

Mechanical properties of green concrete

Adel A Al-Azzawi1 and Ayad A. Al-Azzawi2

1
Professor, College of Engineering, Al-Nahrain University, Baghdad, Iraq
2
Reaearcher, Ministry of Construction and Housing, Baghdad, Iraq
*Corresponding author: 1dr_adel_azzawi@yahoo.com

Abstract. The engineering properties inspection of green concrete resulted from using
Metakaolin to replace cement and crushed tiles as waste coarse aggregates is the main aim in
this work study. Different concrete mixtures were prepared in order to obtain 30 MPa target
strength for concrete in compression. The crushed tile as waste aggregates is used to substitute
crushed gravel as natural aggregate with ratios of 0 to 100% in the concrete mixtures and the
mixture properties were inspected. It is revealed that employing Metakaolin in the replacement
of cement and crushed tile to substitute a ratio of crushed gravel affects all concrete properties
such as; elastic modulus, tensile strength, and compressive strength. The difference relies on the
percentages of Metakaolin and aggregate substituted. The optimum percentages for both
Metakaolin and waste aggregate were found to be 20% and 25% respectively which can be used
to produce green concrete with acceptable properties and solve a very important environmental
problem. The ACI 318 code equations for estimating the spilt cylinder and modulus of elasticity
are used and it is revealed that these equations give overestimated values for green concrete
having waste aggregate with percentage exceeding 25%.

1. Introduction
Concrete is a structural material utilized in the construction of many buildings and infrastructure [1].
The used waste material in the production of concrete may be engaged through cement or aggregate
replacement, filler material or strengthening fibres. Cement as a construction material is considered to
be a pollutant to our environment because of its production cycle. The waste material can have
environmental advantages though using it to replace coarse or fine aggregate or to replace cement [2,
3]. Due to the large consumption of cement in construction projects in Iraq, the reduction in cement
quantities used in concrete mixes is very important case. From the standpoint of lowering cement, there
are many benefits attached to utilize waste or recycled materials as pozzolans. Concrete made from
waste materials that are environmentally friendly and having lower cement content is called as “Green
concrete”. Green concrete is a sustainable concrete used in the construction of many structures due to
lower required maintenance, higher energy saving and lower CO2 emissions. In the year 1998, this
concrete was made first in Denmark by Dr.WG [2,4].Old concrete building wastes, glass wastes,
recycled materials, crushed brick, and tiles can be used in concrete as waste aggregate. The purpose of
green concrete is to lower the atmosphere pollution as a result of cement production which is used in
concrete. And also, to remove environmental wastes through the reuse of waste materials.
The literature on green concrete focused on the investigations of aggregate replacement and cement
replacement. Meyer and Baxter (1997, 1998), investigated the concrete production containing glass
aggregate and Metakaolin. The studies revealed that the weight and compressive strength are reduced
with mounting the amount of waste aggregate in the mix due to reduced adhesion with it which is maybe
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ICCEET 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 888 (2020) 012022 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/888/1/012022

the main conclusion revealed from previous studies used different waste aggregate [5,6]. The concrete
made with glass aggregate is deemed to be suitable for the construction of buildings in cold areas. The
previous studies [7, 8, 9, and 10] revealed that glass can be used in concrete and behaved effectively and
this behaviour accompanied with a reduction in compressive strength at 28 day. The previous studies
revealed that the utilization of glass as fine and coarse aggregates in concrete can mend absorption of
water only [11]. Several investigators work on glass aggregate with Metakaolin such as [12, 13]. The
main conclusion that using such type of aggregate will reduce the concrete mechanical properties
remains the same. The results of the experiments revealed that it would be feasible to use ceramic tile
waste as pozzolan or aggregate in concrete [14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20]. The previous studies revealed
that the concrete strength of mixes is reduced with mounting tile content and the maximum tile aggregate
size.
The previous researches on the inspecting of the engineering properties of structural green concrete
which considers both the cement and aggregate replacements together are limited to some types of
recycled aggregates. This research is made to investigate the properties of structural green concrete
which made from different substitution of cement by Metakaolin and crushed tiles aggregate. The main
aim is to obtain a conclusion about the feasibility of using such materials in producing structural
concrete.

2. Experimental program

2.1. Materials

2.1.1. Cement

Type -I cement that meets Iraqi Specification No. 5/1984 [21] was selected to be used in this study.

2.1.2. Fine aggregate

Sand (with 4.75mm maximum size) was utilized in this research as fine aggregate. Sand sieve analysis
is shown in Tables 1 and 2.

Table 1. Grading of sand.

No. Sieve size % Passing

(mm) % Sand Iraqi Specification No. 45/1984 for Zone (2) [22]
1 10 100 100
2 4.75 95 90-100
3 2.36 77 75-100
4 1.18 61 55-90
5 0.6 36 35-59
6 0.3 10 8-30
7 0.15 3 0-10

Table 2. Physical properties of sand.

Physical properties Test results Iraqi Specification No. 45/1984 for Zone(2)[22]
Specific Gravity 2.67 -
Sulphate Content 0.3 % ≤ 0.5 %
Absorption 0.9 % -

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ICCEET 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 888 (2020) 012022 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/888/1/012022

2.1.3. Coarse aggregate

Crushed gravel (with maximum size 14 mm and a specific gravity of 2.64) was selected to be used in
this study as coarse aggregate regarding the Iraqi Specification No. 45/1984 [22] in testing this aggregate
type as drawn in Table 3.

Table 3. Grading of natural coarse aggregate.

No. Sieve size Passing %

(mm) Coarse aggregate % Iraqi Specification No. 45/1984 [22]
1 20 100 100
2 14 96 85-100
3 10 22 0-25
4 5 5 0-10
5 2.36 0 -

2.1.4. Waste coarse aggregate

Tile was crushed and used as coarse aggregates with same maximum size of 14 mm. The specific gravity
is (2.45).Table 4 illustrates the sieve analysis of crushed tile aggregate.

Table 4. Grading of waste coarse aggregate.

No. Sieve size Passing %

(mm) Waste aggregate % Iraqi Specification No. 45/1984 [22]
1 20 100 100
2 14 98 85-100
3 10 24 0-25
4 5 7 0-10
5 2.36 0 -

2.1.5. Metakaolin
Kaolin is a clay mineral with white colour and fine grain size. The kaolin mineral structure has two
layers. The first one is the silica layer, and the second is the gibbsite layer. The Metakaolin physical
properties are given in Table 5.

Table 5. Physical properties of Metakaolin [12, 13].

Physical Properties Metakaolin Pozzolana Class N

Specific Gravity 2.64 5% Max.
Surface Area cm2/gm 19010 −
Pozzolanic Activity Index 153.6 75

2.1.6. Super-plasticizer
A super-plasticizer is used in this work to produce the required workability and strength of green
concrete. The used super-plasticizer percentage by weight of cementitious material was (2 %) litter.

2.1.7. Concrete mixtures

Seven mixtures were prepared using Metakaolin (M) as a substitution of cement with 20% and crushed
tiles or waste aggregate (WA) as a substitution of gravel or natural aggregate (NA) with 0 to 100%.
According to the ACI 211.1/1991 limitations [23], the expected compressive strength was 30 MPa for

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 ICCEET 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 888 (2020) 012022 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/888/1/012022

natural aggregate concrete (NAC). The used water cement ratio was 0.32 and the used super-plasticizer
percentage was 2%. The character (WAC) is assigned to waste aggregate concrete, while the letter M
means to mix with 20% of Metakaolin replacement of cement as drawn in Table 6

Table 6. Mix proportion of concrete mixtures.

Quantities (kg/m3) Metakaolin percentage Coarse aggregate

Mix symbol by cement weight Substitution
Waste
Cement Sand Gravel percentage
aggregate
NAC-0 350 700 1200 0 0 0%
NAC-M 280 700 1200 0 20% 0%
WAC25-0 350 700 900 300 0 25%
WAC25-M 280 700 900 300 20% 25%
WAC50-M 280 700 600 600 20% 50%
WAC75-M 280 700 600 600 20% 75%
WAC100-M 280 700 0 1200 20% 100%

2.2. Mechanical properties of hardened concrete

2.2.1. Compressive strength

The compressive strengths of specimens were obtained according to ASTM C39M/2003 [24] for
cylinders (𝑓𝑐′ ) of size in millimetres (150 x 300) and BS1881-116, 1997 [25] for cubes (fcu) of size in
millimetres (150 x 150 x 150).
The outcomes of compression tests on cylinders and cubes are given in Table 7 and figures 1 to 4. Table
7 and figures 1 and 2 revealed that the compressive strength has a small decrease by 3% and 5% as the
cement content decrease (the replacement of cement by Metakaolin 20%) for both natural and waste
aggregate mixes respectively. This small reduction can be neglected and therefore the 20% cement
replacement must be considered very effective in terms of sustainability for lower waste aggregate
replacement ratios. Also, figures 3 and 4 revealed that the concrete compressive strength decreased by
35% as waste aggregate percentage increases from 0 to 100%. When 100% crushed tile was used, the
compressive strength is lowered to 19.3 MPa and the concrete may be considered to be non-structural.
According to ACI 318/2014 [26], all waste aggregate concrete mixes may be utilized to produce
structural concrete except the 100% replacement. The proportion between the cylinder strength to cube
strength is recognized to be in the range of 0.84.

Table 7. Compressive strength of concrete.

Compressive Cylinder Percentage variation from

Metakaolin strength strength/cube NAC with same Metakaolin
Substitution
Mix percentage (MPa) strength percentage
percentage
Cubes Cylinders (cube test)
fcu 𝑓𝑐′
NAC-0 0% 0% 30.4 25.7 0.845 -
NAC-M 0% 20% 29.5 24.9 0.844 -
WAC25-0 25% 0% 27.8 23.4 0.841 -9%
WAC25-M 25% 20% 26.1 21.9 0.839 -12%
WAC50-M 50% 20% 23.4 19.8 0.846 -21%
WAC75-M 75% 20% 21.2 17.8 0.839 -28%
WAC100-M 100% 20% 19.3 16.3 0.844 -35%

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ICCEET 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 888 (2020) 012022 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/888/1/012022

Figure 1. Compressive strengths for natural and Figure 2. Effect of cement substitution by
waste aggregate concrete mixes with and without Metakaolin on compressive strength for natural
Metakaolin. and waste aggregate.

Figure 3. Compressive strengths for natural and Figure 4. Effect of waste aggregate
waste aggregate concrete mixes with different substitution percentage on compressive
replacement ratios. strength.

2.2.2. Splitting tensile strength

The ASTM-C496/ 2006 specification [27] is used to carry a splitting tensile strength (𝑓𝑐𝑡 ) test on
cylinder concrete specimens. The outcomes of tensile tests on specimens made with green concrete (the
average of two tensile specimens) are shown in Table 8. This table revealed that the test values for
tensile strength reduce as the aggregate substitution percentage increases. When 100% of waste
aggregate was utilized, the strength in tension was lowered by about 37% due to the used coarse
aggregate weakness.
The split cylinder strength ACI 318/2014 [26] expression (𝑓𝑐𝑡 = 0.56√𝑓𝑐′ ) gave a lower estimate of
tensile strength for crushed gravel concrete by 2.5% and a higher estimate by 25.5 % for concrete
contains 100% waste type aggregate as shown in figure 5. Therefore, the ACI expression must be used
carefully to estimate the splitting strength for waste aggregate concrete with content higher than 25%.
The effect of the addition of Metakaolin reduced the strength by 2% for natural aggregate concrete
(NAC) and 4 % for waste aggregate concrete (WAC) as shown in figure 6. This small reduction can be
neglected and therefore the 20% cement replacement must be considered very effective in terms of
sustainability for lower waste aggregate replacement ratios.

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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 888 (2020) 012022 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/888/1/012022

Table 8. Splitting tensile strength.

Percentage ACI 318/2014 Percentage

Tensile variation from [26] Tensile variation
Replacement Metakaolin NAC with same strength from ACI
Mix strength
percentage percentage Metakaolin expression 318/2014
(MPa)
percentage 𝑓𝑐𝑡 = 0.56√𝑓𝑐′ expression
NAC-0 0% 0% 2.9 - 2.83 2.5
NAC-M 0% 20% 2.85 - 2.79 2.2
WAC25-0 25% 0% 2.8 -3.5 2.7 3.6
WAC25-M 25% 20% 2.7 -5.3 2.62 3
WAC50-M 50% 20% 2.25 -21.1 2.49 -10.6
WAC75-M 75% 20% 2.05 -28.1 2.36 -15.1
WAC100-M 100% 20% 1.8 -36.8 2.26 -25.5

Figure 5. Effect of waste aggregate substitution Figure 6. Effect of cement substitution by

percentage on concrete tensile strength. Metakaolin on tensile strength for natural and
waste aggregate.

2.2.3. Elastic modulus

The ASTM-C469 /2004 [28] test specification was followed to test (150 ×300mm) specimens and the
outcomes are drawn in Table 9. The outcomes revealed that the concrete elastic modulus (𝐸𝑐 ) reduces
as the waste aggregate content becomes higher. When 100% waste aggregate type was utilized, the (𝐸𝑐 )
of green concrete was decreased by 33.1 %.
The modulus of elasticity ACI 318/2014 [26] expression (𝐸𝑐 = 𝛾𝑐1.5 0.043√𝑓𝑐′ in which 𝛾𝑐 is the density
of concrete) gave a lower estimate for crushed gravel concrete tensile strength by 1 % and a higher
estimate by 11% for concrete contains 100% waste type aggregate. Therefore, the ACI expression can
be used carefully to estimate the modulus of elasticity for waste aggregate concrete with content higher
than 25%. The effect of the addition of Metakaolin reduced the strength by 2% for natural aggregate
concrete (NAC) and 4 % for waste aggregate concrete (WAC). This is may be attributed to the random
error in the experiment and therefore the replacement must be considered very effective in terms of
sustainability for lower waste aggregate replacement ratios.

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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 888 (2020) 012022 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/888/1/012022

Table 9. Concrete elastic modulus.

Percentage ACI 318/2014 [26] Percentage

Elastic variation from Elastic modulus variation from
Replacement
Mix Metakaolin modulus NAC with same expression ACI 318/2014
percentage
percentage (MPa) Metakaolin 𝐸𝑐 = 𝛾𝑐1.5 0.043√𝑓𝑐′ expression
percentage
NAC-0 0% 0% 24521 - 24517 -0.1

NAC-M 0% 20% 24121 - 23822 -1.3

WAC25-0 25% 0% 22362 -8.8 22943 2.5

WAC25-M 25% 20% 21321 -11.6 21763 2

WAC50-M 50% 20% 19286 -20 20420 5.8

WAC75-M 75% 20% 17893 -25.8 19104 6.7

WAC100-M 100% 20% 16145 -33.1 17914 10.9

3. Conclusions
The present research work revealed the following conclusions for green concrete material:

1-The study revealed that the green concrete mechanical properties has a small decrease by about 5% as
the cement content decrease (the replacement of cement by Metakaolin 20%) for both natural and waste
aggregate mixes. This small reduction can be neglected and therefore the 20% cement replacement must
be considered very effective in terms of sustainability for lower waste aggregate replacement ratios.
2- The concrete compressive strength decreased by 35% as waste aggregate percentage increases from
0 to 100%. When 100% crushed tile was utilized, the strength is reduced to 19.3 MPa and the concrete
may be considered to be non-structural.
3- All crushed tile concrete mixes can be utilized for producing structural concrete except the 100%
replacement according to ACI 318/2014. The proportion between the cylinder strength to cube strength
is recognized to be in the range of 0.84.
4- The concrete tensile strength is reduced by 37 % as waste aggregate substitution percentage increased
to 100%
5- The split cylinder strength ACI 318/2014 expression gave a lower estimate of crushed gravel tensile
strength by 2.5% and a higher estimate by 25.5 % for concrete contains 100% crushed tile. Therefore,
the ACI expression can be used carefully to estimate the splitting strength for crushed tile concrete with
content higher than 25%.
6- The outcomes revealed that the (𝐸𝑐 ) reduces as waste aggregate substitution percentage increases.
When 100% waste aggregate type was utilized, the green concrete elastic modulus was lowered by about
33.1 %.
7- The modulus of elasticity ACI 318/2014 expression gave a lower estimate of tensile strength for
crushed gravel concrete by 1% and a higher estimate by 11 % for concrete contains 100% crushed tile.
Therefore, the ACI expression can be used carefully to estimate the modulus of elasticity for waste
aggregate concrete with content higher than 25%.
8 The outcomes of this research revealed that green concrete can be used for structural purposes through
replacement of cement by Metakaolin (20%) and using waste aggregate with percentage not exceeding
25%.

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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 888 (2020) 012022 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/888/1/012022

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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 888 (2020) 012022 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/888/1/012022

[23] ACI 211.1 1991 .Standard Practice for Selecting Proportions for Normal, Heavyweight and Mass
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