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Basic Creep and Fracture Response of Fine Recycled Aggregate Concrete - Akono, Chen
Basic Creep and Fracture Response of Fine Recycled Aggregate Concrete - Akono, Chen
h i g h l i g h t s
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: We investigate the basic creep and fracture response of fine recycled aggregate concrete using nanoscale
Received 19 February 2020 mechanical characterization modules integrated with nonlinear micromechanical modeling and machine
Received in revised form 13 September learning methods. Fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar exhibits a larger volume fraction of microp-
2020
ores and low-density calcium silicate hydrates compared to natural sand mortar. In return, natural sand
Accepted 24 September 2020
Available online xxxx
mortar exhibits a larger volume fraction of hard aggregates. The macroscopic logarithmic creep modulus
for fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar is five times lower than that of natural sand mortar. Finally,
the fracture toughness of fine recycled aggregate concrete is 8% lower than that of plain concrete.
Keywords:
Recycled aggregate concrete
Ó 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Creep indentation (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Fracture toughness
Scratch test
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.121107
0950-0618/Ó 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Please cite this article as: Ange-Therese Akono, J. Chen, M. Zhan et al., Basic creep and fracture response of fine recycled aggregate concrete, Construction
and Building Materials, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.121107
Ange-Therese Akono, J. Chen, M. Zhan et al. Construction and Building Materials xxx (xxxx) xxx
In order to extract the viscoelastic parameters from indentation We solved the two implicit equations Eqs (4) and (5) using a
tests, we rely on analytical solutions developed by Vandamme and recursive algorithm implemented in the computer programming
Ulm [18] for indentation tests in viscous solids. The key idea is to language Python.
estimate the creep compliance LðtÞ from the increment in penetra-
tion depth during an indentation with a constant vertical load P. By
3.3. Fracture characterization via scratch testing
application of Hertzian contact solutions and of the viscoelastic
correspondence principle, the first time derivative of the creep
We applied nonlinear fracture mechanics to compute the frac-
compliance depends on the change in depth hðtÞ _ during the hold- ture parameters from the horizontal force F T and penetration
ing period according to [19,20]: depth d measurements during scratch testing. In particular, we uti-
_
2aU hðtÞ
lized the size effect law model for scratch testing that we previ-
_
LðtÞ ¼ ð1Þ ously developed in [25–28]. Consider a scratch test with an
Pmax
axisymmetric probe as depicted in Fig. 3. A is the horizontally
where P max ¼ 2 mN is the maximum load, and aU is the contact projected-load bearing contact area whereas p is the perimeter.
radius at maximum load. Moreover, we adopt a logarithmic model Both A and p are functions of the scratch probe geometry and of
[21] for the contact creep compliance because the creep behavior of
concrete structures, such as prestressed concrete bridges [3] and
cylindrical and prismatic concrete specimens [22], has been shown
to obey a logarithmic law within the 3–10 year span. Our logarith-
mic model reads as follows:
1 1 t
LðtÞ ¼ þ ln 1 þ ð2Þ
M 0 4C s
where M0 is the initial plane strain indentation modulus, C is the
contact creep modulus, and s is the logarithmic creep characteristic
time. Although we have chosen to use a logarithmic creep law to
interpret the microindentation creep tests, an alternative is to use
a power-law function [23]. Finally, the initial plane strain modulus
M0 and the indentation hardness H are computed according to [24]:
1 S Pmax
M¼ ; H¼ ð3Þ
2 aU pa2U
3
Ange-Therese Akono, J. Chen, M. Zhan et al. Construction and Building Materials xxx (xxxx) xxx
4. Results
Fig. 4. Environmental scanning electron microscopy images of mortars. a) and c) Natural sand mortar; b) and d) Fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar.
of 4-nm globules that are packed in clusters. Each saturated glob- signatures—values of M and H— that have been reported in the sci-
ule consists of layered C-S-H and the chemical formula for globule entific literature [20,19]. The indentation modulus of low-density
is 1.7 CaOSiO21.4 H2O [35]. The globules are spheroidal in shape C-S-H is MðLD C S HÞ ¼ 17:11 GPa, whereas for high-density
[36–39]. As a result of the granular structure, the creep mecha- C-S-H, and for C-SH + C–H, the indentation modulus is respectively
nisms in calcium silicate hydrates involve the motion of interlayer MðHD C S HÞ ¼ 26:03 29:05 GPa and MðC S H þ CHÞ ¼
water, the motion of C-S-H globules, friction between C-S-H nano- 54:40 60:33 GPa. Similarly, the logarithmic creep modulus for
grains, and the rearrangement of nanopores and nanoscale parti- low-density C-S-H is CðLD C S HÞ ¼ 29:26 GPa, and for high-
cles. For instance, Alizadeh et al. [40] showed that the density C-S-H and for calcium hydroxide mixed with C-S-H, we
viscoelastic response of C-S-H is due to the motion of the interlayer have respectively CðHD C S HÞ ¼ 53:93 59:67 GPa and
water along with bonds breakage and new bonds formation during CðCH þ C S HÞ ¼ 216:52 312:86 GPa. In particular, the loga-
the motion of C-S-H globules. Vandamme and Ulm showed that the rithmic creep modulus of C-S-H mixed with C–H is almost five
long term logarithmic creep of concrete is due to the rearrange- times higher than that of low-density C-S-H. As for hard aggre-
ment of nanoscale particles [41,42]. Low-density C-S-H corre- gates, their indentation modulus and logarithmic creep modulus
sponds to a disordered packing of C-S-H globules whereas are almost an order of magnitude higher than that of low-density
high-density C-S-H corresponds to an optimal packing order of C-S-H. Thus, the large differences in mechanical response between
C-S-H globules. As a result of packing order differences, disordered micro-constituents will influence the overall mechanical response.
vs. optimal, there is a wider range of degrees of freedom enabling We observe stark microstructural and compositional differ-
motion and resulting in a larger creep deformation of low-density ences between natural sand and fine recycled concrete aggregate
C-S-H compared to high-density C-S-H. mortar. Natural sand mortar has a higher volume fraction of hard
aggregates, 43%, compared to fine recycled concrete aggregate
4.3. Chemo-mechanical phase distribution mortar, 16%. In contrast, fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar
has a significant fraction of micropores, 15%, and a higher fraction
In order to assess the distribution of chemo-mechanical phases, of low-density C-S-H, 33%, compared to natural sand mortar. In
we performed a statistical deconvolution analysis. The principle of turn, natural sand mortar exhibits a higher fraction of high-
statistical deconvolution is, for each material, to represent the dis- density C-S-H, 45%, and of C-S-H mixed with CH, 12%, compared
tribution of the indentation moduli, indentation hardness values, to fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar, respectively 35% and
and logarithmic creep values ðMi ; Hi ; C i Þ16i6400 as a mixture of indi- 9%. Thus the presence of fine recycled concrete aggregate has an
vidual phases, each phase being characterized by a Gaussian distri- impact on the proportion of hydration products, the pore structure,
bution [43]. We utilized an Expectation Maximization algorithm and the gel porosity of the resulting mortar.
along with a Bayesian information criterion [44] to identify the We quantified the total porosity in both natural sand mortar
optimum number of phases. and fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar. The micro-porosity
Table 2 displays the characteristics of the microconstituents is given from the phase distribution after the statistical deconvolu-
identified and Figs. 6,7 display the phase distribution using cluster tion analysis, whereas the nano-porosity is computed from the
analysis graphs. The calcium hydrated phases, low-density C-S-H volume fraction of low-density calcium silicate hydrates and
and high-density C-S-H, were identified based on their mechanical high-density calcium-silicate-hydrates according to:
5
Ange-Therese Akono, J. Chen, M. Zhan et al. Construction and Building Materials xxx (xxxx) xxx
Fig. 5. Indentation curves (a) and creep behavior (b) of chemomechanical micro- Figs. 8 a) and b) display representative residual panoramas after
constituents of natural sand mortar and fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar.
scratch tests respectively on natural sand mortar and on fine recy-
1 = micropores. 2 = low-density C-S-H. 3 = high density C-S-H. 4 = Calcium
Hydroxide mixed with C-S-H. 5 = Hard aggregate. cled concrete aggregate mortar. The residual panorama on natural
sand mortar displays several grains and few pores. In contrast, the
grains are sparser and there are more microvoids on the residual
u ¼ /LDCSH ð1 gLDCSH Þ þ /HDCSH ð1 gHDCSH Þ ð9Þ panorama of the fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar, pointing
to stark microstructural differences. Figs. 8)) c)- d) display the
where gLDCSH ¼ 0:65 is the packing density of low-density C-S-H and energetic size effect law in dimensionless form applied to both nat-
gHDCSH ¼ 0:74 is the packing density of high-density C-S-H [19]. ural sand mortar and fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar.
Table 3 lists the values of the nanoporosity and of the total porosity Overall, the experimental data points are distributed along the
for both natural sand mortar and fine recycled concrete aggregate ductile-to-brittle transition curve with a convergence toward the
mortar. linear elastic fracture mechanics curve for large D=D0 values. The
The nanoporosity of fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar, brittleness index D=D0 ranges from 0.01 to 100 for both natural
21%, is twice higher than that of natural sand mortar, 12%, due to sand mortar fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar. The presence
Table 2
Chemo-mechanical phase distribution for natural sand mortar and fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar. M is the plane strain modulus, H is the indentation hardness, C is the
logarithmic creep modulus, and s is the logarithmic creep characteristic time. HD C-S-H = high density C-S-H. CH = calcium hydroxide.
6
Ange-Therese Akono, J. Chen, M. Zhan et al. Construction and Building Materials xxx (xxxx) xxx
Fig. 6. Chemo-mechanical phase distribution in a) natural sand mortar and b) fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar. For each material, N ¼ 400 nanoindentation tests were
conducted. M is the plane strain modulus and C is the logarithmic creep modulus.
Fig. 7. Chemo-mechanical phase distribution in a) natural sand mortar and b) fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar. For each material, N ¼ 400 nanoindentation tests were
conducted. M is the plane strain modulus and H is the indentation hardness.
5. Discussion
Table 3
Pore structure of natural sand (NS) and fine recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) 5.1. Macroscopic basic creep properties
mortars.
NS mortar RCA mortar Table 5 lists the homogenized values of the creep modulus C hom
microporosity (%) 0 15 and of the plane strain modulus M hom for both natural sand and fine
nanoporosity (%) 12 21
recycled aggregate mortar. We predict a 50% decrease in the elastic
Total porosity (%) 12 37
modulus by replacing 100% of natural sand with fine recycled
aggregate concrete. Similarly, Evangelista and Brito [53] reported
of low values of the brittleness index, in the [0.1,10] range, points an 18% decrease in elastic modulus for concrete cubes with fine
toward the predominance of nonlinear fracture behavior. Thus, we recycled concrete aggregates; however, their concrete cubes con-
observe a nonlinear fracture behavior with a convergence toward tained natural coarse aggregates, which explained the lower value
brittle fracture for large penetration depths. of the decrease in elastic modulus. In turn, our findings are consis-
Table 4 lists the values of the size effect law characteristic tent with the study of Xiao et al. [54]. They conducted uniaxial
length D0 and of the fracture toughness. For natural sand mortar, compression tests on 100 100 100 mm concrete cubes cast
pffiffiffi
the fracture toughness is K c = 0.86 ± 0.15 MPa m. This value is in with coarse recycled concrete aggregate. A 45% reduction in elastic
agreement with tabulated values of the fracture toughness for modulus was observed for a 100% coarse aggregate replacement
plain concrete [51,52]. A high variability (17%) of the fracture ratio. In our study, we trace back the lower elastic modulus of fine
toughness is observed for natural sand concrete, and this variabil- recycled concrete aggregate concrete to the pore structure and the
ity is much higher (19%) for fine recycled concrete aggregate mor- packing density of C-S-H phases.
tar. An 8% decrease in fracture toughness is observed for fine The macroscopic logarithmic creep modulus for fine recycled
recycled concrete aggregate mortar compared to natural sand mor- concrete aggregate is found to be five times greater than that of
tar. Our findings agree with macroscopic fracture tests conducted natural sand mortar. Our results are in sharp contrast with Silva
on recycled coarse aggregate concrete in the scientific literature et al.’s results [6] that found that the creep coefficient for concrete
[13,14,16,15]. Thus, replacing natural sand by fine recycled con- made with 100% recycled concrete aggregate will not exceed 1.8
crete aggregate results in a decrease in the mortar resistance to times the creep coefficient of plain concrete; however, in their
crack propagation. study, they used coarse recycled concrete aggregates. Similarly,
7
Ange-Therese Akono, J. Chen, M. Zhan et al. Construction and Building Materials xxx (xxxx) xxx
Fig. 8. Residual panoramas after scratch testing on a) natural sand mortar and b) fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar. Energetic size effect law applied to scratch tests on
a) natural sand mortar, and b) fine recycled concrete aggregate mortar. rN is the nominal strength, D is the nominal size and Bf t and D0 are size effect law parameters.
0
Table 5
Homogenized creep modulus C hom and plane strain modulus M hom for natural sand
(NS) and fine recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) mortars.
using a normal mixing approach, Tam & Tam [55] reported a creep
coefficient 2 times higher for concrete with fine recycled concrete
aggregates and natural coarse aggregates. Our findings agree with
cartuxo et al.’s study who found a 2.7 times increase in creep defor-
mation for a full replacement of natural sand by fine recycled con-
crete aggregate [9]. Moreover, our study shows that the higher
creep modulus of fine recycled concrete aggregate is due to the
higher levels of microporosity, the larger fraction of low-density
C-S-H and the lower volume fraction of hard aggregates. In the
future, we will use more sophisticated creep models [56,57] to
fully understand the influence of a complex microstructure and
chemistry on the creep response of fine recycled aggregate
concrete.
8
Ange-Therese Akono, J. Chen, M. Zhan et al. Construction and Building Materials xxx (xxxx) xxx
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