Construction and Building Materials 237 (2020) 117760

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Construction and Building Materials

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Mechanical and durability performance of recycled aggregate concrete

incorporating low calcium bentonite
Bilal Masood a, Ayub Elahi b, Salim Barbhuiya c,⇑, Babar Ali d
a
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila 47050, Pakistan
b
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila 47050, Pakistan
c
School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
d
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila 47050, Pakistan

h i g h l i g h t s

Workability of RAC is more than that of the NAC.

Replacement of RCA with NCA reduced the fresh density of concrete mixes.

Significant reduction in absorption capacity of RAC.

Decrease in resistance to chloride migration due to replacing RCA with NCA.

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

Article history: Concrete produced from recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) has been evolved as a good substitute of nat-
Received 9 September 2019 ural aggregate concrete (NAC) because of associated environmental benefits and increasing attention
Received in revised form 26 November 2019 towards sustainable development in recent decades. Despite recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) present-
Accepted 28 November 2019
ing numerous benefits, it has inferior properties compared to NAC. Researchers have reported that
mechanical and durability performance of RAC can be improved by using supplementary cementitious
materials (SCMs) such as fly ash, silica fume, metakaolin, etc. Low calcium bentonite is a naturally found
Keywords:
pozzolana and can be used as partial replacement of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in concrete. In this
Recycled aggregate concrete
Fresh properties
study, the effect of bentonite on mechanical and durability behaviour of both NAC and RAC was investi-
Compressive strength gated and compared. RAC was prepared by using RCA as coarse aggregate. Bentonite was used as 0, 5, 10,
Water absorption 15, and 20% by mass replacement of OPC in both NAC and RAC. Workability, fresh density, air content,
Chloride migration compressive strength, split tensile strength, water absorption, chloride resistance, and acid attack resis-
Acid attack resistance tance were investigated. Results of testing revealed that with the incorporation of bentonite, RAC showed
significant improvement in the durability and later strength. Bentonite contributed more to strength
development and durability of RAC than those of NAC.
Ó 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction derived from CDW for construction. Partial or full substitution of

Possibility of using recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) derived
from construction and demolition waste (CDW) has received enor-
mous research interest over the past few decades, owing to its
potential to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete manufacturing.
Moreover, paucity in the reserves of natural/virgin aggregates in
many parts of the world is leading to the use of recycled aggregates
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: bilal.masood@students.uettaxila.edu.pk (B. Masood), ayub.
elahi@uettaxila.edu.pk (A. Elahi), s.barbhuiya@leeds.ac.uk (S. Barbhuiya), babar.
ali@students.uettaxila.edu.pk (B. Ali).
natural coarse aggregates (NCA) with RCA in concrete production
may solve several pressing issues such as environmental and social
problems, severe scarcity of natural reserves and waste disposal
sites. Li [1] has reported successful applications of RCA into various
building structures and pavements in China. Hoffman et al. [2] also
reported that RCA was suitable for application in reinforced con-
crete members.
Many studies have been conducted by researchers to investi-
gate the mechanical and durability properties of recycled aggre-
gate concrete (RAC) by incorporating various levels of RCA. It is
now very well established that RCA has more water absorption
than NCA and researchers [3–5] recommend the use of additional

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.117760
0950-0618/Ó 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
2 B. Masood et al. / Construction and Building Materials 237 (2020) 117760

water to maintain the workability with the incorporation of RCA.
Kurda et al. [6–8] reported that the use of plasticizer for maintain-
ing workability, instead of the addition of extra water, achieved
more mechanical strength and durability of RAC. Increase in water
content of concrete leads to poor mechanical and durability perfor-
mance of concrete. In order to improve the properties of RAC,
researchers [9–18] have used different fiber-reinforcements (glass
fiber, steel fiber, polypropylene fiber, etc.), supplementary cemen-
titious materials (SCMs) (silica fume, fly ash, metakaolin, etc.),
water-reducing admixtures, etc. SCMs have huge potential to be
used in RAC owing to their eco-efficiency and low-cost compared
to fiber-reinforcement and plasticizers.
Kou et al. [15] studied the behaviour of RAC with four different
SCMs i.e. fly ash, silica fume, metakaolin, and ground granulated
blast furnace slag. Their results indicated that strength gains of
RAC with SCMs were higher compared to NAC. Generally, RCA is
more porous than NCA. When SCMs are incorporated into RAC,
two possible phenomena may enhance the performance of product
concrete: (1) SCM can penetrate RCA leading to improvement in
interfacial transition zone (ITZ) i.e. bonding between binder matrix
and aggregates; (2) cracks present in the aggregates can be filled by
hydration products. Aluminosilicate particles of SCMs can also
react with calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) present in old cement
paste of RCA to produce calcium silicate hydrates, leading to
improvement in strength [6].
Considering the importance of studying the durability beha-
viour of RAC, it is first necessary to understand the concept of con-
crete deterioration, which mainly depends upon the porosity of the
material. In the case of porous concrete, different liquids, gases,
and ions can easily penetrate the material, react with its con-
stituents, and affect the properties of the material. Various physical
and chemical processes are involved in the deterioration of the bin-
der matrix [19-21]. In most cases, chemicals dissolved in water or
water itself is the major cause of concrete deterioration [22]. Pores
present in (1) aggregates (2) cement paste and (3) ITZs between
aggregates and cement paste, affect the mechanical properties of
concrete i.e. compressive strength and modulus of elasticity [21].
Additional ITZs which is between old cement paste and stone
aggregates in RCA further adds to the porosity of concrete leading
to a reduction in durability and strength of concrete. Increase in
permeable pores volume leads to the reduction in compressive
strength, as both are related to microstructure development in
the material.
As already mentioned, researchers have used different method-
ologies in order to improve the mechanical and durability perfor-
mance of RAC. SCMs like fly ash, silica fume, metakaolin, GGBS,
have been widely investigated in RAC. However, SCMs are not
abundant in the world. The inclination of the world towards clea-
ner energy is leading to the restrictions and bans on coal power
plants due to associated greenhouse emissions in some parts of
the world. Therefore, fly ash is not available in significant amounts
in these parts of the world. For example, there is a massive short-
clay as partial replacement of Portland in NAC has been investi-
gated widely [27–32]. Bentonite is also found in many regions of
Pakistan i.e. Attock (Punjab), Jhelum (Punjab), Karak (Khyber Pakh-
tunkhwa), etc. To avoid the volume instability, low calcium ben-
tonite clay is used. Memon et al. [28] and Mirza et al. [33] have
reported the feasibility of using this bentonite as partial replace-
ment of cement. Memon et al. [28] used bentonite as 0 to 21% by
mass replacement of cement, and they reported that at 56 and
90 days, bentonite added mixes outperform conventional cement
concrete. They also reported improved resistance against acid
attack of bentonite added mixes. Mirza et al. have also reported
the pozzolanic behaviour of bentonite with Portland cement.
Review of existing literature indicates that studies on the effect
of low calcium bentonite on mechanical and durability properties
of RAC are not well documented. The present study explores the
effects of bentonite clay on normal strength RAC based on various
parameters such as workability, air content, fresh density, com-
pressive strength, split tensile strength, water absorption, chloride
migration coefficient, and sulfuric acid attack resistance. Bentonite
was used as 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% by mass replacement of cement in
both NAC and RAC. The present study also compared the behaviour
of NAC and RAC with different levels of bentonite. Results of the
present study can be taken as the benchmark for future studies.
The results revealed that sustainable concrete made with 100%
RCA and bentonite could be feasible for construction with opti-
mum properties.
2. Experimental program
2.1. Materials
2.1.1. Cement and bentonite
Portland cement of Type I following ASTM C150 [34] is used as
the main binder in this research. This cement has a specific gravity
of 3.09. General properties of this cement are given in Table 1.
Bentonite clay (low calcium type) is naturally found in Jahan-
gira, Nowshera, KPK, Pakistan. Viability of this bentonite as partial
substitution of Portland cement (up to 21% by weight) has been
reported by Memon et al. [28]. The only processing that was
applied to this bentonite in the present research, is wet grinding
to achieve the passing size of 325 mm. The specific gravity of ben-
tonite is 2.64 and its physical and chemical properties are pre-
sented in Table 1. XRF test results confirmed that the chemical
composition of the bentonite meets ASTM C618 [35] requirement
for low calcium pozzolana. Scanning electron microscopic image
Table 1
Properties of binders.
Oxide composition Portland Bentonite used by Bentonite used in
cement Memon et al. [32] this research

age of fly ash in Florida, USA, because of lower supply of natural SiO2 17.5 54.5 52.8
coal and serious environmental restrictions. Finding cheaper alter- Al2O3 10.4 20.2 16.4
Fe2O3 3.5 8.6 5.8
natives for SCMs are the present challenges [23–25]. Environment-
MgO 1.7 4.5 1.4
friendly resources of SCMs are still needed to be explored to CaO 61.8 7.3 4.6
overcome the negative effects of the cement industry on the envi- Na2O 0.7 1.3 0.62
ronment. Bentonite, another potential substitute, is usually formed K2O 1.3 3.6 0.7
due to chemical weathering of volcanic ash in the presence of General properties
water. The industrial bentonites are generally either the sodium Relative density 3.09 2.81 2.64
or calcium variety. Bentonites are important and essential in a Specific surface 2445 4800 5314
area (cm2/gram)
wide range of markets including civil engineering uses. Bentonites Initial setting time 105 – –
have excellent rheological and absorbent properties. As compared (minutes)
with other tyes of bentonite, Calcium bentonite has a much lower Final setting time 276 –
swelling capacity [26]. Bentonite is an alumino-phyllosilicate clay (minutes)
Loss on ignition (%) 0.94 5.4 9.6
comprising mainly of montmorillonite minerals. Use of bentonite
 B. Masood et al. / Construction and Building Materials 237 (2020) 117760 3

of the bentonite particles is shown in Fig. 1. It can be observed that

bentonite contains particles of spherical and thick-flake shapes.
Granulometry of bentonite sample is given in Fig. 2. It can be
noticed from Table 1 that bentonite used in this research has more
specific surface area than that of the used in by Memon et al.,
owing to wet grinding of bentonite, whereas, generally bentonite
has more fineness than Portland cement.

2.1.2. Aggregates
Natural siliceous sand of Lawrencepur quarry is used as fine
aggregate for both NAC and RAC. For NCA, crushed limestone of
Margalla Hills is used. Properties of fine aggregates and NCA are Fig. 2. Granulometry of bentonite.
presented in Table 2.
RCA is manufactured manually by crushing cubical specimens
of concrete having compressive strength in the range of 30 to Table 2
35 MPa. Gradation of both RCA and NCA is kept approximately General properties of aggregates.
the same. Properties of RCA are given in Table 2. Gradation curves Characteristic Lawarencepur sand Type of coarse
of fine and coarse aggregates are shown in Fig. 3. aggregate
RCA NCA

2.1.3. Admixture Maximum aggregate size 4.75 19.50 19.50

24-hour water absorption (%) 0.54 6.71 0.67
High range water reducing admixture commercially known as
10% Fine value (kN) – 131.5 172.4
Sikament 520 was used. Dry rodded density (kg/m3) 1615 1357 1565

2.2. Composition of concrete mixtures

A total of ten concrete mixes were investigated in this research.

NAC and RAC are produced using NCA and RCA, respectively. In
both NAC and RAC, bentonite was used as 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% by
mass replacement of Portland cement.
Mix nomenclature is presented in Table 3. Mixes of NAC and
RAC with 0% bentonite serve as primary (C1) and secondary (C2)
control mix, respectively. Composition of each mix is given in
Table 4. To satisfy the water absorption of RCA, 80 kg/m3 additional
water was also used in RAC mixes. To maintain the workability, the
target slump was kept approximately 80 mm. Workability reduced
when incorporation level of bentonite increased in concrete, there-
fore, superplasticizer (SP) helped to achieve the target slump. The
reduction in workability upon the incorporation of bentonite can
be ascribed to the high specific surface area of bentonite particles
because a large amount of free water is spent in wetting of the
large surface area of the bentonite particles.

Fig. 3. Granulometry of fine aggregates and coarse aggregates (both NCA and RCA).

2.3. Mixing of concrete mixes

The mixing process of concrete of each mix consists of two

phases: In the first phase, aggregates (both fine and coarse) are
mixed with two-third of total water. In the second phase, binder
and plasticizer are added with remaining one-third of water and
Fig. 1. Scanning electron microscopic image of bentonite sample. mixing process was continued.
4 B. Masood et al. / Construction and Building Materials 237 (2020) 117760

Table 3 3. Results and discussion

Nomenclature of mixes.

Mix ID Type of concrete By mass replacement of 3.1. Fresh properties

cement with bentonite
N/B0 (C1) Natural aggregate 0 3.1.1. Workability
N/B5 concrete (NAC) 5 Workability of each mix is assessed by conducting the slump
N/B10 10
N/B15 15
N/B20 20
R/B0 (C2) Recycled aggregate 0 tonite inclusion in both NAC and RAC is detrimental to workability.
R/5 concrete (RAC) 5 Slump decreases with increasing level of bentonite in both NAC
R/B10 10
R/B15 15
R/B20 20
2.4. Preparation and testing of samples
Fresh properties of concrete such as slump, fresh density, and
air content were tested immediately after the completion of the
mixing process. Slump is calculated following ASTM C143 [36].
Three slump cones were filled simultaneously for each mix, and
the average result is reported in this paper. Fresh density is evalu-
ated using Eq. (1). 150 mm cubical container was filled with fresh
concrete into three layers and each layer was compacted 25 times
using the compacting rod. The air content of the freshly mixed con-
crete was measured using the pressure method as per ASTM C231
[37].
M
Dfresh ¼
V content can determine whether the concrete is resistant to
Dfresh is the fresh density, M is the mass of the concrete which
was filled in the container, and V is the volume of 150 mm cubical
container.
Compressive strength and split tensile strength of each mix are
determined to evaluate mechanical performance. 150 mm cubes
were tested for compressive strength following EN:12390 [38].
For split tensile strength, 1:2 (150 mm diameter and 300 mm
height) cylinders were tested as per ASTM C496 [39]. Compressive
strength of each mix, average of three identical specimens, was
determined after 3, 28, and 90 days of curing. Similarly split tensile
strength was measured at 28 and 90 days.
To assess durability performance, water absorption, chloride
migration coefficient, and sulfuric acid resistance were deter-
mined. Concrete discs of 50 mm thickness and 100 mm diameter
were used to determine water absorption and chloride migration
coefficient following ASTM C948 [40] and NT Build 492 [41],
respectively. Both properties were evaluated at the age of 90-
days. To determine sulfuric acid attack resistance, 100 mm cubes
of each mix after demoulding, were cured in normal water for
14 days. These cubes were then subsequently immersed in 4%
H2SO4. Loss in the mass of cubes of each mix after 28, 56 and
90 days of immersion are reported in this study.
test. Results of slump testing of both NAC and RAC with varying
percentage of bentonite are given in Fig. 4. It is noticed that ben-
and RAC. This is ascribed to the higher specific surface area of ben-
tonite compared to cement. The high specific surface area of ben-
tonite particles increases the demand for water in the mix to wet
the surfaces of particles completely, leading to a reduction in work-
ability at a given water-cement ratio. Although workability reduces
with the addition of bentonite, mixes remain highly cohesive. As
already mentioned, target slump is achieved by using superplasti-
cizer (SP). It can be noticed in Table 4; the dosage of plasticizer
increased with increasing level of bentonite to achieve the target
slump. Reduction in slump of NAC with an increasing percentage
of bentonite has also been reported earlier in the study of Memon
et al. [28]. It is worth mentioning that workability of RAC is more
than that of the NAC, owing to the presence of more free water
in RAC. This finding is also in line with that of the Kou et al. [42].
3.1.2. Air content
Air content is an important fresh property of concrete. Presence
ð1Þ of air in fresh concrete can increase or decrease its strength. Air
freeze–thaw and other weathering effects and can significantly
influence the finishing or makeup of concrete. Generally, the com-
pressive strength of concrete reduces with increase in air content.
Results of air content testing are shown in Fig. 5. It can be observed
that mixes of NAC have lower air content than RAC. Control mix
(C2) of RAC has 7.5% more air content than that of the NAC.
Although additional water is used in RAC to satisfy the aggregate’
water absorption, aiding to achieve the workability slightly higher
than that of the NAC, air content of RAC is still higher than that of
the NAC. This behaviour can be ascribed to some unsaturated frac-
tured zones within RCA, that are not linked to the permeable pores
of aggregate.
It is observed that the air content of NAC and RAC increases
with a rising level of bentonite when SP is not used to achieve tar-
get slump. This behaviour can be ascribed to a reduction in work-
ability due to bentonite. Poor workability can easily introduce air-
voids into fresh concrete. At the target slump, both NAC and RAC
exhibit reduction in air content with the rising level of bentonite
compared to corresponding control mixes. Bentonite particles
can fill the spaces between cement particles translating to a reduc-
tion in the volume of voids in concrete. RAC with 20% bentonite at
target slump shows 3.5% higher air content compared to C1. Owing

Table 4
Proportions of concrete mixtures.

Mix ID Bentonite (kg/m3) Cement (kg/m3) Fine aggregates (kg/m3) NCA (kg/m3) RCA (kg/m3) Water (kg/m3) Superplasticizer (kg/m3)
N/B0 (C1) 0.0 425 640 1265 0 215 0.50
N/B5 21.3 403.8 640 1265 0 215 1.25
N/B10 42.5 382.5 640 1265 0 215 1.65
N/B15 63.8 361.3 640 1265 0 215 2.35
N/B20 85.0 340.0 640 1265 0 215 2.70
R/B0 (C2) 0.0 425 640 0 1172 215 0.50
R/5 21.3 403.8 640 0 1172 215 1.50
R/B10 42.5 382.5 640 0 1172 215 1.75
R/B15 63.8 361.3 640 0 1172 215 2.20
R/B20 85.0 340.0 640 0 1172 215 2.60
 B. Masood et al. / Construction and Building Materials 237 (2020) 117760
Fig. 4. Results of slump testing.
Fig. 5. Air content of each mix.
to the porous structure of RCA, the maximum air content of 5.55%
was recorded for RB20 without the addition of SP as shown in
Fig. 5. It can be concluded that the deficiencies caused due to the
incorporation of RCA could be slightly reduced by incorporating
bentonite in the mix.
3.1.3. Fresh density
The fresh density of each mix is given in Fig. 6. Without SP, the
fresh density of RAC and NAC reduced with a rising level of ben-
tonite. NAC and RAC experienced a net reduction of 60 kg/m3
and 40 kg/m3 in fresh density, respectively, when 20% bentonite
was used. Workability of concrete is an important factor, which
determines how much dense concrete can be achieved with a given
compactive effort. Reduction in fresh density could be blamed to
decreasing workability with a rising level of bentonite.
On the contrary, fresh density of NAC and RAC improved with
the rising level of bentonite at target slump with SP. When SP
was utilized to achieve the target slump, incorporation of the
Fig. 6. Fresh density results of all mixtures.
5
low volume of bentonite could fill the pores between particles of
cement and reduced the air content which consequently improved
the fresh density. It was obvious to happen, when bentonite has
smaller particle size compared to cement so that bentonite can fill
the pores of RCA and improves the distribution of particle sizes in
binder matrix of the concrete.
3.2. Mechanical properties
3.2.1. Compressive strength
The compressive strength is the most important parameter of
concrete to determine the load-carrying capacity of structural ele-
ments. It tells a lot about most of the strength and durability char-
acteristics of concrete. Compressive strength of RAC, depends on
the incorporation level of RCA, incorporated mineral and chemical
admixtures, water-cement ratio, age of concrete, characteristics of
parent material, etc. [43]. In general, due to the high porosity of
RCA, the compressive strength of RAC is always lower than that
of the NAC. In this study, the compressive strength of each mix is
evaluated at the target slump. Results of compressive strength of
NAC and RAC with varying levels of bentonite are shown in
Fig. 7. Compressive strength of both NAC and RAC decreased at 3
and 28 days as bentonite level is increased beyond 10%. It could
be due to the pozzolanic reaction which is usually slower at early
ages. Bentonite added mixes exhibited more strength development
between 28 and 90-days compared to the control mix. Control mix
of RAC (C2) has 16% less compressive strength as compared with
that of NAC (C1) at the age of 28 days. RCA has more water absorp-
tion capacity than NCA, therefore, additional water is required to
compensate the aggregate’s absorption in RAC. Additional water
helps in maintaining the workability but leads to inferior hardened
state properties of the material due to an increase in non-solid con-
tent (or porosity) of concrete. Therefore, increase in porosity can be
considered as the major contributing factor to the reduction in
compressive strength of RAC. Moreover, RAC may have weak ITZ
compared to NAC, due to aggregate’s high-water absorption. RAC
exhibited more compressive strength than NAC did beyond the
age of 28 days. For example, RAC achieved 3% more compressive
strength between 28 and 90 days compared to NAC. This behaviour
can be ascribed to hydration of old cement paste present in RCA.
Bentonite addition up to 10% improved the compressive
strength of both NAC and RAC at 28-days, whereas, at the same
age, high levels of bentonite proved detrimental to compressive
strength. At 90 days, bentonite added mixes of NAC and RAC
showed comparable or more compressive strength compared to
corresponding control mixes. As the pozzolanic activity increases
with the age, it affected the compressive strength positively for
all the mixes. Strength activity index (SAI) of each mix at 3 and
28 days is shown in Fig. 8. As per ASTM C618, SAI of each mix at
Fig. 7. Compressive strength of each mix at 3, 28, and 90 days.
6 B. Masood et al. / Construction and Building Materials 237 (2020) 117760
Fig. 8. Strength activity index (SAI) of each mix at 3 and 28 days.
28 days should be greater than 75% of the control concrete. SAI
analysis of each mix suggests that bentonite added mixes of both
NAC and RAC showed value higher than 75% of corresponding con-
trol mixes. Bentonite mixes used in the studies of Memon [28] and
Mirza et al. [33] showed lesser SAI values compared to mixes used
in the present study which utilized the bentonite of the same ori-
gin. This behaviour can be ascribed to high specific surface area of
bentonite owing to the wet grinding used.
It is observed that Bentonite attributed more to the strength
development of RAC compared to NAC. In case of RAC, bentonite
particles would also have reacted with portlandite present in
RCA, which could have strengthened the ITZs between binder
and aggregate. Due to this reason, bentonite added mixes of RAC
developed more compressive strength than NAC, between 28 and
90 days. At the age of 90 days, control mix of RAC had 14% lower
compressive strength as compared to its counterpart of NAC,
whereas, addition of bentonite improved RAC mixes and decreased
the difference from 14% to 10%.
3.2.2. Split tensile strength
Split tensile strength does not represent true tensile strength
but the failure pattern of specimens under splitting action of loads
gives a fair idea about the tensile strength of the material. Split ten-
sile strength of each mix tested at 28 and 90 days is shown in Fig. 9.
It is observed that split tensile strength is affected very similar to
compressive strength at 28 and 90 days with varying levels of ben-
tonite for both NAC and RAC. Tensile strength of RAC is marginally
lower than NAC. Unlike compressive strength, replacement of NCA
with RCA, did not decrease tensile strength remarkably. Porous and
irregular aggregates of RCA might cause better bonding with bin-
der matrix, responsible for offering resistance to tensile stresses.
RAC and NAC exhibited improved tensile strength up to 10%
level of bentonite at 28 days, further increase in bentonite caused
a reduction in tensile strength in both RAC and NAC mixes. On the
contrary, at 90-days, all bentonite added mixes of NAC and RAC
showed higher tensile strength than their corresponding control
Fig. 9. Split tensile strength of each mix at 28 and 90 days.
mixes. Due to slow pozzolanic reaction of bentonite mixes incorpo-
rating high content of bentonite developed more strength between
28 and 90 days. Bentonite mixes of RAC showed more strength gain
between 28 and 90 days as compared to those of NAC mixes.
Beyond 28 days, tensile strength of RAC and NAC with 20% ben-
tonite were observed to be increased by 15% and 11% respectively.
3.3. Durability properties
3.3.1. Water absorption
In terms of durability, water absorption is an important test, as
it measures the water accessible porosity of concrete. In practical
applications, various foreign chemicals can penetrate easily
through the porosity of concrete, react with its constituents and
affect properties of the material. Water absorption test was con-
ducted at 90 days on both NAC and RAC with varying levels of ben-
tonite. Results of testing are shown in Fig. 10.
It is noticed that when RCA replaced NCA, water absorption
increased by more than 23% due to the higher water absorption
capacity of RCA. This increase in absorption could be due to por-
ous/permeable matured cement paste in RCA. Presence of pores
in relatively matured cement paste of RCA would have increased
the connectivity between micro-channels in the microstructure
of material. Moreover, old paste could have established routes for
water to stream into the material [44].
Bentonite addition in both NAC and RAC decreased water
absorption. Maximum reduction in water absorption of both NAC
and RAC is observed at replacement level of 20% bentonite. Absorp-
tion of NAC and RAC is reduced by 16% and 12%, respectively at the
replacement level of 20% bentonite. The particles of bentonite are
finer than cement particles, therefore they are uniformly arranged
in the binder matrix of concrete and make the material denser. The
pozzolanic reaction could also have caused the formation of extra
calcium silicate hydrate products that decreased the voids volume.
Therefore, mixes of both NAC and RAC incorporating bentonite
became denser owing to the reduction in the volume of voids. It
can be concluded that bentonite is useful to both NAC and RAC
in terms of improving water absorption.
3.3.2. Chloride migration
Durability and serviceability of reinforced concrete (RC) struc-
tures are significantly affected by the penetration of chlorides to
the reinforcing steel bars from seawater or de-icing salts. Corrosion
of steel starts when chloride concentration increases at the surface
of steel bars. Oxides formed at the surface of steel induce volume
changes in the surrounding concrete leading to spalling of concrete
cover. Chloride migration is a rapid technique to measure the chlo-
ride penetrability of a material. Results, in terms of chloride migra-
tion coefficient, of testing are shown in Fig. 11. Due to poor ITZ and
high pore volume, RAC had significantly higher chloride migration
Fig. 10. Water absorption of each mix at 90-days.
 B. Masood et al. / Construction and Building Materials 237 (2020) 117760
Fig. 11. Chloride migration coefficient of NAC and RAC with varying level of
bentonite at 90-days.
coefficient than NAC. RAC mixes offered 27% less resistance to
chloride penetration as compared with that of mixes of NAC.
Bentonite inclusion in both NAC and RAC improved the resis-
tance against chloride migration. Chloride penetration reduced
with a rising level of bentonite in concrete. This behaviour can be
ascribed to improvement in imperviousness of concrete and
improvement in binding capacity of bentonite with chlorides. It
has been suggested by Detwiler et al. [45] that the use of supple-
mentary binding materials in concrete enhances the resistance
against chloride penetration. The increase in total alumina content
due to bentonite inclusion produces more calcium-aluminium sil-
icate hydrates (CASH). The alumina content forms a protective
layer which resists the chloride penetration. When chloride-
bearing solution penetrates to the pore structure it reacts with
CASH to produce Friedel’s Salt through chemical bonding. Forma-
tion of Friedel’s slat produces hydroxyl ion (OH–) in the pore struc-
ture leading to increment in alkalinity. Increase in alkalinity may
serve as passivation for steel. Hence, steel passivation can be taken
as another advantage of using bentonite as partial replacement of
cement. Hence, it is the addition of bentonite that caused the den-
sification of the matrix and improved the microstructure of the
concrete.
3.3.3. Sulfuric acid attack resistance
Since concrete has got various applications in acid environ-
ments such as wastewater sewers of different industries and
storage tanks. Deterioration of concrete starts when sulfuric acid-
containing water penetrates the material. Sulphate ions react with
portlandite leading to the production of gypsum. This gypsum then
reacts with calcium aluminate hydrate and produce ettringite as
Fig. 12. Loss in mass due to H2SO4 attack in NAC and RAC at various levels of
bentonite.
7
by-product. Production of ettringite results in the expansion of
concrete creating internal pressure which starts the deterioration
of concrete. In this research, loss in mass of concrete mixes due
to sulfuric acid attack is determined and results are presented in
Fig. 12.
It is observed that mass loss due to acid attack increased with
age. RAC mixes had shown higher mass loss due to acid attack
compared to NAC mixes due to the adhered mortar. Acid attack
resistance of concrete mixes increased with the increase in incor-
poration of bentonite. It can be observed that, at all ages, no ben-
tonite mix showed higher mass loss than its corresponding
control mix. Improvement in acid attack resistance of concrete
could be due to the reduction in overall calcium oxide content of
concrete with a rising level of bentonite. Control mixes of NAC
and RAC produced more portlandite than mixes having bentonite
as partial replacement of cement. Bentonite particles can also con-
sume free portlandite in pozzolanic reaction leading to the produc-
tion of more CSH. Significant improvement in the acid attack
resistance of RAC was noticed with the inclusion of bentonite.
Moreover, improvement in acid attack resistance was observed
to be enhanced for both NAC and RAC mixes with increasing level
of bentonite.
4. Conclusions
In this research, various levels of bentonite (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20%)
were used in both natural aggregate concrete (NAC) and recycled
aggregate concrete (RAC). Various fresh and hardened state prop-
erties of mixtures were evaluated. Following conclusions are
drawn from this research:
1. Workability of RAC is more than that of the NAC due to the
presence of more free water in RAC. Workability of mixes of
RAC and NAC was reduced with the increasing level of
bentonite.
2. Air content of RAC mixes was comparatively greater than
those of NAC mixes. Air content of concrete reduced with a
rising level of bentonite for RAC as well as NAC mixes by
using SP.
3. The replacement of RCA with NCA in concrete mixes reduced
the fresh density of concrete mixes. The addition of bentonite
in RAC as well as NAC mixes enhanced and reduced the fresh
density of concrete with and without SP respectively.
4. Compressive strength of RAC decreased as compared with its
counterparts of NAC mixes. Both RAC and NAC performed well,
in terms of compressive strength as well as tensile strength, at
15% replacement level of bentonite.
5. Significant reduction in absorption capacity of RAC is noticed at
90 days at all incorporated levels of bentonite. Maximum reduc-
tion (up to 8%) in water absorption was noted for RAC mixes at
15% replacement level of bentonite.
6. Decrease in resistance to chloride migration was observed by
replacing RCA with NCA in concrete mixes. Addition of ben-
tonite improved the resistance to chloride penetration in both
NAC and RAC mixes.
7. Mass loss in RAC mixes was observed to be greater as compared
with mixes of NAC. Bentonite addition in both the mixes, NAC
as well as RAC, decreased the mass loss.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Bilal Masood: Investigation, Data curation. Ayub Elahi: Con-
ceptualization, Methodology, Supervision. Salim Barbhuiya: .
Babar Ali: Investigation, Data curation.
8 B. Masood et al. / Construction and Building Materials 237 (2020) 117760
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.
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