Technical Paper
Yuhui Fan
Jianzhuang Xiao*
Vivian W.Y. Tam
Effect of old attached mortar on the
creep of recycled aggregate concrete
This paper first presents an experimental study on the shrinkage
and creep behaviour of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) with
different recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) replacement percent-
ages (i.e. 0 %, 33 %, 66 %, 100 %). The experimental results reveal
that increasing the RCA replacement percentage can increase
the shrinkage and creep of RAC. A numerical method for creep
behaviour with old adhering mortar is also proposed by analysing
the influence mechanism of creep and the volume content of old
adhering mortar on the creep of RAC. It is found that the RAC
creep is significantly influenced by old adhering mortar proper-
ties and its volume content. Finally, a numerical model of RAC
creep is established by considering the influence of mechanical
properties and the creep behaviour of old adhering mortar. It is
proved that this model can calculate the creep of RAC.
Keywords: recycled aggregate concrete, old adhering mortar, shrinkage,
creep, influence mechanism
1 Introduction
The demolition of concrete structures may be unavoidable
due to reasons such as structural/material deterioration
or natural disasters. Such demolition and also new con-
struction produce great quantities of waste concrete that
can be reused and recycled. As an environmentally friend-
ly concrete, recycled aggregate concrete (RAC), with par-
tial or complete substitution of natural coarse aggregate
(NCA) by recycled coarse aggregate (RCA), originating
from waste concrete promises to be a feasible way of recy-
cling construction waste. However, owing to the inferior
properties of RCA, research results based on comparisons
of workability, mechanical properties, shrinkage and creep
with respect to conventional concrete have shown that
the properties of RCA have a negative influence on the
properties of RAC, and applications for RCA are curbed
by its relatively poor quality [1–4].
After decades of development, the mechanical prop-
erties of RAC can now meet the requirements of general
engineering when methods such as improving mix propor-
tions and incorporating mineral admixtures are employed
[4–6]. However, research into the long-term properties of
* Corresponding author: jzx@tongji.edu.cn
Submitted for review: 19 July 2013
Revised: 26 September 2013
Accepted for publication: 02 November 2013
© 2014 Ernst & Sohn Verlag für Architektur und technische Wissenschaften GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin · Structural Concrete 15 (2014), No. 2
DOI: 10.1002/suco.201300055
RAC has been limited hitherto. Among these properties,
creep is of considerable importance when RCA is used for
structural applications. Many studies have shown that us-
ing RCA in concrete results in higher shrinkage and creep
compared with natural aggregate concrete (NAC) [7–10].
Kou and Poon [7] reported that, compared with a refer-
ence concrete, the shrinkage of RAC increases by up to
33.3 % and the creep of RAC increases by up to 24.6 %.
Domingo-Cabo [8] observed that the shrinkage and creep
of RAC using 100  % recycled aggregate are about 70  %
and 51 % higher respectively than those of NAC. Gómez-
Soberón [9] concluded that the higher the percentage of
RCA added, the greater is the tendency for an increase
in shrinkage and creep. The experimental results of
Fathifazl et al. [10] showed that the effect of the mix pro-
portioning method on the creep and shrinkage of RAC is
noticeable. There is a limited difference between the creep
and shrinkage of RAC and NAC when the equivalent mor-
tar volume method is adopted for mix proportions of RAC
in [4]. By synthesizing a large number of literature results,
Xiao [11] concluded that the scatter of RAC shrinkage and
creep is high. The shrinkage values of RAC are higher
than those of NAC from 0 to 100 % and the creep values
of RAC are higher than those of NAC from 20 to 60  %.
And the high scatter of RAC shrinkage and creep are very
difficult to predict in practical engineering applications, so
the popularity of and applications for RAC are significant-
ly restricted.
The reasons for the high scatter of RAC shrinkage
and creep can be summarized as follows:
1. Mix proportion. In [12] it was concluded that mortar is
the main factor influencing concrete shrinkage and
creep characteristics, and the aggregate constrains the
shrinkage and creep of mortar. The mix of new mortar
and coarse aggregate volume content has a decisive in-
fluence on the shrinkage and creep of NAC. Owing to
the high absorption of RCA, water-to-cement ratios for
new mortar in RAC will be reduced if the absorbance of
RCA is not considered. And the different methods con-
sidering the absorbance of RCA result in different mix
proportions for new mortar in RAC, which is one main
reason for the high scatter of RAC shrinkage and creep.
Owing to the relatively low density of RCA, the volume
content of coarse aggregate in RAC is different for dif-
ferent RCA replacement methods, which will also
cause scatter among RAC shrinkage and creep.
169
Y. Fan/J. Xiao/V. W.Y. Tam · Effect of old attached mortar on the creep of recycled aggregate concrete

2. Properties of RCA. The essential distinction between

RAC and NAC is that the coarse aggregate used in RAC
is RCA. Generally, RAC creep is greater than that of
NAC, which can be attributed to the following two as-
pects:
i. the constraint to new mortar is reduced by the lower
elastic modulus of old attached mortar and
ii. the effects of old adhering mortar on creep charac-
teristics are obvious.

Owing to the high scatter of old mortar properties and

content in RCA, scatter of RAC shrinkage and creep is
thus high.
Studies on the creep characteristics of plain concrete
are lacking. It was found by Neville et al. [13] that there is
a multiple relationship between the creep characteristics
of concrete and cement paste. However, owing to the dif-
ference in the mechanical and creep properties between
old adhering mortar and new mortar, the values predicted
by the method in [13] are different from experimental re-
sults concerning RAC creep behaviour. This may be due
to the effects of old adhering mortar not being considered
in Neville’s method. It is thus important to study the effect
of old adhering mortar on RAC creep.
Motivated by the aforementioned facts, an experi-
mental investigation into the creep behaviour of RAC and
mortar is carried out in this study. A relationship between
creep of RAC and volume content of old adhering mortar
and new mortar is established. The numerical method for
old adhering mortar creep is investigated. These research
findings can provide a useful basis for RAC applications.
2 Experimental programme
2.1 Materials
Fig. 1. Granulometric curve (Chinese standard GB/T 14685-2011)
NCA (5–25 mm) and RCA (5–25 mm) were used in
the experimental study. The aggregate used in the study
has a continuous granulometric curve according to Chi-
nese standard GB/T 14685-2011 (see Fig. 1). The basic
physical properties of NCA and RCA are given in Table 2,
where the last column of the table shows the residual ad-
hering mortar content of RCA, and the residual mortar
content measured uses the method in [14]. The RCA is
similar in appearance to the NCA; however, the water ab-
sorption and crush index of RCA are greater than those of
NCA, and the density is lower than that of NCA, which is
because there is a large quantity of old adhering mortar in
the RCA [15, 16].
2.2 Mix proportions

Portland cement conforming to PO 42.5 according to Chi-
nese standard GB175-2007 was adopted in this experimen-
tal investigation. The chemical composition and physical
properties of the Portland cement used are shown in
Table 1. The fine aggregate used in the experiments was
river sand, and water absorption, specific density and
fineness modulus of the fine aggregate are about 14  %,
2464 kg/m3 and 2.8 respectively.
The NAC with 30 MPa cubic compressive strength and
120 mm slump was used; its mix proportions were de-
signed to Chinese standard JGJ55-2011. In order to design
the same volume content of new mortar in NAC and RAC,
the method of substituting NCA with RCA by volume was
adopted for producing the RAC, and the replacement per-
centages are 33, 66 and 100 % (denoted RAC33, RAC66
and RAC100 respectively). Owing to the high water ab-

Table 1. Chemical composition and physical properties of Portland cement used

SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO S2O3 R2O Loss on Compressive Flexural
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) ignition (%) strength (MPa) strength (MPa)
3d 28d 3d 28d

21.82 6.02 3.65 59.79 2.07 2.21 0.59 2.13 22.0 42.5 4.0 6.5

Table 2. Physical properties of NCA and RCA

Type Bulk density Apparent density 10-min absorption 24-hour absorption Crush index Old mortar
(kg/m3) (kg/m3) (%) (%) (%) (%)

NCA 1407 2730 – 0.6 12 –

RCA 1203 2530 3.5 4.8 9 25.5

170 Structural Concrete 15 (2014), No. 2

 Y. Fan/J. Xiao/V. W.Y. Tam · Effect of old attached mortar on the creep of recycled aggregate concrete

Table 3. RAC mix proportions

Series RCA replacement Cement Mix water Sand NCA RCA AW

percentage (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3)

NAC 0 417 208 621 1153 0 0

RAC33 33 % 417 208 621 769 353 12.4
RAC66 66 % 417 208 621 384 707 24.7
RAC100 100 % 417 208 621 0 1060 37.1

sorption of RCA, additional water (AW) was added to keep
the mix proportion of new mortar in NAC and RAC
consistent. This high absorption rate of RCA meant that
the 10 min RCA absorption reached about 80  % of the
RAC saturated absorption [11], and the additional water
can be calculated using the 10 min absorption and the
content of RCA in RAC. The RAC mix proportions are
given in Table 3.
The mortar mix proportion was designed according
to the mix proportion of NAC: cement (C):water (W):sand
(S) = 1:0.5:1.49 (M-0.5).
2.3 Preparation of specimens
Preparation and mixing of RAC were conducted under
laboratory conditions. In order to provide a consistent
mix proportion for new mortar in NAC and RAC, based
on the two-stage mixing approach developed in [17], the
RAC mix in this paper was prepared according to the fol-
lowing procedure: the RCA and additional water were
added, the mixer was given a few turns and left to rest for
10 min; the sand, cement and half of the water were then
added, mixed for 3 min and left to rest for another 3 min,
covering it to avoid evaporation; finally, the remaining wa-
ter was added and mixed for 2 min, after which the con-
crete was ready. For each mix with different RCA replace-
ment percentages, the mix was cast in six 100 mm cube
200
sured by two dial gauges fixed on both sides of each mor-
tar and RAC specimen.
3 Experimental results and analysis
3.1 Mechanical properties
The physical and mechanical properties of RAC and mor-
tar are listed in Table 4.
It can be concluded from Table 4 that increasing
RCA replacement percentages can decrease the strength
of RAC, but there is a variation in RAC strength when the
RCA replacement percentage is about 66 % for the RAC66
samples with a better aggregate gradation, and the
strength of RAC66 is even higher than that of NAC. The
elastic modulus of RAC decreases linearly with the in-
crease in RCA replacement percentage for the influence of
old adhering mortar. An approximation formulation al-
lows the elastic modulus of RAC to be calculated using
Eq. (1). A comparison of predicted RAC elastic modulus
and test results is shown in Fig. 3. It can be seen that the
results of Eq. (1) agree with the experimental results. The
Poisson’s ratio of RAC increases with the increase in RCA
20a

moulds and nine 100 × 100 × 400 mm prism moulds and

compacted on a vibrating table. Pressure sensor
The RAC and mortar specimens were demoulded af-
ter 24 h and transferred to a water curing bath (20 ± 2 °C) Jackscrew
for 7 days. After that, the specimens were cured in a cham-
ber at a temperature of about 24 ± 2 °C and relative hu- Steel plate
midity of 65 ± 15 % until the day for testing shrinkage and 10
creep.
1250

2.4 Testing equipment

After curing for 28 days, shrinkage and creep tests were Dial gauges
carried out according to Chinese standard GB/T 50080-
Specimen
2002. The specimens were tested at a temperature of 24 ±
2 °C and relative humidity of 65 ± 15 %, which is different
from the requirement in ASTM 512 (50 ± 4 %). During the Steel plate
200

test, a hygrometer was used to measure ambient tempera-

ture and relative humidity. The stress ratio of the creep
test was set to about 0.30. Testing for creep of mortar was
100 400 100
carried out in a steel frame (see Fig. 2). The frame can test
two prism specimens (100×100×400 mm) simultaneously.
Loading was applied by a jackscrew and measured by an
electronic device. The deformation behaviour was mea- Fig. 2. Sketch of creep test for RAC and mortar

Structural Concrete 15 (2014), No. 2 171

Y. Fan/J. Xiao/V. W.Y. Tam · Effect of old attached mortar on the creep of recycled aggregate concrete

Table 4. Physical and mechanical properties of RAC and mortar

Series fcu (7d) fcu (28d) fc (28d) fc/ fcu Elastic modulus Poisson’s
(MPa) (MPa) (MPa) (28d) (MPa) ratio

NAC 21.8 36.0 28.3 0.786 35875 0.181

RAC33 20.9 32.3 27.2 0.842 32395 0.212
RAC66 22.1 37.5 30.3 0.808 29268 0.240
RAC100 19.1 30.9 26.2 0.848 27653 0.253
M-0.5 27.2 46.6 38.4 0.824 24660 0.219

Fig. 3. Comparisons between calculated values and test values for elastic Fig. 5. Mortar shrinkage curves
modulus of RAC

Fig. 4. RAC shrinkage curves Fig. 6. Temperature and relative humidity records

replacement percentage. The Poisson’s ratio of RAC It can be seen from Figs. 4 and 5 that the shrinkage of
ranges from 0.181 to 0.253 when the replacement percent- RAC increases with the increase in RCA replacement per-
age of RCA changes from 0 to 100 %. centage. The shrinkage deformation of RAC 33, RAC66
and RAC100 is higher than that of NAC by about 2.6, 15.4
Ec   83.36r  35445 (1) and 26.9 % respectively after the RAC specimens are dried
for 200 days. The influence of temperature and relative hu-
where: midity on the shrinkage deformation of RAC is significant,
Ec elastic modulus of RAC (MPa) which is identical with the conclusion reported in [13].
r RCA replacement percentage (%)
3.3 Creep
3.2 Shrinkage
Specific creep data of RAC and mortar (see Figs. 7 and 8)
Shrinkage of RAC and mortar are shown in Figs. 4 and 5 are obtained by subtracting the deformation due to shrink-
respectively. The variations in temperature and relative age deformation and elastic deformation from total defor-
humidity are shown in Fig. 6. mation and dividing this by the stress:

172 Structural Concrete 15 (2014), No. 2

 Y. Fan/J. Xiao/V. W.Y. Tam · Effect of old attached mortar on the creep of recycled aggregate concrete

Fig. 7. Specific creep curves for RAC Fig. 8. Specific creep curve for mortar

  
C t, t0   T   0   s  (2) paste). In order to derive the shrinkage formula for NAC
by considering the aggregate as a small, elastic, spherical
where: particle at the centre of the body of concrete, which is also
C(t, t0) specific creep (10–6/MPa) a sphere, Pickett concluded that the shrinkage of concrete
εT total strain (10–6) can be calculated by Eqs. (3) and (4) for a constant water-
ε0 elastic instantaneous strain (10–6) to-cement ratio [18]:
εs shrinkage strain (10–6)
 

S  Sp 1  g (3)
It can be seen from Figs. 7 and 8 that the environment has
much less effect on the specific creep of RAC than it does 3(1  c )
 (4)
on shrinkage; the specific creep of RAC increases with the 1  c  2(1  2 a ) Ec Ea
increase in RCA replacement percentage. The specific
creep of RAC 33, RAC66 and RAC100 is higher than that where:
of NAC by about 28.7, 75.0 and 103.3 % respectively after S shrinkage of concrete
loading for 200 days. The instantaneous elastic strain, Sp shrinkage of cement paste
strain of RAC and mortar at 0.1 day and elastic strain (cal- g volume fraction of aggregate
culated using the elastic modulus) are listed in Table 5. It μa Poisson’s ratio of aggregate
can be seen from Table 5 that the instantaneous elastic μc Poisson’s ratio of concrete
strain and the 0.1-day strain of RAC increase with the in- Ec elastic modulus of concrete (MPa)
crease in RCA replacement percentage. The 0.1-day strain Ea elastic modulus of aggregate (MPa)
of RAC and mortar is approx. 1.1 times the instantaneous
elastic strain, and the 0.1-day strain of RAC is approxi- As the aggregate’s restraining effect on the actual defor-
mately equal to the elastic strains calculated using its elas- mation of concrete is largely independent of whether the
tic modulus (1/Ec). deformation is due to shrinkage or creep, Neville [19] be-
lieved that Eq. (3) can be applied to the calculation of con-
4 Modifications of existing creep models for RAC crete creep and that the concrete creep can be calculated
applications by Eq. (5). If the concrete is considered as a two-phase
material consisting of mortar and coarse aggregate, the
A number of phenomenological models are available for creep of NAC can then be calculated with Eq. (6):
predicting the creep and shrinkage of conventional con-
 

crete as a two-phase material (aggregate and cement C NAC  C p 1  g (5)

Table 5. Value of instantaneous elastic strain, elastic strain and 0.1-day strain of RAC

Series Instantaneous elastic 0.1-day strain 0.1-day strain/ Elastic strain

strain (per MPa 10–6) (per MPa 10–6) instantaneous strain (per MPa 10–6)

NAC 25 28 1.12 28
RAC33 29 31 1.07 31
RAC66 32 36 1.13 34
RAC100 34 38 1.12 36

Structural Concrete 15 (2014), No. 2 173

Y. Fan/J. Xiao/V. W.Y. Tam · Effect of old attached mortar on the creep of recycled aggregate concrete

 
 NAC
CNAC  C m 1  gNCA (6) μRAC Poisson’s ratio of RAC
ERAC elastic modulus of RAC (MPa)
3(1  NAC ) mRCA mass of RCA (kg)
 NAC  (7)
1  NAC  2(1  2NCA ) ENAC ENCA MRC mass fraction of old adhering mortar in RCA
SGNCA apparent density of NCA (kg/m3)
where:
CNAC creep of NAC If ENCA is calculated according to the model in Ref. [20]
Cp creep of cement (Eq. (11)) and the values of μNAC, μRAC and μNCA are taken
Cm creep of mortar as 0.2, then the creep of RAC can be calculated by Eq. (8).
gNCA volume fraction of NCA A comparison of the experimental and calculated results
μNAC Poisson’s ratio of NAC was carried out for evaluating the accuracy of the predic-
ENAC elastic modulus of NAC (MPa) tion model (see Fig. 9). It can be seen in Fig. 9 that the
μNCA Poisson’s ratio of NCA Neville creep model cannot predict the creep of RAC accu-
ENCA elastic modulus of NCA (MPa) rately, and the difference between experimental and calcu-
lated results increases with the increase in RCA replace-
If the difference between the properties of old adhering ment percentage due to the difference between the
mortar and new mortar are ignored, the creep of RAC can properties of old adhering mortar and new mortar. There-
then be calculated with Eq. (8): fore, this model needs to be suitably modified if it is to be
applied to RAC. In the following, based on the assumption
 
 R-NAC
CRAC  C m 1  gR-NCA (8) that the mix proportion of new mortar in RAC (RAC33,
RAC66, RAC100 in this paper) and NAC is the same, an at-
3(1  RAC ) tempt is made to propose modifications to take into ac-
 R-NAC  (9)
1  RAC  2(1  2NCA ) ERAC ENCA count the influence of the elastic modulus and creep of old
adhering mortar, but due to the limited scope of the present
mRCA(1  MRC ) test data, ascertaining the generality of the modified expres-
gR-NCA  (10) sions requires further investigation and additional data.
SGNCA
1
where: 1 1  gNCA
0.5  1  g0.5  
   0.5NCA  Em  ENCA  (11)
CRAC creep of RAC ENAC Em  gNCA  
gR-NCA volume fraction of NCA in RAC

Fig. 9. Comparisons between values calculated by Neville model and test values of RAC creep

174 Structural Concrete 15 (2014), No. 2


4.1 Elastic modulus of old adhering mortar
In RAC, how the RCA restrains the creep of new mortar is
determined by the elastic modulus of RCA. In RCA, mea-
sures to ascertain the elastic modulus of old adhering mor-
tar are often very difficult. In order to consider the influ-
ence of the elastic modulus of old adhering mortar on the
creep of RAC, it can be assumed that the elastic modulus
of old adhering mortar and new mortar is the same, that
the elastic modulus of NCA in RAC (ER-NCA) decreases
with the increase in RCA replacement percentage and that
the combined action of old adhering mortar and NCA on
the creep of new mortar has not changed. The elastic
modulus of old adhering mortar can then be considered
and the creep of RAC calculated by Eqs. (12–14):
1
1 1  gR-NCA
0.5  1  g0.5   properties and creep of new mortar and NAC; however,
   0.5R-NCA  Em  ER-NCA 
ERAC Em  gR-NCA  
(1  gNCA) RAC E
CRAC-E  (1  gNCA ) RAC-E C m  C NAC
(1  gNCA) NAC
3(1  RAC )
 RAC-E 
1  RAC  2(1  2NCA )
ERAC
ER-NAC
4.2 Creep of old adhering mortar
In order to take the creep of old adhering mortar into ac-
count when calculating the creep of RAC, the method in
[18] was adopted and the old adhering mortar assumed to
be a spherical particle at the centre of the body of RAC,
which is also a sphere. Then, after considering the influ-
ence of elastic modulus and creep of old adhering mortar,
the creep of RAC can be calculated with Eqs. (15–16) ac-
cording the method described in [18, 19]:
    
 om
CRAC-EC  Com  Com  CRAC-E 1  gom
3(1  RAC )
 om 
E where gRAC is the volume fraction of RCA in RAC100.
1  RAC  2(1  2om ) RAC
Eom
where:
CRAC-EC creep of RAC (the elastic modulus and creep of
old adhering mortar has been considered)
Com creep of old adhering mortar
μom Poisson’s ratio of old adhering mortar (μom = 0.2
can be adopted when calculating RAC creep)
Eom elastic modulus of old adhering mortar (MPa)
By merging similar items, the formula for RAC can be ex-
pressed as Eq. (17). It can be seen from Eq. (17) that the
creep of RAC can be divided into three parts:
1. creep of old adhering mortar (aCom), which is the creep
of RAC when only the creep of old mortar adhering is
considered,
2. creep of new mortar in NAC ((1-gNAC)αNACCm), which is
the creep of new mortar in RAC when the properties of
RCA and NCA are assumed, and
Y. Fan/J. Xiao/V. W.Y. Tam · Effect of old attached mortar on the creep of recycled aggregate concrete
3. additional creep produced by new mortar, which is
the difference between the actual creep of new
mortar in RAC and the creep of new mortar in NAC
((1-gNAC)αNACCm), which is caused by the lower elastic
modulus and creep of RCA (b(1-gNAC)αNACCm).
CRAC-EC  aCom  (1  b) (1  gNAC ) NAC C m (17)
 aCom  (1  b) CNAC
 
 om
a  1  1  gom (18)
b  (1  gNAC ) RAC-E  NAC  1 (19)
In Eq. (17), the second and third parts of the creep can be
calculated according to the mix proportion, mechanical
(12)
the first part of the creep requires the creep behaviour of
old adhering mortar, and an understanding of how to cal-
culate the creep of old adhering mortar is the key to cal-
(13) culating the creep of RAC. If the creep of RAC is assumed
as n times the creep of NAC, the creep of mortar can then
be calculated by Eq. (20):
(14)
Com 
n  1  b C  CNAC (20)
NAC
a
It can be seen from Eq. (20) that the creep of old adhering
mortar is λ times the creep of NAC. In order to acquire the
relationship between λ and the mechanical properties of
RAC, the test results in [8, 1, 21] and this investigation
have been analysed. The mechanical and creep properties
of NAC and RAC100 (RAC with 100 % RCA replacement
percentage), content and properties of NCA in NAC and
content and properties of RCA in RAC100 in [8, 1, 21] are
shown in Table 6. As the volume fraction of coarse aggre-
gate in NCA and RAC100 is slightly different, the values of
n can be calculated by Eq. (21):
 NAC
(15) C t, t  1  gRAC 
n  RAC100 0  (21)
 
CNAC t, t0  1  gNAC 

(16)
If μNC, μRAC, μNA and μom are taken as 0.2, ENC/ENA as 0.5
and MRC as 30 % according to [22], then the values of a,
b, n and λ can be calculated using Eqs. (18), (19), (21) and
(20). The values of a, b, n and λ for series 1–4 in Table 6
are shown in Table 7.
According the test results in Table 5, the instanta-
neous elastic strain of NAC and RAC is approx. 1.1 times
the elastic strains calculated using their elastic modulus,
and the values of ERAC100/ENAC for series 2 in Table 6 can
be taken as 0.938. Fitting the formula, the values of λ can
be calculated by Eq. (22). Comparisons between test re-
sults and calculated values are conducted for evaluating
the accuracy of Eq. (22) (see Fig. 10). It can be seen in Fig.
10 that the test results and calculated values are consis-
tent.
ERAC100
   23.83  25.33 (22)
ENAC
Structural Concrete 15 (2014), No. 2 175
Y. Fan/J. Xiao/V. W.Y. Tam · Effect of old attached mortar on the creep of recycled aggregate concrete

Table 6. Test data in [8, 1, 21] and this paper

Series Content (kg) Specific density Strain Elastic modulus ERAC100 / CRAC100(t, t0) /
(kg/m3) (×10–6) (MPa) ENAC CNAC(t, t0)
NCA RCA NCA RCA NAC RAC NAC RAC
100 100

1[8] 1004 874 2666 2500 – – 33308 30337 0.911 1.37

2[1] 1361 1361 2620 2475 300 320 – – – 1.41
3[21] 1014 903 2614 2416 – – 29700 26700 0.899 1.55
4 (this 1153 1060 2730 2530 212 267 35875 27653 0.771 2.03
paper)

Note: t-t0 = 150d for series 1; t-t0 = 200d for series 2 and series 4; t-t0 = 90d for series 3

Table 7. Values of a, b, n and λ

Series A b n λ

1[8] 0.102 0.023 1.54 3.564

2[19] 0.136 0.054 1.50 4.175
3[20] 0.112 0.035 1.59 4.827
4 (this paper) 0.132 0.104 2.03 7.048

8 sumed to be the same in the process of formula derivation,

this prediction model can only be used when the mix of
6 new mortar in RAC and NAC is roughly the same.
This paper
5 Conclusions
4
λ

Calculated values
2 RAC and analysing the influence of old adhering mortar
[21]
[8]
0
0.75 0.8 0.85 0.9
ERAC100/ENAC
Fig. 10. Comparisons between calculated values and test values of λ
Eqs. (17) and (22) show that the creep of old adhering
mortar is much larger than that of NAC, and the creep of
old adhering mortar is about 6.957 times the creep of NAC
in this paper. For the RAC samples (RAC33, RAC66,
RAC100), the creep produced by old adhering mortar ac-
counts for about 19.7, 32.7 and 42.5 % respectively of the
creep of the RAC samples (RAC33, RAC66, RAC100).
And the contribution of the creep of old adhering mortar
to the creep of RAC is significant; the influence of old ad-
hering mortar cannot be ignored when calculating the
creep of RAC.
Accordingly, the creep of RAC can be calculated us-
ing the above method. Comparisons between experimen-
tal and predicted results have been conducted for evaluat-
ing the accuracy of the prediction model (see Fig. 11). It
can be seen in Fig. 11 that the Neville model can predict
the creep of RAC well provided the elastic modulus and
creep of old adhering mortar are considered. However, as
the properties of new mortar in RAC and NAC are as-
After conducting the experimental study on the creep of
[1] on the creep of RAC, several conclusions can be highlight-
ed:
1. The strength and elastic modulus of RAC decreased
0.95
with the increase in RCA replacement percentages, but
the shrinkage and creep of RAC have the opposite ten-
dency. The shrinkage and creep of RAC and mortar
were influenced significantly by the ambient condi-
tions.
2. According to the mechanical properties of NAC and
creep of new mortar, the Neville model can predict the
creep of NAC with high accuracy, but the model can-
not be used to predict the creep of RAC for the influ-
ence of mechanical properties and creep behaviour of
old adhering mortar.
3. The effects of old adhering mortar on the creep charac-
teristics of RAC were studied. The results indicate that
the creep characteristics of RAC are influenced signifi-
cantly by the content, elastic modulus and creep behav-
iour of the old adhering mortar, and the influence of
old adhering mortar cannot be ignored when calculat-
ing the creep of RAC.
4. After considering the influence of elastic modulus and
the creep behaviour of old adhering mortar, the Neville
model was modified. And the comparison between the
predicted values of the modified Neville model and the
test values for creep of RAC showed that this modified
model can predict the creep of RAC with high accura-
cy. However, this model is only suitable when the dif-

176 Structural Concrete 15 (2014), No. 2

 Y. Fan/J. Xiao/V. W.Y. Tam · Effect of old attached mortar on the creep of recycled aggregate concrete

Fig. 11. Comparisons between values calculated by modified Neville model and test values of RAC creep

ference between the new mortar in RAC and NAC is
minimal.
5. There are many models useful for predicting the creep
of NAC. By analysing the difference between RAC and
NAC, the prediction model of RAC was proposed and
can provide a significant reference for calculating the
creep of RAC in structural engineering.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support
of the National Natural Science Foundation of China
(NSFC) (project No. 51325802) and the NSFC Research
Fund for International Young Scientists (project No.
51250110074).
References
1. Ghuraiz, Y. S., Swellam, N. H., Garas, G. L. K., Ragab, A.
M.: The Effect of Recycled Aggregates on Creep Behavior of
10. Fathifazl, G., Razaqpur, A. G., Isgor, O. B., Abbas, A.,
Structural Concrete: Gaza Strip, a Case Study. Journal of
Emerging Trends in Engineering and Applied Sciences, 2011,
2 (2), pp. 308–313.
2. Ravindrarajah, R., Tam, C. T.: Properties of concrete made
with crushed concrete as coarse aggregate. Magazine of
11. Xiao, J. Z.: Recycled Concrete. China Building Industry
Concrete Research, 1985, 37 (130), pp. 257–274.
3. Nixon, P. J.: Recycled concrete as an aggregate for concrete
12. Thomas, F. G.: Creep of concrete under load. International
– a review. Materials and Structures, 1987, pp. 371–378.
4. Abdelgadir, A., Gholamreza, F., Isgor, O. B., Razaqpur, A.
G., Benoit, F., Simon F.: Durability of recycled aggregate
concrete designed with equivalent mortar volume method.
Cement & Concrete Composites, 2009, 31 (8). pp. 555–563.
5. Zhang, J., Li, Q. Y., Du, J., Lv, X. Y.: Experimental Study on
the Strength of High-Performance Recycled Concrete. Jour-
nal of Qingdao Technological University, 2008, 29 (6), pp.
16–21 (in Chinese).
6. Ajdukiewicz, A., Kliszczewocz, A.: Influence of recycled ag-
gregates on mechanical properties of HS/HPC. Cement &
Concrete Composites, 2002, 24 (2), pp. 269–279.
7. Kou, S. C., Poon, C. S.: Enhancing the durability properties
of concrete prepared with coarse recycled aggregate. Con-
struction and Building Materials, 2012, 35, pp. 69–76.
8. Domingo-Cabo, A., Lázaro, C., López-Gayarre, F., Serrano-
López, M. A., Serna, P., Castaño-Tabares, J. O.: Creep and
shrinkage of recycled aggregate concrete. Construction and
Building Materials, 2009, 23 (7), pp. 2545–2553.
9. Gómez-Soberón, J. M. V.: Creep of concrete with substitu-
tion of normal aggregate by recycled concrete aggregate. ACI
Special Publication, SP209-25, pp. 461–474.
Fournier, B., Foo, S.: Creep and drying shrinkage character-
istics of concrete produced with coarse recycled concrete ag-
gregate. Cement & Concrete Composites, 2011, 33 (10), pp.
1026–1037.
Press, Beijing, 2005 (in Chinese).
Association of Testing Material, 1937, pp. 292–294.

Structural Concrete 15 (2014), No. 2 177

Y. Fan/J. Xiao/V. W.Y. Tam · Effect of old attached mortar on the creep of recycled aggregate concrete

13. Neville, A. M., Dilger, W. H., Brooks, J. J.: Creep of plain and
structural concrete. Construction Press, London, 1983.
14. Miao, C., Liu, X., Ni, Q. F.: Research on measurement
Yuhui Fan
method for mortar content of RCA and its classification. Department of Building Engineering
Sichuan Building Science, 2011, 37 (4), pp. 219–222 (in Chi- Tongji University
nese). Shanghai, 200092, P.R. China
15. Zaharieva, R., Buyle-Bodin, F., Skoczylas, F., Wirquin, E.: School of Civil Engineering
Assessment of the surface permeation properties of recycled Henan Polytechnic University
aggregate concrete. Cement & Concrete Composites, 25 (2), Jiaozuo, 454003, P.R. China
2003, pp. 223–232.
16. Xu, Y. Z., Shi, J. G.: Analyses and evaluation of the behav-
iour of recycled aggregate and recycled concrete. Concrete,
Jianzhuang Xiao
2006 (7), pp. 41-46 (in Chinese).
Department of Building Engineering
17. Tam, V. W. Y., Gao, X. F., Tam, C. M.: Microstructural Tongji University
analysis of recycled aggregate concrete produced from two- Shanghai, 200092, P.R. China
stage mixing approach. Cement and Concrete Research, Tel: +86-21-65982787
2005, 35 (6), pp. 1195–1203. Fax: +86-21-65986345
18. Pickett, G.: Effect of aggregate on shrinkage of concrete and E-mail: jzx@tongji.edu.cn
hypothesis concerning shrinkage. ACI Journal, 1956, 27 (5),
pp. 581–590. Vivian W. Y. Tam
19. Neville, A. M.: Properties of concrete. Sir Isaac Pitman & University of Western Sydney
School of Computing
Sons Ltd., London, 1963.
Engineering & Mathematics
20. Counto, U. J.: The effect of elastic modulus of the aggregate
Locked Bag 1797, Penrith
on the elastic modulus, creep and creep recovery of con- NSW 2751, Australia
crete. Magazine of Concrete Research, 1964, 16 (48), pp. Department of Building Engineering
129–138. Tongji University
21. Gómez-Soberón, J. M. V.: Relationship between gas absorp- Shanghai, 200092, P.R. China
tion and the shrinkage and creep of recycled aggregate con-
crete. Cement Concrete and Aggregate, 2003, 25 (2). pp.
1301–1311.
22. Sánchez de Juan, M., Gutiérrez, P. A.: Study on the influ-
ence of attached mortar content on the properties of recy-
cled concrete aggregate. Construction and Building Materi-
als, 2009, 23 (2), pp. 872–878.

178 Structural Concrete 15 (2014), No. 2